Social Service Delivery in Singapore

This article discusses the social service delivery system in Singapore, its evolution over time, and the underlying principles that have influenced emerging social trends. It covers topics such as housing, education, and healthcare, and how the government has invested in these areas to improve the wellbeing of its citizens. The article also discusses the challenges faced by the government in the current social and economic climate, and suggests ways to improve the social service delivery system.

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Social Service Delivery in Singapore
Name
Institution

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Abstract.
Social service delivery is the provision of services to the public by institution like the
government and other associated stake holders. This is a very crucial process in wellbeing of the
society. The general idea of this is to ensure the society is provided with the facilities that enable
it the people to develop and be empowered both socially and economically. Over the years,
social service delivery has been evolving. This is due to other factors that have also evolved with
time. From the colonial times, governments have been coming up with new ways to deliver
social services in a way that the targeted population will benefit. Other than the government, the
church and other NGOs have played a major role in ensuring the wellbeing of the society.
Collectively, the government and other stakeholders has been putting up crucial social amenities
and services like schools, hospitals, counselling services, security, housing plans, ensuring there
is food security and even trying their best to reduce the rates of unemployment. They also
encourage social cohesion and integration to promote peace. Historical factors and occurrences
have greatly influenced the modern methods of social delivery greatly. Such factors include
former colonial governments administrative systems, cultural beliefs governing socialization and
even missionary activities that took place in the past.
Introduction.
The economic development of any country is at large dependent on how efficiently the
social services are delivered to its citizens. Singapore is one such country whose economic
success is attributed to this. Singapore was a British colony from 1819 and gained its
independence in 1963. Singapore further broke from Malaysia in 1965(Chua, 2005). From then,
the economic success of Singapore has been growing exponentially. The country’s economic
sector mainly comprises of manufacturing and service industries. The government has been

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putting significant efforts in encouraging establishment of more industries. The manufacturing
industry accounts for more than 15% of the gross national income.Singapore is one of the most
preferable investor destination. This has mainly been contributed by their stable Singapore dollar
leading to low tax rates. More than 90% of Singaporeans can afford descent housing and other
basic needs (Peng, 2010). Singapore has been able to provide its citizens with very good social
services with an explicably tight budget. Most countries in the region haven’t been able to
achieve this. This ultimately makes Singapore to stand out among Asian countries. Singapore has
also achieved population divesification. It is a multi-racial country consisting of three main races
where the Chinese are the majority, followed by the Malays and then the Indians. This
diversification is a good indicator of cohesion among the citizens. Singapore has policies and
programmes that aim at eradicating poverty, improving the educational system, social
empowerment, improved healthcare and equipping the working population with the required
skills. The British colonial government, however, initiated these programmes and after world
war II, other NGOs followed suit in the process of helping the Singaporeans to recover from the
devastating effects of the war. This made the social service system to be stronger as more people
were involved in ensuring its success (Iversen, 1998).Currently, Singapore is one of the most
efficient countries globally in delivering social services.
Underlying principles of social service delivery and how they were influenced by historical
factors.
The British colonial government adopted a Public Housing Policy inn 1927 with an aim
of providing better and affordable housing to the Singaporeans (Bonoli, 2012). They developed
houses on government property and leased them out to the citizens with a 99 years lease
agreement. The housing projects were overseen by a statutory board put in place by the colonial

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government. The board was known Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) which was later
replaced by the House Development Board (HDB). At the moment, the government was in the
process of acquiring land owned privately. This provided more land for HDB to work with
(Croissant, 2004). The board was able to increase the number of housing developed extensively.
The board’s target was to develop flats and rental houses that were affordable for everyone.
Recent survey has shown that more than 90% of the population that resided in the public houses
owned their own home in 2016. Public housing is very important in a number of ways. By
ensuring the working population has access to proper housing, their morale is increased
significantly making them more productive. Productive working population lead to a rapid
economic growth which in turn is good for the country income. The public housing initiative
provided the citizens with mortgages with favorable terms. This enticed people to own their own
home. The deal was too good to let go. These mortgages favored low income earners ensuring no
one in the population was unable to afford a roof over his head.
Among the countries of East Asia, Singapore has invested heavily in improving its
education sector. The colonial government and the Christian missionaries introduced the formal
education system in Singapore. They put up missionary schools and colleges in the country. Sir
Thomas. S. started the educational system in 1823 under the British rule. Some of the earliest
schools in Singapore were The Covenant of the Holy Infant Jesus, Chinese girls’ school, Tamil
Boys’ School and Anglo-Chinese School. In the early days, skills in Mathematics, science and
English were taught (Jones, 1993). The number of students that enrolled yearly increased as
people began to understand the value of formal education. Education brought about a skilled
population that satisfied the demand for skilled labor due to the rapid industrialization in the
country. Education also brought about innovation and rapid technological advances in the

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country. The government censures that every child, regardless of their financial status, is able to
access formal education. All this collectively contributed to the economic growth of Singapore.
Health is another crucial social service Singapore has invested its resources in. the first
hospital to be brought up in Singapore was in the year 1821 in Bras Basah. In 1822, the hospital
was taken over by the British Army. By the year 1828, the third general hospital was being built.
Access to healthcare was made very easy. On march 1926, a modern bigger general hospital was
put up. It was the largest hospital then, named Singapore General Hospital. It was built by the
British colonial government. During world war II, the hospitals were used to treat injured soldier
who were in the Japanese forces. These hospitals are however used to date and have been
equipped with the current medical technologies. The Singapore government still believes in
investing in its population. It has greatly subsidized the cost of health services (Lee, 1990). A
large portion of the population is also covered by health insurances as the government
encourages the citizens to do so. The Singaporean government encourages its people to open
Medishield medical saving accounts for their health benefits. By the year 2014, the beneficiaries
of Medishield were approximately close to 3.6 million people. The private sector is also a major
player in the health services. The private health care sector accounts for 20% of all the health
services provided. As the public and private health sector compete, monopoly is eradicated.
Better health services therefore reach the consumer.
Relevance of the underlying principles in the emerging social trends in Singapore.
The principles and efforts made by the Colonial government to improve social services
were made when the population growth rate was low, competition for resources was low and
development in other neighboring countries was limited. These factors favored the initiatives of
the colonial government. The current Singaporean government faces a whole other lot of

