Debt Recovery In Public Services: Should Constituents Go To Jail?

"Walk a mile in his moccasins (shoes)" is a quote often attributed to unknown American native Indian tribes. It is actually from a poem Judge Softly by Mary T. Lathrap in 1895. It is of course about empathy. One should withhold judgement unless one fully understand someone else's situation.

Two recent incidents brought on an onslaught of public indignation against a perceived uncaring government. There was the case of the mother who failed to pay her daughter's school fees which caused the poor primary school girl to be denied her PSLE certificate. This was followed by the case of the single mom who failed to pay her conservancy fees and was hauled to the police station.

Few Singaporean really appreciate and discuss the many deeply troubling issues that the country is mired in, but many are vociferous over minor community trespasses. Even then, these have in the main been knee jerk reactive outbursts of condemnation at the government, almost always viewed as where the final responsibility lies. It would do well if one were less trigger-happy and try to fathom deeper causal factors, as indeed there often are.

On the other hand, hard working executives who have conducted themselves dutifully, often kick into defensive mode. Immediate is the denial of responsibility as all rules were observed diligently. Ministers push the non-responsibility narrative further by explaining from authority with some clarity from their perspective.

Ministry of Education explained primary school is free for Singaporeans except for a monthly miscellaneous fee of S$6.50. When parents fail to pay up, there is no attempt at chasing payment in view of the meagre sum. The fees are allowed to accumulate till after the final PSLE results are out when they will be forced to settle all outstandings in order for their child to receive the certificate. This has been the practice for years.

The Town Council explained consumers who did not pay conservancy fees are given reminders, then warning letters. Long outstanding bills are then handed over to lawyers and the collection process then is no longer in the hands of the TC. Legal letters are sent. A S$100 fee could end up with a $3,000 bill after adding on penalties, reminder notices, cost of lawyer's letters, court fees. After several unsuccessful attempts, legal proceedings commence at the Night Court which sends out summons. If the plaintiff fails to attend court hearing, it is contempt of court. The sheriff issues a warrant of arrest.

This no nonsense credit collection process is the norm across all bureaucratic departments such as HDB, URA, IRA, LTA, etc. A single traffic offence may result in a $25 ticket for the offender. If left unattended despite several reminders, it could snowball into thousands of dollars by the time it reached the Night Court stage. The process may seem heartless, but it is the only way to manage recalcitrance. For those of us who begrudge the payment of money to government, or who are great procrastinators especially in making payments or filling up some forms, let's admit it, this is the bureaucrats' big cane that enforces discipline.

There are avenues for approaching bureaucrats to plea for one's case, whether for wrongful fine or on hardship grounds.

By and large, however, I believe the various departments have their own way of  meeting the public to address their individual issues. Take the case of traffic summons which I do know from personal experience. When I was running my own small business, the number of traffic summons for parking offences that I received was crazy. Considering the number of tickets, from different agencies - HDB, URA, LTA, and the several reminders that each generated, it added to the confusion and overlooked payments. When I was making plans for leaving the country, I had to make sure I cleared all these fines to avoid getting stopped at the airport because I didn't know if any offence had reached the summons stage. I settled all HDB & URA tickets. LTA was a problem as my unpaid fines had ballooned to more than $2,000. I visited the office at Sin Min, pleaded on hardship grounds but that I wanted to settled all offences, and was very surprised at the leniency offered to me. The officer was able to reduce all my fines except for one which had reached the court proceedings for which I had to pay in full. All-in, my damage was reduced to about $600.

Once, I received a parking ticket for an offence that I refuted. I had parked properly in a parking lot which was over a manhole. When workmen needed to access the manhole, they lifted my small 2-door Honda Civic and placed it partially out of the parking lot. They did not reposition my car after completing their work and I received a fine for improper parking.  I marched down to the URA office at the old multi-storey carpark at Market St. It was an office solely for hearing parking fine complaints. Hundreds of offenders with all sorts of summonses waited in line to unleash their grouses. You hear 'Next', then you enter the office to pitch your side of the story, and the officer chopped and wrote something on the summon to reduce the fines. Summonses, once issued, are very rarely cancelled. The officials pretended to listen sympathetically as the offenders poured out. They have heard all excuses and stories ever invented. It dawned on me then that the whole process was in reality, an invention by the government for public stress relief. In the end, almost everyone gets some reduction on the fines. Offenders felt they had won something. Everybody goes home a lot happier.

Verily, it is often a case where efficiency has no time for empathy

The incidents of unpaid school fees and conservancy fees is a matter of ecce homo. Meritocracy to its illogical concslusion, delivers the bureaucrats intoxicated with their standards, rule books, bye-laws, or regulations, often in flux where parameters are ambiguous. Whilst these two long outstanding fees are certainly delinquent, they could be a case of severe recalcitrant, or red alert of family in financial distress. Knowing the correct situation determines the appropriate follow-up action. This makes the difference between a good bureaucrat and an excellent one.

Allow me to illustrate with another personal experience. When in my pre-U days in Swiss Cottage Secondary School, I suffered fractures on my wrist and right leg. After a couple of months rest at home, I returned to class. Picture me climbing up the stairs to the class on the third floor with those old, clumsy, heavy, wooden crutch. Imagine up and down four times daily for more than a month. Compare this to a nephew of mine who was knocked down by a car and suffered serious hip injury. After hospitalisation, he returned to Maris Stella Secondary School where his class was on the upper floor. On his return, the principal had the class relocated at ground level just to accommodate him in his crutch.  Therein lies the difference between a bureaucrat from a public school, and an executive from a private school.

The MOE had indicated withholding PSLE certificates if fees remain unpaid. The Town Council said they were not the ones that called in the police. To its credit, MOE has relented and expressed their willingness to review their procedures. It is however, disheartening to note that a simple case of lack of individual initiative of a bureaucrat requires a ministerial review of procedures.

The two unfortunate incidents highlight the underlying cause is the lack of individual initiatives. This is however, deeply rooted in our suffocating culture of too much government and a conforming Confucianist proclivity. It is the psychology of the government knows best in everything and so bureaucrats simply withdraw internally and concern themselves with being the most efficient administrators as stickers to the rule book. The bureaucrats had delinquent receivables listings. Red flags would already have been shown much earlier. Had they checked they would have found two single mums struggling to make ends meet. Had they worn the constituents' moccasins, they could have done something to assist, just like the principal of Maris Stella.