This is because the exercise aims to make HDB residents more aware of what is going on in their towns and to do something about it, says National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

Citing the example of estate cleanliness, he said it would measure not just 'how fast the cleaners work, but also how much care the residents take in keeping their town clean'.

It would be 'a way to get residents to take care of their town and make sure that it is not dirty', he noted.

Mr Mah made this point on Sunday, three days after his ministry announced the impending move to assess the 16 town councils managing Housing Board estates in Singapore. The ministry will produce a report card by next year on how they fare in areas like cleanliness, facilities management and financial management.

It will be consulting residents, town councils and industry professionals on the criteria to use.

Mr Mah noted that when the report is published, comparisons across towns would be 'inevitable', but this was not the aim of the exercise.

'Some towns are older, some younger, some more spread out, some more compact. Each town has its own special characteristics. So it is not appropriate to take one set of numbers and compare them.

'I hope that when we finally publish the result, people will take note of this point. It is not a ranking exercise in the absolute sense of the word. It is certainly not meant to be a ranking exercise,' he said, reiterating a point made by his Senior Minister of State Grace Fu on Friday.

'It is meant to make residents aware of what is going on in their town and do something about it,' he added.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.