THE SINGAPORE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have been asked by the Prime Minister to deliver a Statement on the Singapore Administrative Service on his behalf.

The quality of a nation depends on the quality of its people and government. Good government requires political and administrative leadership of indisputable integrity, ability and dedication.

The public sector needs a fair share of the best brains to tackle the complex economic and social problems Singapore will face in the next two decades. The thrust of our economy will continue to depend on the entrepreneurial vigour and business acumen of our private sector but its management will require sophisticated skills and administra- tive excellence in the public sector. Singapore's rapid development in the last two decades has opened up career opportunities hitherto unavailable for persons with talent outside the public service. The Singapore Administrative Service, as the premier service in the public sector, must therefore be attractive enough for it to recruit and retain a fair proportion of the cream of our graduates. The terms and conditions of the Administrative Service must match the best in the private sector.

The Government has compared the incomes of graduates in the public and private sectors. This was done by constructing a comprehensive income profile of the graduate population in Singapore from a number of authoritative sources.

The findings of the income comparison between graduates in the public and private sectors suggest that while the average officer in the Administrative Service earns as much as the average officer in the private sector, the remuneration of the outstanding Administrative Officer is much less than that of the top 5% of the salaried graduates in the private sector. The starting remuneration in the Administrative Service is generally more attractive than in the private sector but the outstanding executive in the private sector soon outstrips his peer in the Administrative Service. Although those who reach the top echelon of the private sector earn far more than the top Administrative Officers, the skills, drive and dedication required of both in the respective sector are comparable. This disparity in rewards puts the highflyers in the Administrative Service at a disadvantage.

From this study of incomes of graduates in the private sector and the public sector, the Government has concluded that the immediate problem is not one of inadequate financial rewards for the average Administrative Officer. It is the problem of gross disparity between what the outstanding graduates are earning in the private sector compared to what the highflyers are earning in the Administrative Service. This revision to the salary structure of the Administrative Service is to put right this gap in earnings of top graduates. For the present, a general salary revision is not necessary. Whether a revision will become necessary in 2 - 3 years' time depends on the growth of private sector incomes for the average graduates compared to those in the public sector.

The outstanding officers in the Administrative Service can best be rewarded through (a) the creation of additional Time-scale, Superscale and Staff Grades, and (b) frequent promotions within the revised salary structure to enable the outstanding officers to maintain parity with their peers in the private sector.

New Salary Grades

The Government has, therefore, decided to create the following grades in its Administrative Service: -

(a) Three Staff Grades I, II and III above Superscale A;

(b) Two Superscale Grades D1 and C1; and

(c) A Senior Administrative Assistant grade between Administrative Assistant and Assistant Secretary grades.

I would now like to table the revised salary structure for the Singapore Administrative Service. [Annex A (Cols. 375 - 376) handed in to the Clerk and distributed to hon. Members] Mr Speaker, Sir, from the table you will notice that, henceforth, only Superscale Grade C and above will be known as Permanent Secretary grades. The salaries for the various Staff Grades, Superscale Grades D1 and C1, are all indicated in the table which has just been circulated to Members. Annex A (Cols. 375 - 376)

The three new Superscale Staff Grades will demonstrate beyond doubt that the most outstanding civil servants can aspire to levels of remuneration approximating those of the chief executives of large private enterprises. These Staff Grades will act as an incentive to serving officers and as an attraction to the bright young graduates commencing or contemplating a career in the civil service.

The three Staff Grades I, II and III will be brought into operation in stages in three promotion exercises, once every 15 to 24 months. They will be filled only if there are deserving officers. Thus, at the earliest, Staff Grade III will be filled only in 3 3/4 to 6 years' time.

Accelerated Promotion

The new Senior Administrative Assistant grade will enable the Public Service Commission (PSC) to accord promotion to promising officers in the Timescale grades more quickly. Outstanding Administrative Assistants, particularly those who have completed full time National Service, can expect to be promoted to this grade within their first few years of service. These are the officers who are more likely to leave the service if they feel they are not making sufficiently quick progress in their career. Promotion at shorter time-intervals confers recognition and a sense of forward movement.

Similarly, the two Superscale Grades D1 and C1, together with the existing Super-scale Grade B1, will give the PSC flexibility in promoting meritorious and dedicated officers.

To enhance the attractiveness of the Administrative Service, in future officers in the Timescale and Superscale Grades E and below can be recommended for annual promotion. The ablest may be allowed to jump grades. Promotion will not depend on vacancies but on merit alone. Officers will not be forgotten even if posted to what are generally regarded as mundane jobs. Talent will be spread over all Ministries.

With ability recognised through frequent promotions, it should be possible for an outstanding officer to advance rapidly from cadetship to the grade of Permanent Secretary, Superscale C, in 12 to 15 years.

Future Salary Review

Salaries in the Administrative Service will be reviewed periodically in the light of per- formance of the economy and comparable opportunities and remuneration levels in the private sector. Adjustments, apart from those through annual National Wages Council (NWC) increases, will be made if the rewards for the best in the public sector get out of line with those enjoyed by outstanding executives in the private sector.

