Jon Quah Siew Tien, dear friend, colleague, teacher, mentor, advisor, and administrator passed away in Singapore on 30 March 2024 at the age of 77. He is sorely missed.
Born in Singapore, Jon received both bachelors and masters of social sciences degrees in political science from the University of Singapore in 1969 and 1971 respectively. At this early stage, comparative public administration captured his interest. The Singapore Public Services Commission (PSC) nominated Jon for a Fulbright-Hays scholarship enabling him to pursue a PhD in political science at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. Jon was in residence at FSU from August 1970 to June 1972 and received his Ph.D. in 1975. During his studies at Florida State, Jon met Stella, also a graduate student there and they married in December 1971. Having completed his PhD course work, Jon returned to Singapore with Stella in 1972.
From 1972 to 1977 Jon was bonded with the PSC. The PSC accepted Jon’s request to serve the bond in an academic position at the University of Singapore instead of in the civil service. Jon started at the University as an Assistant Professor in 1972 and retired from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2007 as Professor of Political Science. In 1980 the University of Singapore merged with Nanyang University to form NUS. Jon completed part-time national service in the Special Constabulary, Singapore Police Force from 1974-1981, forming a lifetime bond with the police.
Jon Quah was a scholar much in demand and held visiting appointments at the Australian National University, East-West Center (Hawaii), Harvard, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Jon Quah lived a life of service. To the global public administration community he served on many editorial boards, including of the editorial board of this journal, the Asian Pacific Journal of Public Administration and its predecessor from 1983-2012, an association for which we are very grateful. He served on the editorial boards of leading journals in the field (e.g., Political Studies, Governance and International Review of Administrative Sciences). But he also shared his time and expertise with many regional journals based in Asia, including India, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea. Jon also served as Vice President of the Asian Association of Public Administration (2010-12).
Jon served the NUS community as Deputy Director and then Acting Director of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) (1988-90), Head of the Department of Political Science (1992-98), Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (1990-91). Beyond the academy Jon served on numerous government advisory committees and councils.
Among his published works, Jon Quah authored, co-authored or edited 21 books or monographs and wrote 97 academic articles on corruption and governance. Among his scholarly works for me two streams of research stand out as particularly influential: his work on corruption and his work on public administration in Singapore. Arguably his most influential book was Curbing Corruption in Asia: A Comparative Study of Six Countries (2003). Reviewing the experience of six Asian countries and regions Jon argued convincingly that political will trumped all other variables explaining the success of efforts to curb corruption, more decisive than institutions and incentives, although they were important.
Jon’s Public Administration Singapore-Style (2010) explained how authorities in Singapore walked the talk in public administration to achieve excellence in governance. He offered a critical appraisal of Singapore’s success, questioning the administration’s focus on elitism. Jon wrote that authorities needed to address the arrogance of the privileged, high-flying “scholar bureaucrats” and the low morale of the non-scholar bureaucrats, two sides of the same coin (pp. 95-6). These were unintended consequences of Singapore’s elitist administrative culture. Jon also cautioned against trying to transplant elsewhere Singapore’s successful experience.
Jon Quah’s research achievements are recognised globally by both the scholarly and practitioner communities. Jon’s research won many outstanding paper awards. Universities and academic organisations in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand invited Jon to deliver keynote speeches and lead conference plenary sessions, all evidence of the esteem with which Jon was held by his peers.
In 2023 Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award recognised Jon’s outstanding contributions to anti-corruption research with a substantial prize. INTERPOL also recognised Jon’s work, making him a member of its Standing Committee on Ethical Matters (SCEM) from 2015-21. Jon has consulted for the Asian Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, Transparency International, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and many governments on anti-corruption strategies and measures.
Jon Quah has made sterling contributions to our understanding of public administration, especially corruption and governance. May he Rest in Peace.