(Press-News.org) As global uncertainty intensifies, governments around the world are grappling with how to make decisions that safeguard long-term stability while remaining adaptable to sudden change. In a newly published interview in the journal Risk Sciences, Lim Siong Guan—one of Singapore’s most experienced public-sector leaders—offers a rare, first-hand perspective on how uncertainty can be managed through governance, leadership, and culture.
Lim emphasizes that effective governance is not about eliminating risk, but about anticipating the future and building resilience. “In government, we rarely use the word risk,” he explains. “A more accurate description is managing uncertainty with a future orientation.” Rather than reacting to crises as they arise, he argues that governments must continuously prepare for multiple possible futures.
A key example is Singapore's long-standing use of scenario planning, a structured process that explores different future pathways without assigning probabilities. According to Lim, this approach helps public institutions develop strategies that remain robust even when conditions change. Complementing this is horizon scanning, which focuses on identifying early signals of emerging threats or opportunities so responses can be prepared in advance.
Beyond formal planning tools, Lim stresses the central role of organizational culture in coping with what he calls the “unknown unknowns”—events that cannot be predicted in advance. “My thesis about the way to deal with the unknown unknowns is in culture,” he says, highlighting the importance of shared values, adaptability, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
Lim also reflects on leadership in uncertain environments, using three metaphors—the dragon boat race, the symphony orchestra, and the soccer game—to illustrate how leadership must evolve as environments become more complex and unpredictable. In today's world, he argues, leaders cannot dictate every action; instead, they must build capable teams that can make sound judgments in real time.
Trust, Lim notes, is another cornerstone of effective governance. Drawing on experiences during crises such as COVID-19, he explains that public trust—rooted in perceptions of care, competence, and credibility—enables governments to adjust policies as new information emerges.
Together, these insights shed light on how long-term strategy, leadership development, and institutional culture can help states navigate uncertainty in a rapidly changing world.
###
Contact the author:
Name: Prof. Lim Siong Guan
Affiliation: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Name: Runhuan Feng
Affiliation: School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, China
Email: fengrh@sem.tsinghua.edu.cn
The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
END
Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, have rapidly entered healthcare, but strong clinical evidence for their real-world use remains limited. A new study published in Gastroenterology & Endoscopy provides the first overview of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating LLMs specifically in digestive diseases.
The international research team systematically reviewed published and ongoing RCTs conducted since 2022 and identified only 14 eligible trials worldwide—four published and ten ongoing. Most studies ...
In autonomous driving, robotics, and augmented reality, accurate localization remains one of the most challenging problems. Traditional visual–inertial odometry systems often struggle with environmental variations, sensor noise, and multi-modal information fusion, limiting applications such as autonomous vehicles navigating complex urban environments and drones operating in GPS-denied areas.
In a study published in the journal iOptics, a research team from Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications proposed a modality fusion strategy—visual–inertial cross-modal interaction and selection mechanisms. This approach not only improves ...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), including antibodies against the programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) effectively at boost the immune system; however, they may cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The predictive biomarkers and risk factors for irAEs have not been determined. Further, while activated T-cell infiltration of tissues is a hallmark of irAEs, it remains unclear if this is a prerequisite for irAEs development or merely a consequence.
To that end, a team of researchers from The ...
A recent study published in Engineering has unveiled a novel approach to generating functional organoids from human adult adipose tissue. This method, which bypasses traditional stem cell isolation and genetic manipulation, offers a more straightforward and scalable pathway for creating organoids that can be used in regenerative medicine and disease modeling.
The research, led by a team from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the Shanghai Institute for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, demonstrates the potential of human adult adipose tissue to differentiate into organoids representing all ...
Beijing’s metro system could soon carry express parcels alongside commuters during quiet periods, according to a new operational blueprint published in Engineering. Researchers from Beijing Jiaotong University and East China Jiaotong University have designed a joint optimization model that simultaneously plans train timetables, rolling-stock circulation, and cargo loading while allowing trains to skip stations with low demand. The approach, tested on the Yizhuang Line, cut operating costs by up to 25% compared with conventional fixed-composition, all-stop services.
The study addresses the rapid rise in urban freight volumes—already 15 million parcels a day in Beijing—by ...
Eye tumors are difficult to treat because drugs often struggle to reach tumor tissue without damaging healthy structures of the eye. A new review published in Biofunctional Materials summarizes how nanomaterials—extremely small, engineered particles—could improve both the diagnosis and treatment of eye cancers. The authors highlight recent advances, key challenges, and future directions for using nanotechnology to achieve safer and more precise eye tumor care.
Treating tumors inside the eye presents unique challenges. The eye is a small and highly sensitive organ, protected by biological barriers that limit drug penetration. While ...
Perovskite solar cells have garnered widespread attention as a low-cost, high-efficiency alternative to conventional silicon photovoltaics. However, defects in perovskite films impede charge transport, resulting in energy loss and compromised operational stability.
One solution to this problem is "passivation treatment"—a process that adds chemicals such as simple salts or organic molecules to the film. These small molecules or ions latch onto defects in the perovskite material, preventing the defects from interfering with electrical flow. Unfortunately, verifying the internal efficacyof various passivation ...
A research team led by Prof. Jihong Yu and Prof. Wenfu Yan (Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry) recently developed a potassium-based Cu-SSZ-39 catalyst (Cu-SSZ-39-K) with an increased concentration of Al in the 8-memberedrings. This design promotes the formation of more [Cu(OH)]+-Z species, resulting in nearly double the NOx conversion at 150-225°C and excellent retention of activity after hydrothermal ageing at 800°C. The work was published ...
In the realm of modern medicine, RNA-based therapies have emerged as a promising avenue, with significant advancements in metabolic diseases, oncology, and preventive vaccines. A recent article published in Engineering titled “The Future of AI-Driven RNA Drug Development” by Yilin Yan, Tianyu Wu, Honglin Li, Yang Tang, and Feng Qian, explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionize RNA drug development, addressing current limitations and offering new opportunities for innovation.
The article highlights ...
Platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) alloys are notable for their catalytic activity and durability in the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). However, the mechanisms behind their superior performance compared to pure Pt are not fully understood. Research has identified many factors influencing HOR activity, including initial hydrogen binding energy, OH affinity driving the bifunctional mechanism, and factors like hydrogen bond (H-bond) network rigidity, connectivity, and interfacial water orientation. These complexities of the interfacial catalytic reaction present significant challenges in understanding the underlying mechanisms and achieving more precise enhancements ...