The next review will be made in 2 1/2 - 3 years' time. It will be preceded by a thorough study of rewards in the public and private sectors.

Professional Services

A Ministerial Committee headed by the Minister for Trade and Industry has been set up to look into the terms and conditions of the Professional and Other Services, It will submit its recommendations to the Cabinet within three months.

I must add that whatever changes there are to the Professional or Other Services, the pre-eminence of the Administrative Service will be the cornerstone of all services. This is our premier service. Top administrators help Ministers to formulate and to decide on national policies. These policies affect all sectors of society. Therefore, we must have our best and balanced minds as top administrators.

Only one smaller group of officers is more important. They are the SAF scholar officers. They will have career prospects as good as, and rates of promotion faster than, top administrators. The reason is compelling. In an emergency, they are responsible for the lives of more than 70% of our young men in the active and reserve service. In ordinary times, they help decide how we spend 5% of our GDP or about 16% of our Budget.

Had we recognised this and insisted on high calibre administrators and SAF scholar officers 20, or even 10, years ago, Singapore would have been better off today. It is better that we put this right forthwith than leave our spread of talent to chance. We would then end up with talent in the wrong places, ill-adjusted and ill-suited to the needs of our future.

3.45 p.m.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Sir, since such a move will benefit only a small group, namely, the ablest or, as the Hon. Minister has just mentioned, the highflyers at the top echelon in the Singapore Administrative Service, would the implementation of this new policy not discourage or bring about dissatisfaction or even frustration to the average Administrative Officers and lesser peers in the Administrative Service?

Mr Ho See Beng: Sir, on a point of clarification. If Government's recognition of the service of its officers is based on merit or performance, why is the annual increment of an Honours degree graduate twice as much as that of the general degree graduate?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not think that the average Administrative Officer needs feel frustrated by the revision to the salary structure. As a comparison of the incomes of graduates between the public sector and the private sector shows, the incomes of the average Administrative Officers in the public sector are comparable to what their peers are earning outside. The existing salary range of the Singapore Administrative Service allows sufficient flexibility for the average officer to move at a rate which is commensurate with the rate of progress of his counterpart in the private sector. I do not think that in our effort to attract the best into the Administrative Service, the average Administrative Officer needs to feel frustrated.

On the second question, Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the disparity in annual increments between the Honours graduate and the general degree graduate is because generally one would expect an Honours graduate, given the better formal qualification which is a reflection of his talent and ability, to contribute more than the general degree graduate.

Mr Ho See Beng: Does the Minister mean to say that the merit or performance does not matter?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Merit or performance matters a lot, Mr Speaker, Sir. But the officers would move upwards within their own salary scales or the Service in which they are in.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Sir, whilst I agree that we have to introduce such a policy to retain the ablest and the best within the Administrative Service, we must also not forget that the Executive Officers as well as those in the Clerical Service also play an important role in the civil service. In that respect, Sir, would the Hon. Minister consider looking into the statement I have posed?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Sir, the head and the legs must function together, and I take the point that the Executive Service and the Clerical Service are important to the proper functioning of the Government.

The point is whether the salary scales of the Executive Service and the Clerical Service are such that we are not able to attract suitable officers to serve in these two particular services. I understand that up to now there is no great difficulty in recruiting the necessary personnel for these two services. Therefore, it would seem to suggest that at this particular moment there is no need for us to look into these two services with a view to a general revision of their salary scales. There is no compelling reason why we need to do so at this stage anyway.

Dr Augustine H.H. Tan (Whampoa): Mr Speaker, Sir, I think we can agree in general with the observations made by the Senior Minister of State -

Some hon. Members: Minister for Trade and Industry.

Dr Augustine Tan: I am sorry. It is a slip of the tongue, Sir, but it is easily explained. Sir, we seem to be in the habit of demoting people by creating new grades. So even if I had demoted the Hon. Minister for a moment, it may come in the future if there is a super Ministerial post being created.

Everybody in the civil service has been demoted because of the additional grades created at the top. Those who thought they were already at the top of the ladder now are three rungs below the top.

I mention this, Sir, because at the University people are reacting this way. The Professors who are already at the top now find another rank above them, super Professor or Senior Professor. There is no guarantee that in the years to come there might even be higher ranks of civil servants or Professors.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I did not detect a question in the comment made by the hon. Member. Nevertheless, I would give a reply. For the University, I do not know whether the Member would prefer that there is no creation of new posts. I thought the creation of new posts above the existing highest grade is to allow them a further opportunity to move upwards. I am surprised if the University Professors do not appreciate that this is to allow the ablest of the Professors to move upwards.

Dr Augustine Tan: Sir, what you get as a result is a demotion in terms of status. Money is one thing but status is another. If you just measure everything by the amount of money you get, then I think we are a very sorry kind of society indeed.