Reply to Forum Letters on Scholarship Holders in Public Service

The Straits Times
08 December 2012

No guaranteed path to the top

We thank Mr Harvey Neo ("Repercussions of meritocracy: Prized scholarships bear examination"; Wednesday), Mr Bryan Chow ("Meritocracy's about, well, merit"; yesterday) and Mr Ong Soon Leong ("Enough scholarships for deserving students"; yesterday).

We agree fully that success is not defined by winning a prestigious government scholarship.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) looks for people with the passion to serve Singapore, not those who want a scholarship just to get another award.

It assesses applicants based on whole-person qualities, and looks beyond grades and co-curricular achievements.

It looks for people with the character, commitment and capability to contribute to the public service.

Scholarship recipients have to serve out a bond in the public sector, and not all students find this an attractive prospect, given the many competing opportunities in the private sector.

For those keen to join the public sector, we would like to highlight that a PSC scholarship is but one of many routes. There are many other opportunities to join the public service, including after graduation and in mid-career.

Career advancement in the public service is not based on academic achievements.

All officers are rigorously assessed based on their performance and potential before they are promoted. Our scholarship holders know that potential alone, without performance, will not get them far.

Through this merit-based system, able and promising non-scholarship holders have joined the Management Associates Programme and the Administrative Service, and others have risen to top positions in the specialist services.

In summary, scholarship holders have no guaranteed path to the top.

They must demonstrate both potential and performance in actual work.

And officers who did not start as PSC scholarship holders but have performed well have equal opportunities to advance and develop themselves, often through scholarships in mid-career.

Basic to all this is the principle of meritocracy, which gives all Singaporeans equal opportunities to realise their potential and advance in life.

James Wong
Secretary
Public Service Commission