SINGAPORE
The integrity of Singapore’s Public Service is being questioned, with people asking whether it can be trusted to know its own blind spots or to take responsibility for its mistakes, public sector leaders have been told.
Addressing the annual dinner of the Administrative Service, Minister for Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing (pictured) said integrity for the Public Service meant recognising its strengths and weaknesses and acknowledging the need to do better and taking responsibility for what had been done.
While the Minister did not go into specifics, there has been a series of lapses in the public sector.
These include the SingHealth data breach, in which hackers stole the personal data of 1.5 million patients, the leak of HIV-positive patient data, and the personal information of blood donors being improperly put online by an IT vendor.
Mr Chan said that for the Public Service to check its own blind spots, officers must never believe they had all the best ideas, all the necessary skills or that they could carry out all tasks alone.
“To this end, the Public Service must build diverse teams for resilience,” Mr Chan said.
He said a good Public Service needs teams who can do policy well, have operational experience on the ground, can communicate well, and have international exposure and perspectives.
“This is why I ask the Public Service to review the way we select and develop our leaders,” Mr Chan said.
The Minister said he was glad the Head of the Civil Service, Leo Yip and the Public Service Commission were reviewing the way officers were selected and groomed.
Mr Chan noted there was a “very refined system” of selection and progression now, and the more refined it was, the greater was the danger that all officers would be measured with the same yardstick.
“If we are all the same, it can make us brittle and fragile as a system,” he said.
“We need to build our resilience through diversity of strengths and bond the individuals into a cohesive and coherent team.”
During the ceremony, 13 officers were appointed to the Administrative Service and another 59 were promoted.
Singapore, 21 April 2019
