Last month I had the opportunity to visit the LKY Policy School, ranked #3 in the world for Policy Schools. In preparation for the visit, I picked up “Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy – Building a Global Policy School in Asia”. The book was published in 2012, meaning it reflected on the first 7 years. This is timely as HBKU’s College of Public Policy just passed its seventh year. This is an edited book, written by key early figures of the LKY school: Kishore Mahbubani, Stavros Yiannouka, Scott Fritzen, Astrid Tuminez and Kenneth Paul Tan. A niche read, but useful for my purposes. A few quotes:
On admissions: “After an initial screening by programme managers and faculty, shortlisted candidates are all interviewed in person or by phone by one to two faculty members, for up to 45 minutes. To this end, faculty are flown to several countries in Asia with large numbers of candidates. Following these interviews, a full admissions committee meeting is convened, which culminates after a “mere” 4–6 hours (the meetings are fabled for their intensity and duration) in an admissions and financial aid recommendation for the respective classes.”
On partnerships: “I began to assiduously cultivate relations with these three institutions, starting with SIPA. In November 2005, after visiting Washington, DC to attend the Association of Public Policy Analysts and Managers (APPAM) and calling on the Harvard Kennedy School, I joined a group of faculty members — Mukul Asher, Scott Fritzen, Alex Mutebi and Suzaina Kadir — in New York for a two-day visit to SIPA. In addition to meeting with Lisa Anderson and Robin Lewis, we also met with a number of senior faculty and administrators including Professor Robert Lieberman and Dr. Rob Garris…”
On perceptions: “In contrast, the intentions of the LSE were less easy to decipher. While the Director of the LSE then, Sir Howard Davies, and his then deputy, Professor Sara Worthington seemed eager to have us join the GPPN, there appeared to be some hesitation on the part of their faculty. When I visited London in 2006, Professor Patrick Dunleavy, then head of the Master in Public Affairs programme at the LSE, quizzed me on the state of academic freedom in Singapore….”
