Dr Andrew Chew, Chairman of the Public Service Commission

Members of the PSC

Ladies and Gentlemen

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OUR FUTURE

I am pleased to be here with you this afternoon at the Public Service Commission’s annual scholarship award ceremony. First, let me congratulate the 34 scholars who have been awarded the PSC scholarships this year, as well as their parents and teachers.

GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIPS

2          The government has awarded scholarships to outstanding and committed young men and women since the early years of our independence. Back then, the task of nation building was imperative and urgent. The country needed to develop infrastructure and industries, to build homes and schools, and to ensure safety and security. The scholarship was an important strategy to find the most able Singaporeans, give them the best education possible, and set them to work to help build our nation.

3          In those days, getting a scholarship was a life-changing event. For many students, it was the only way they could further their studies, let alone go overseas. The scholars went to countries and pursued courses specified by the government. The urgent need for talent and skills meant that they had to return to Singapore and serve immediately after their studies. Serving a bond was not an issue, especially when good and secure jobs were hard to come by.

4          The situation today is quite different. Many families can now afford a university education without a scholarship. There is a wide variety of scholarships offered by Statutory Boards, GLCs, as well as private sector companies, which also recognise the importance of bringing able people into their ranks.

5          Young able people today have more choices and are more discerning when making their study and career choices. They are looking for challenging and satisfying jobs that also offer them opportunities for personal development. We welcome this, as this fits very well into the kind of public service and the type of public service leader that we need for the future.

6          Our PSC scholarship schemes have therefore changed in response to these new needs. Instead of specified courses, our scholars today are largely allowed to pursue courses they prefer, and in countries of their choice. They are encouraged to make full use of their time overseas to gain exposure. When they return, they are asked which ministries they prefer to work in, and these preferences are taken into account in their deployment. As Management Associates, our scholars attend development programmes to nurture their managerial skills and leadership instincts throughout their careers starting from the time they are students in their undergraduate years.

7          But even though we make changes to our PSC scholarship and career schemes, the underlying motive for scholarships remains unchanged — to attract and retain a sufficient number of our most able young Singaporeans to ensure that we continue to have an excellent, and excellently led, public service to serve Singapore and our people.

COMPLEX AND DIVERSE CHALLENGES

8          The need for an excellent public service is even more pertinent considering the challenges we face today. We need to restructure our economy. We also need to foster conditions necessary for enterprise, innovation, and wealth creation to continue to prosper. In security, we must tackle new, unconventional threats while maintaining a high level of deterrence and conventional defence. Socially, we need to strengthen Singaporeans cohesiveness and rootedness in the face of external forces that could rupture our racial harmony and social fabric. We also need to account to an increasingly discerning and demanding public.

9          In short, we are facing a more complex and diverse set of challenges today. As a government, we must be well positioned to address them. Our public sector talent pool should be more diverse, and it should develop new instincts to meet these new challenges.

A DIVERSE TALENT POOL

10         Building a diverse talent pool is an on-going effort by the government which starts when we offer scholarships. Over the years, PSC has offered our scholars the opportunity to study in many different countries. Since the 1960s, PSC scholars have studied in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, US, as well as China, Taiwan, France, Germany and Japan. Many of our scholars also studied locally in Singapore.

11         This spread of scholarship offers is deliberate. It ensures that the government always has a pool of people acquainted with different countries. Their diverse experiences enable us to tap on a wide network, and help to minimise “group think”.

12         This year, among the 34 PSC scholars, we have 3 scholars proceeding to China for studies. They are striking out in a new direction from the other PSC scholars of their cohort in seeking new challenges. They should be commended.

13         We want more of our scholars to consider studying in non-English speaking countries as they would not only have a different educational experience, but they would also learn a new language and be familiar with another culture. This experience will benefit them for life.

14         The collective experiences of our scholars will also benefit the country, as many of them will eventually become leaders in the public sector. While we have increased efforts to add diversity by recruiting able people from the private sector at mid-career, our scholars will continue to be the main source from which our future public service leaders are identified and groomed.

DEVELOPING PUBLIC SERVICE LEADERS

15         Having a diversified talent pool acquainted with key countries is not sufficient in itself. We need to develop new instincts to enable belier policy development and delivery.

