PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION (PMO)

BG Lee Hsien Loong Deputy Prime Minister

Serving Singaporeans - Today, Tomorrow

1. The Singapore Public Service will work with the elected government to shape Singapore's future, forge a common vision among Singaporeans and transform this vision into reality. The goal is a dynamic, successful and vibrant nation of excellence, with a safe, secure and stable environment.

2. In a world of constant and rapid change, the Public Service cannot just keep up with developments in Singapore and abroad. It must also point and lead the way forward. It must develop and facilitate programmes for national growth, and be a model for efficiency, innovation and service quality. If creativity and enterprise are key elements for Singapore's continuing success, the Public Service must exemplify and promote these attributes.

PS21 - Public Service for the 21st Century

3. PS21 - Public Service for the 21st Century - is the Public Service's programme for meeting the challenges ahead. Our public service must be one of the best in the world. The thrust of PS21 is to make public officers "activists for change" - open to continuous improvement, and receptive to continuous learning.

4. The Public Service has to be forward-looking and adaptable. Ministries will use scenario-based planning to help them anticipate the future. The Public Service must go beyond the role of regulator and controller, to also be facilitator and nurturer in building up a thriving private sector, and a citizenry active in community and national life.

Excellence in Service

5. Singaporeans have steadily rising expectations for quality and excellence in the delivery of public services. We will harness information technology to the maximum. At the same time we need the human face and personal touch. The Public Service will emphasise customer orientation to serve the public with constantly improving standards of quality and efficiency, courtesy and convenience.

People the Key

6. How forward-looking, progressive and capable the Public Service can be will depend on the quality of its people. This requires good personnel management practices in recruiting, assessing, training, developing, motivating and rewarding public officers at all levels. We will make more use of psychometric instruments in selecting and deploying officers. These will look beyond educational attainments to their other personal qualities.

7. We will make the employment structure more flexible, to help us deploy and develop serving officers, and open up flexible work opportunities for housewives, students and retirees. We will develop and refine comprehensive and rigorous systems to assess performance and potential, the key factors in appointing and promoting officers. We must keep terms of service competitive, and pay attention to the personal well being of staff members.

8. To harness the creativity and ability of every officer requires bold, discerning leadership, open to new ideas and contrary views. The Public Service will do more in management and leadership development, and training on the principles of governance and the practice of policy.

9. The Government will continue to offer undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships to keep up a continuing flow of top talent into the public sector. It will adjust scholarship terms as necessary to keep them attractive.

10. We will continue to devolve responsibility and authority to autonomous agencies in government. Senior officers will have to spend more time on personnel issues. Ministries will be given more authority in personnel decisions, to respond better to their particular needs and circumstances. The Public Service Division will increasingly take on the role of setting standards and auditing practices.

11. The Public Service targets for every officer to receive at least 100 hours of training a year by the Year 2000. Every officer will, working with his supervisor, develop an individual training roadmap to plan his training needs. Every supervisor will be a trainer, spending time to develop his officers.

12. The training arms of the Civil Service College - the Institute of Policy Development and the Institute of Public Administration - play pivotal roles in transforming the Public Service. Both institutes will be staffed with competent instructors, and will be moving into new premises fitted with the latest facilities. The College's Consulting Group will advise and assist ministries in training and developing their staff. The Civil Service College will also house the ASEAN Resource Centre for Management Innovations, a collective effort with the other ASEAN Civil Services to gather and propagate new ideas and practices to improve performance.