On 8 November 2019, the Singapore Management University (SMU) hosted the book launch of Courage and Conviction – Ethical Dilemmas, Decision-Making, and Resolutions by former Auditor-General of Singapore and SMU Adjunct Professor Lim Soo Ping.

Courage and Conviction deals with the subject of ethical dilemmas in personal and work life. It opens with a discussion on the nature of ethical dilemmas and then discusses moral reasoning and what it takes for effective decision-making in an ethical dilemma. It provides a guide for resolving an ethical dilemma with a step-by-step resolution framework and a tactical approach. Several chapters look at ethical dilemmas in the context of professional work, running corporations and public service. The book concludes by discussing a common ethical dilemma, namely, facing an inconvenient question, and providing a set of rules for decision making by a person exercising authority.

[Caption: Lim Soo Ping addressing the audience at the launch of his book]

[Guest-of-Honour Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Public Service Commission, giving his address]

The book launch was attended by 120 guests from the academic, public, private and people sectors. They listened to the Guest-of-Honour Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Public Service Commission, share about how Soo Ping had many vantage points in his career from which to experience, reflect and act on his learnings. He also spoke of how even with new digital transformation and new business models today, social change and expectations also goes hand in hand with technological change, to shape how we learn. The background which is often ignored at peril, is ethics, values and principals, which we will need to revisit and revalidate, with the new field of opportunities released by technology and new ways of doing things. He cited the example of artificial intelligence and issues surrounding it, where not only do users need to believe that data science itself is accurate, but they also need to trust that decisions made based on the data are aligned with the values to which they subscribe. So this puts the focus back on the individual and community ethics and values, and what we believe is in our overall best interest. This means that how we handle ethical dilemmas as individuals and organisations, will affect the success or otherwise, of the changes that we are all experiencing.

He believes that Soo Ping’s book will be of use to many, public servants as well as those in general management and professionals, and it is especially relevant in these times of change, that we reflect and learn to be more deliberate, and transparent on how and why we make decisions.

[President of SMU, Professor Lily Kong giving her address]

President of SMU, Professor Lily Kong then spoke about how societies are facing upheaval and when confronting the changing world order, and it was timely that we needed to identify, clarify and hold on to our core values to ensure that they guided our decisions and actions. She added that Courage and Conviction was precisely about this.

She said that all SMU students upon admission were introduced to the C.I.R.C.L.E. values – Commitment, Integrity, Responsibility, Collegiality, Leadership and Excellence. In addition to their curriculum, their co-curricular learning is framed according to the “SMU Life Lessons” where students are encouraged to reflect on who they are, what their values are, and their place in community and society. “This is our effort at providing a holistic education that recognises that our graduates need to be values based as individual contributors to society, as much as they are economic contributors. I hope that many of our SMU students will read Courage and Conviction, and find through it, an opportunity to reflect on the kinds of dilemmas they will invariably face, in various stages of their life journeys”.

She was also glad that Soo Ping had involved his colleagues as well as alumni from the SMU’s School of Accountancy when putting together the book. The four graduates involved in the book spent hours reading the manuscript at various stages and contributed their perspectives as young professionals. In the process, they gained precious new insights and learnings from the deep experience that Soo Ping has.

[SMU alumni Bryan Er and Gladys Lim sharing their unexpected journey on how they got involved with the book]

The audience also heard from two of the alumni – Bryan Er and Gladys Lim, who shared their unexpected journey about how they got involved with the book, what they liked about the book and how it resonated with them.

Lim Soo Ping then took the stage and shared his own journey of writing his book. He described his book as a cross between a text-book, and op-ed and a short story book. He spoke on how he came to write this book which began when he was asked to conduct a workshop commencing with a plenary session where he gave a talk on ethical dilemmas using case studies based mostly on personal observations and experience. Unexpectedly, over the next four months after the workshop, he received three invitations to speak on the subject. Encouraged by this, and following suggestions from a few friends, he decided that he should document, in a book, his thoughts on the fascinating subject. During the university mid-year break in 2018, he started writing, gathering his thoughts along the way, especially on plane and train rides during his vacation.

He covered various ideas and insights that came to him such as “framing an ethical dilemma”, “the bystander dilemma”, “the inconvenient question” and “rules for decision-making by persons exercising authority”.

He also touched on corporate values, and described them as “policy statements of what you stand for and upholding them should be sacrosanct; it provides you with a guidance when your company is in a dilemma”. He spoke on the difference between rules and principles and said that one could hide behind a rule if one did not have the courage. And if everyone merely followed rules when doing public administration, then there would be a limit to how fair or moral one could be. However, if one could operate using principles, then more good can be done, but this would require risk-taking and trust.

According to Soo Ping, "Through each ethical decision that we make despite the consequences, we strengthen our own character. Through each moral action that we take with courage and conviction, we make life better for others. When we add it all up over a lifetime, we would have helped create a more resilient and caring society for our children ... and their generation."

Reviews of the book can be read here and it is available at major bookstores and the World Scientific website.

[SMU President Prof Lily Kong extending a copy of the book to the Guest of Honour, Mr Lee Tzu Yang]

[SMU Pro-Chancellor Mr Eddie Teo receiving a copy of the book from Lim Soo Ping]

[SMU Board of Trustee and Chief Executive of the Supreme Court of Singapore, Ms Juthika Ramanathan showing her support for the book]

[L-R: Former Minister Abdullah Tarmugi, Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Prof Elvin Lim, Dean of Core Curriculum, SMU, Mr Eddie Teo, SMU Pro-Chancellor (back facing) and Prof David Chan, Director of Behavioural Sciences Institute, SMU (hidden) mingling at the event]

[Featured photo: Author Lim Soo Ping penning an autograph for his book “Courage and Conviction – Ethical Dilemmas, Decision-Making, and Resolutions"]