In 1996, the Singaporean government started structural reform in the public
sector by establishing autonomous agencies (AAs) to build up autonomy and deftness
in the administration of finance, other management resources and public service
provision. Nowadays, most offices in the Singaporean public sector have become
autonomous agencies, except the Ministry of Defense and the Internal Security
Department, which are still in the public sector. Moreover, there was also
privatization, with transfer of some tasks in the public sector to private agencies,
elimination of unnecessary regulations, laws, steps or operational processes and
application of different administrative techniques.