Government departments should be more responsive when the public demand the improvement of service, or complain about policies or measures.

They should come forward to explain issues from the Government's perspective, and reveal the underlying factors and give insight on how they tackle them, or the plans they are working on.

When there are unfair or ambiguous remarks that may tarnish the image of the Government or Singapore, they should not remain silent.

It is their duty to clarify and present their version for the public to draw their own conclusion on the matter.

Professor Kishore Mahbubani has urged the Government to share more data with the public ("Trust the people, share govt data"; June 13).

Quoting from a survey, he likened our standard of sharing government data to that in Bangladesh or Nepal.

He also implied that there was a certain distrust between the Government and the people in the sharing of government data.

I find these two observations debatable. The survey quoted may have methodological flaws, rendering the results unreliable.

However, it is the reply and rebuttal from the Government that matter most.

Ng Ya Ken