Christopher Gordon

After my A-Levels, I had applied for a number of scholarships with both public and private sector organisations. I was fortunate to get a number of offers, but finally decided to take up the PSC scholarship. At the risk of sounding trite, I genuinely believed in the mission and noble calling of the Public Service; the wide variety of interesting career opportunities offered under the Singapore Public Service also made me excited to take on the scholarship. 

There were a lot of useful career and professional development programmes offered under the PSC scholarship; including for those who are on-course e.g., PSC Scholarship Holders’ Mid-Course Programme (PSMP) and for those who are in-service e.g., Foundation Course. These programmes helped to widen my thinking and broaden my exposure to a wide range of key policy issues and challenges facing Singapore. These were also useful opportunities to network with and strengthen camaraderie and friendships with fellow public officers from all tracks of Government. 

After a number of postings across a variety of Public Sector agencies including Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Communications Group and Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), I finally found a niche for myself in the area of Government communications and stakeholder engagement. It is an area of work which I am personally passionate and excited about; and an area where I feel I can really value-add to the work of the Public Service.  

One of my most memorable projects is working with my current team in MCI Media Division to drive innovative ideas to improve Whole of Government messaging in the digital media space. Given the rapid shift in news consumption towards digital media platforms across all age segments, my team has been working closely with the accredited media to see how we can bring out key Government messages more effectively on such digital media platforms. We have a very fun time brainstorming such creative “Made for Digital” media features; and this reflects the very fun, dynamic, and innovative culture which prospective scholarship holders can look forward to when they take on the PSC scholarship. 

Nothing major. I took on the PSC scholarship with an open mind and did not have many preconceived notions about what a career in the Public Service would be like. I guess the only misconception I may have had is the aged old myth about the Public Service being a very bureaucratic, “paper pushing” kind of organisation. Thankfully, having spent more than a decade in service and counting, I am proud to say that is not the case. I have met many colleagues who are open-minded, innovative and who seek to push the boundaries of what’s possible; in order to achieve better outcomes for Singaporeans. I have also worked with great bosses who focus on creating a positive and encouraging work environment for their teams; and who guide and coach their team members to bring out the best in them. I constantly reflect on my own leadership practices and challenge myself to be a similarly inspiring and dynamic leader to my team members. 

If I may, I think the paired words “divine discontent” best sum up the spirit of the Singapore Public Service. PM Lee Hsien Loong described this very well in his National Day Rally 2016 speech: “What I would like to have is that we be blessed with a divine discontent. Always not quite satisfied with what we have, always driven to do better.” Having served more than a decade in various roles in the Singapore Public Service, I am proud to say that this spirit is well and alive in the Singapore Public Service; and is our key driving force as public officers.

Don’t view a scholarship as a sponsorship for your studies. Think of it as a calling. Ask yourself what kind of career you are passionate about; one which you would be excited to wake up to every morning