Singaporean Public Servants are to have more opportunities to gain insight into other sectors.
Minister-in-charge of the Public Service, Chan Chun Sing said each officer could use up to 40 hours a year to participate in developmental activities with private, social and non-profit organisations.
Speaking during the debate on the Prime Minister’s Office’s budget, Mr Chan said these opportunities could either be made available by the Public Service Division (PSD) and other Agencies, or be self-sourced as long as the activities were developmental and did not lead to any conflict of interest.
“This is so that Public Service officers can better understand the partners they work with when rules and regulations are made, as well as to enrich the Public Service with new ideas and connections,” Mr Chan said.
Responding to MP, Melvin Yong’s point about developing the competencies of public officers, Mr Chan, who is also Minister for Education, said the Public Service intended to have greater porosity between it and the private and people sectors.
“An existing Talent Attachment Program will be extended as more opportunities will be sought,” he said.
“The number of people on this program has almost doubled in the past year.
“This program allows public officers to be attached to organisations outside the Public Service so that they can establish connections and bring back new ideas.”
Mr Chan said the Public Service also wanted to ensure that officers got the opportunity to be posted across different Agencies even if they performed the same function.
“Because even within the same functional areas, no two Agencies perform their functions in exactly the same way and we can, of course, learn from one another,” he said.
Singapore, 5 March 2022
