Talking to people on ground as important as analysing data: Workers' Party ex-NCMP

Data, by itself, cannot tell the whole story.

Joshua Lee | August 23, 2019, 12:59 PM

Staying in touch with what is happening on the ground is as important as analysing data for policy-making, former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong wrote in a Aug. 22 Facebook post.

The former Workers' Party politician was responding to a Today article featuring Muhammad Dhafer Muhammad Faishal, a President Scholar who is interested in using data analytics to improve governance in Singapore.

Talking to people on the ground

Yee wrote that data is important and we are increasingly finding better ways to dissect data to understand what is going on around us.

"But data however richly analysed by computers and by data experts do not tell the whole story. Nor can they solely by themselves lead us to the heart of the issues," wrote Yee, who works as an education consultant today.

Talking to the people on the ground can sometimes give you a better understanding of what is really happening, he also wrote.

Yee gave an example from his experience as a member of an education policy committee.

Having a vast amount of public feedback and data on the education sector, the committee was tasked with identifying an issue to work on.

Yee shared an anecdote about a senior childcare teacher who had a diploma and 10 years of working experience.

This teacher switched to being a masseur where her starting pay was "significantly higher" than what she received as a senior teacher.

"The committee was shocked that this was possible and those of us with experience in that industry shared more stories of how poorly supported the sector was," wrote Yee.

Yee also recounted another story involving a retired senior civil servant who helmed several ministries.

This top civil servant often gathered feedback directly from junior staff when he ate at the staff canteen or used the common toilets instead of the executive ones.

"Of course, he would use data and he would have committees make recommendations to him. But getting direct feedback from the ground helped him make better big picture decisions," Yee wrote before questioning how many top civil servants today do that.

The problem of committees and policies

The problem with relying on committees to make policies, added Yee, is that the information collected are viewed through filters and biases derived from self interests and preconceived views.

One person whom Yee praised for preferring unfiltered views was Workers' Party MP Low Thia Khiang.

"Being involved in helping at the Hougang by-election of 2012 helped me realised how strongly he had rooted himself to the community there, even though by then he was already in Aljunied GRC," wrote Yee.

Placing people in top jobs based on the assumption that a high salary represents high calibre can lead to a management that is disconnected from the ground, added Yee.

An NCMP from May 2011 to August 2015, Yee said that the best issues he raised in Parliament were based on feedback he had gleaned first-hand from "people who operate deeply within the circle".

These include the issues of foreign scholars, early childhood sector reforms, and student care in primary schools.

He ended with an advice for policymakers to listen to those on the ground, especially those who will be affected by policies directly:

"Yes, data analytics is important. But don't rely on that alone. Get down to the ground, mix with people to feel their pulse. Don't just rely on high level committees to tell you their recommendations. Hear stories from those lower down and from people that will be affected by the policies - including from staff who have to operate on the ground, from citizens or from partners such as vendors servicing the sector."

Top image via Yee Jenn Jong/Facebook