16         At the annual Administrative Service Dinner in March, I spoke about the need to transform our public service to meet changing circumstances — the need for public sector leaders to take risk and embrace diversity; to deepen understanding of business and markets; and to enhance inter-agency cooperation.

17         In the new environment, sheer intellect — or IQ — is not sufficient. Our public service leaders need EQ — the capacity to motivate and work with others; and also a high degree of AQ — Adversity Quotient — the capacity to take failure and to keep trying until good ideas bear fruit.

18         Above all, they will need to understand the social and political context of Singapore in order to serve the public better. They will need to experience and understand markets and key countries to help position us to be nimble and competitive - to not only spot and take advantage of opportunities, but to create them for Singapore.

19         These are demanding qualities required of our scholars and public sector leaders. They need to be developed and honed overtime. With this in mind, the PSC has put in place a structured career development programme, the Management Associates Programme, or MAP.

Gap Year

20         For example, as part of their career development, our scholars can have a 1-year stint in a private sector company upon graduation under the Gap Year Programme.

21         During the Gap Year, the scholars are treated like employees of the company. They are assigned work and evaluated in the same way as other employees of the firm.

22 The response to Gap Year Programme has been good. Ten scholars have taken up challenge since 2003, with 6 of them working in China, 3 in Singapore, and the remaining scholar in Mumbai, India. These scholars worked in companies such as Asia Pacific Breweries, Motorola, Standard Chartered Bank, Sembcorp Logistics, and the Singapore Exchange.

23         Four of them have completed their 1-year stints in the private sector. Their companies have generally given good feedback on them. One of the scholars, who will become a chemistry teacher, was tasked to develop and implement Information Technology Solutions for his company although he had no prior IT knowledge. The company was appreciative of how he would always say ‘Yes, let me look into it” when faced with new tasks or problems. He also had to defend and ‘sell’ his IT proposal for the company to the entire senior management who initially disagreed with him.

24         The Gap Year companies also said that the scholars were able to provide fresh perspectives and introduce new ways of doing things. In fact, one company was so satisfied with the performance of the scholar that it was even tempted to hire him! But both the scholar and the company know that the scholar is keen to pursue a career in the public sector.

25         On risk-taking, one company felt that their scholar was too risk-adverse, although they thought that this could be due to a lack of experience. However, another company mentioned that our scholars generally displayed excellent analytical skills, which is an important attribute for a good risk-taker.

26         All the four scholars felt that it was an eye-opening experience. One scholar, who was working in China, learnt the importance of establishing good personal rapport when doing business in China. He found that it could be initially time consuming to just listen and banter, but once a comfortable relationship is established, work gets accomplished much faster in the long term.

27         Overall, the Gap Year companies were generally pleasantry surprised by our scholars. They saw dynamic, creative, outgoing and driven future public sector officers, contrary to their stereotype image of civil servants. On the scholars’ part, all of them have learned new things from their private sector experience, both locally and overseas, and are eager to put them to good use when they join the service.

28         I hope that the new scholars, like their seniors, will make use of opportunities like the Gap Year to understand the business environment, and more importantly bring back new ideas to the public sector.

In-service Development Programmes

29         This process of development will continue throughout an officer’s career in the public service. This will include deploying Management Associates to 2 ministries in the first 4 years, and attendance of mile-stone in-service courses where officers from different ministries will exchange experiences. This will allow the officer to gain a wide perspective of governance in Singapore, and learn to address issues as one government so that we can position Singapore to meet challenges effectively, and serve Singaporeans better.

IN THE SERVICE OF OUR NATION

30         As the 34 scholars receive their awards today, they are taking the first step in joining the ranks of distinguished men and women who have contributed in a special way to our nation.

31         The PSC scholarship awarded to you is not just in recognition of your leadership qualities and all-rounded performance in school, but also in the expectation that you will contribute in a significant way to our country and our people.

32         Reflect upon the Scholars’ Pledge that you will take. It speaks of the honour bestowed upon each scholar; and it exhorts every one of you to serve our fellow Singaporeans with humility, empathy and compassion.

33         I wish you the very best for the future, as you embark on a meaningful and deeply satisfying career in the service of our nation and people.