Singapore—Mohamad Maliki Osman used to be an academic, lecturing on social studies and social work. But for the past years, he’s been putting theory to practice. As member of parliament, he connects to his constituents in weekly meet-the-people sessions, a practice institutionalized by the dominant People’s Action Party.

Before you dismiss this as one of those propaganda blitzes of politicians—just like the hollow people’s hour or day we have in the Philippines—read on first.

Every Tuesday night, for about five hours (8pm to 1am), MP Osman and his team of volunteers process grievances, complaints and problems of their constituents. The most common include citizenship, immigration and employment permits, unemployment and job placements, domestic and neighbourhood disputes, financial difficulties, licensing of small business and food stalls, and fines for offenses.

Each constituent has a “case file,” like a patient’s records, which documents in detail his or her problem, action taken by the MP, and progress, or lack of it, in resolving the case. This is far from a one-shot deal as constituents regularly follow up their cases or bring up new ones.

Each night, about 50-60 cases are discussed. Some opt to meet only with the volunteers if they don’t have the time to wait and talk to the MP. Several tables are spread out in a waiting area, where PAP volunteers huddle with the people.

Colleagues from Asean countries and I observed the process held at a rented office in a public housing building. Almost 20 journalists were hosted by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts as part of its program to reach out to the region’s media so we could get to know more of this city-state.

We saw a woman was in tears as she related hers and her husband’s plight: her husband was unable to work because he was in and out of the hospital while she, too, was ill. They couldn’t pay their housing loan (S$4,000) and it was continuing to build up.

Like a medical doctor, MP Osman gave the distressed woman a menu of options, like renting out one of the rooms in their flat so they earn some income or giving it up and moving to rental flats which are heavily subsidized by government. The downside is, the queue for rental flats is extremely long.

They discussed each option and MP Osman told the woman to think carefully and come back with her husband so they can decide what works best for them. The consultation ended with a little cheer-up talk from the MP.

The people who were there that night unburdened their problems which were actually variations of a theme: they needed help and some thought the system was not fair to them. “This is a political process. We explain why the system is fair, we explain the policy,” MP Osman told us in an interview.

He explained that they are able to resolve 20 percent of the appeals or cases brought to them. If it were more than this, MP Osman said, then it means that there’s something wrong with the policy and it needs to be changed or tweaked.

The MPs bring the experiences they have gained from their various meet-the-people sessions to parliament and these inform their discussions on laws and policies.

It was instructive to see this aspect of Singapore’s politics. We know about their rigidity in keeping a lid on dissent. Their press is free to report about the world but there are limits to reporting on their own issues, especially the two Rs, race and religion. These are highly sensitive matters which can rip apart the harmony they so treasure.

In parliament, there are currently two opposition members and this has only been recently increased to nine assured seats for them.

There’s a speaker’s corner in a public park where a citizen can say what he or she wants to tell the public—but one needs to register first.

But the flipside is, they have a release valve for grievances in these meetings with their MPs. It was an intense process that spoke to me about an aspect of democracy that we don’t see in the Philippines. No dole outs, no patronage; only great expectations that a politician and party they put in parliament will do good by them.

Surely, Singapore’s size makes this manageable. But the concept is worth taking a second look at. A colleague from Indonesia and I—we come from supposedly thriving democracies—agreed that we missed this in our countries.

Politics here is sanitized, by our standards. We were told that there are no professional politicians here, in the sense that they do politics for a living.

MPs and cabinet ministers are plucked from the private sector: they’re academics, CEOs, medical doctors (one is an eye surgeon), and lawyers. They give up their handsome salaries, say, S$2 million a year, to work with government where their income is pruned to S$ 1 million annually. Still, Singapore’s top government officials are among the best paid in the world.

After meeting with their ministers, I got the feeling that this country is a corporation, one that is tightly run. And they are committed to the brand they work for—Singapore.