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challenges. The current situation is very different. The labor markets have changed a lot. The
manufacturing sector has grown relatively weaker and dominated by other Asian countries. The
population has increased in a significant rate. of Singapore’s population is now estimated to be
over 5.9 million people in August 2018. An increase in population translates to an increased
competition for resources and even in the job market. As a result, the government has been
compelled to find better ways to improve their social service delivery system. The social service
delivery systems that are still relevant are improved while those that cannot be applied in the
current ever changing social trend are done away with. Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsein
confirmed this sitiation in his speech in a National Day Rally. He said,“Today, the situation has
changed. If we rely too heavily on the individual, their efforts alone will not be enough,
especiallyamong the vulnerable like the low- income families, like the elderly … Thecommunity
and the Government will have to do more to support individuals.” (Teo, 2015) In his speech, he
also emphasized importance of the need of young people to start acquiring housing facilities, the
elderly should get good medical care and for the working population, housing and medical care.
In a nut shell, he was suggesting an improved method of social service delivery.
The shifted labour markets have pushed Singapore to come up with better policies in their
educational system. The government has come up with better training programmes to ensure
their workforce is highly skilled and can compete in the very competitive labour market (Chew,
2012). The government has also come up with policies such as the workfare policy. This policy
is a retirement benefit that is developed to ensure the working people have financial security
even after retirement. For low income earners, the government has subsidized some of their
expenditure. The low income earners are given 20% increase in wages while the rest of the
workers are given a 16% increase.Lim (1984), wrote thatthis gave them a sense of financial

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security as they are protected by the government. Singapore should encourage the growth of
industrialization to increase the labour market and also its exports. The country should also
ensure that it has integrated the latest technology in their educational system. This step will
ensure students are equipped with the latest technical skills in the world. Innovation is important
in the current technologically advanced world. Encouraging innovation will lead to
entrepreneurship among young people, increasing the job market for the growing population.
The health service is still a very crucial social service. Singapore has to find a way to ensure
every citizen has the access to good healthcare. The situation is, however, very different from
when the first hospital ware being developed. The population has increased and so have the
ageing people. This translates to a larger government expenditure on the health sector. Even if
the private health sector offers health services, it cannot satisfy the total demand for those
services (Lim &Saxena, 2015). Elderly people also require specialized health care. The
government come up with a health insurance cover known as the Medishield Life. The employed
citizens of the country are compelled to have the insurance cover. The medical expenses of the
elderly are significantly subsidized in an effort to ensure they are not denied the access to health
services. The low income population benefits from a 25-50 per cent subsidy on their premium
(Mathew, 2016). Medishield Life has better policies than the previous insurance cover,
Medishield. Medishield Life has no age limit and has lower payments than Medishield. Statistics
from surveys have shown that the health insurance coverage beneficiaries have increased
significantly because of the friendly new policies. To ensure health servicesare delivered to the
people efficiently, there are some changes or improvements that can be incorporated into the
sector. Modern and well equipped health facilities should be put up to match the global
standards. The government should sponsor medical schools and private practitioners. This will

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not only increase the number of licensed (doctors but also reduce the governments expenditure
on public health care.
Housing services have received a blow due to the increased population. An increased
population leads to increased cost of land and hence housing. The housing policies developed
earlier in the 1950s had to be changed longer be applied in the present Singapore (Pierson, 1994).
There is reduced land for such projects to take place. Furthermore, the land and the cost of the
projects have increased the government expenditure. The government, however, offers grants to
households that buy new HDB apartments through the Housing Development Board. It also
offers grants to the households that resale their HDB apartments. To ensure the process is pocket
friendly, this is done according to the household income(Midgley& Tang, 2009). Even if the
policy is expensive, the government has kept in mind that it is investing in its own people. This
has made the policy to remain relevant in the current situation. To improve housing social
services, the government should encourage its people to plan their families to prevent
overpopulation. Overpopulation will make the housing policies impossible and a burden to the
government. Property developers should aim at reducing space occupied by buildings by
building skyscrapers. Space is very important for any activity. Using available land space
economically will come in very handy for housing services. Singapore should invest in
reclaiming land from the sea. Reclaiming land will provide more space for economic activities
and even housing. Modern technologies of land reclamation have been proven to be very
efficient and can really aid Singapore in creating more space.
conclusion.
In conclusion, the colonial government and the missionaries laid a solid foundation upon which
Singapore’s government would build its policies on social service delivery. They set the bar high

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enough and this has made the Singapore’s government to strive as it tries to develop the most
efficient social service delivery system. Singapore is one of the best economically performing
countries in Asia, even though it’s one of the smallest countries in the world (Lee, 2015).
Singapore has managed to have one of the best social delivery services in Asia. It has very low
mortality rates and low number of unemployed people. Singapore has managed to develop
economically in a fast rate as compared to many Asian countries.According to David (2013),
Singapore has been ranked among the best business destination in the world. The country is also
known for its famous delicacies and is sometimes referred to as “food paradise” (Walker, 2005).
It also the only place in the world where you can watch the F1 grand prix at night. Singapore has
been able to develop its biomedical technology by attracting investors who invest heavily in the
research of new medicine. Some of the largest pharmaceutical companies located in this
metropolis is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Amgen.

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