Truth about Singapore’s Lokpal Bill
At the height of Jan Lokpal Bill agitation, you must have heard or read about Singapore's so called Lokpal Bill. Here is a very interesting take by a fellow blogger who rips apart this subject:
The Reality of Singapore’s Lokpal Bill and Truths about Argentina’s Public Accountability BillAugust 29, 2011 Pardeep
There are two very famous messages – both polar opposite – circulating on the internet these days. One message seems to support Jan Lokpal Bill and Anna; other message denounces the Anna and Jan Lokpal Bill. My email-inbox is full of these two messages and my mobile inbox memory is crying to get relief of such messages. To get some relief from such messages and reply those who are sending me such messages again and again, here are my views on both the messages:
The Reality of Singapore’s Lokpal Bill
The message claims the following statement:
[In 1982, in Singapore, bill similar to Jan Lokpal was implemented and 142 Corrupt Ministers & officers were arrested in one single day. Today, Singapore has only 1% poor people & no taxes are paid by the people to the government, 92% literacy rate, better medical facilities, cheaper prices, 90% money is white & only 1% unemployment exists.]
I would like everyone to read report on “Eradicating Corruption – The Singapore Experience” by Mr. Muhammed Ali, acting assistant director of Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Singapore. CPIB is the agency responsible for combating corruption in Singapore and it was formed after the Singapore got self-government in 1959 not in 1982 as claimed by message.
Next, message claims that it (CPIB) is similar to Jan Lokpal, claiming CPIB same as Jan Lokpal is madness and can be claimed by only those people who don’t analyse facts before opening their big mouths. CPIB is not a self appointed civil society without accountability and without representation of common people as Anna and his team is. CPIB works directly under the supervision of Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore but Jan Lokpal Committee as proposed by Anna and Team will be independent body with the power of making rules and regulations and will also have the power of courts and police. After reading the above report by Mr. Muhammed Ali, I think CPIB works almost same as CBI of India works. CPIB worked well because it was given powers with good salaries and they gave emphasis over making people aware of their rights. The fact CBI couldn’t make an impact was opposite, there was no emphasis over making people aware of their rights. Another important aspect that made CPIB successful was streamlining cumbersome administrative procedures and I don’t think it’s going to happen in India with Jan Lokpal Bill. Government contractors (private bodies) were also covered under the CPIB and were debarred for a period of five years from any public contract if they were found guilty. Jan Lokpal Bill doesn’t approve private institutions, NGOs, businessmen, media etc under its cover. In terms of selection of CPIB members it’s way different from the Jan Lokpal. There is another big difference that CPIB can only recommend the people found in corruption to be guilty to the courts, but Jan Lokpal does have powers of prosecution and impose penalties.
I searched, searched, and searched one more time to get any detail on the arrest of 142 corrupt ministers & officers in one single day as claimed in the message, but I couldn’t find a single report on such an incident. Has Google gone crazy or I’m searching for the report that was never written? There is not a single report on such an incident and all the results I got on Google and Bing search were the comments of the people. It was more interesting to note that almost everyone has Ctrl+Ced and Ctrl+Ved the same comment! No one even dared to edit a bit or make it look like original one!
Another important thing claimed in the message that in Singapore there is no tax is absurd, misleading and completely wrong. Singapore does have taxes and the upper limit of taxes is 20%. One more claim made in the message is about cheaper prices, but in reality Singapore is in the list of top 10 most expensive cities.
Other claims made in message are bit rational and one can agree with those claims. Medical facilities are no doubt better than India but Singapore is still way behind many other nations. Literacy rate is 96% not 92% in Singapore and unemployment rate is more than 2% not 1% as claimed in the message.
There are two very famous messages – both polar opposite – circulating on the internet these days. One message seems to support Jan Lokpal Bill and Anna; other message denounces the Anna and Jan Lokpal Bill. My email-inbox is full of these two messages and my mobile inbox memory is crying to get relief of such messages. To get some relief from such messages and reply those who are sending me such messages again and again, here are my views on both the messages:
The Reality of Singapore’s Lokpal Bill
The message claims the following statement:
[In 1982, in Singapore, bill similar to Jan Lokpal was implemented and 142 Corrupt Ministers & officers were arrested in one single day. Today, Singapore has only 1% poor people & no taxes are paid by the people to the government, 92% literacy rate, better medical facilities, cheaper prices, 90% money is white & only 1% unemployment exists.]
I would like everyone to read report on “Eradicating Corruption – The Singapore Experience” by Mr. Muhammed Ali, acting assistant director of Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Singapore. CPIB is the agency responsible for combating corruption in Singapore and it was formed after the Singapore got self-government in 1959 not in 1982 as claimed by message.
Next, message claims that it (CPIB) is similar to Jan Lokpal, claiming CPIB same as Jan Lokpal is madness and can be claimed by only those people who don’t analyse facts before opening their big mouths. CPIB is not a self appointed civil society without accountability and without representation of common people as Anna and his team is. CPIB works directly under the supervision of Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore but Jan Lokpal Committee as proposed by Anna and Team will be independent body with the power of making rules and regulations and will also have the power of courts and police. After reading the above report by Mr. Muhammed Ali, I think CPIB works almost same as CBI of India works. CPIB worked well because it was given powers with good salaries and they gave emphasis over making people aware of their rights. The fact CBI couldn’t make an impact was opposite, there was no emphasis over making people aware of their rights. Another important aspect that made CPIB successful was streamlining cumbersome administrative procedures and I don’t think it’s going to happen in India with Jan Lokpal Bill. Government contractors (private bodies) were also covered under the CPIB and were debarred for a period of five years from any public contract if they were found guilty. Jan Lokpal Bill doesn’t approve private institutions, NGOs, businessmen, media etc under its cover. In terms of selection of CPIB members it’s way different from the Jan Lokpal. There is another big difference that CPIB can only recommend the people found in corruption to be guilty to the courts, but Jan Lokpal does have powers of prosecution and impose penalties.
I searched, searched, and searched one more time to get any detail on the arrest of 142 corrupt ministers & officers in one single day as claimed in the message, but I couldn’t find a single report on such an incident. Has Google gone crazy or I’m searching for the report that was never written? There is not a single report on such an incident and all the results I got on Google and Bing search were the comments of the people. It was more interesting to note that almost everyone has Ctrl+Ced and Ctrl+Ved the same comment! No one even dared to edit a bit or make it look like original one!
Another important thing claimed in the message that in Singapore there is no tax is absurd, misleading and completely wrong. Singapore does have taxes and the upper limit of taxes is 20%. One more claim made in the message is about cheaper prices, but in reality Singapore is in the list of top 10 most expensive cities.
Other claims made in message are bit rational and one can agree with those claims. Medical facilities are no doubt better than India but Singapore is still way behind many other nations. Literacy rate is 96% not 92% in Singapore and unemployment rate is more than 2% not 1% as claimed in the message.
You can also read about "Truths about Argentina’s Public Accountability Bill" on the same post.
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