Specifically, the MOH set up a taskforce within that ministry even when the
definition of SARS remained unclear. As more SARS cases were uncovered and
better epidemiological information became available, the government quickly created
the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) and Core Executive Group (CEG) – both of
which were instrumental in the design and implementation of all risk mitigating
measures – to coordinate the operation to combat the outbreak (Pereira, 2008).
While this overarching governance structure is more or less standard worldwide (‘t
Hart, et al. 1993; La Porte, 2007), the case of Singapore is unique in that the citystate
was able to overcome bureaucratic inertia and adapt this governance structure