Goh Choon Guan

Ever since young, my parents have inculcated in me a moral duty to give back to society. As such, during my years in school, I would always be on the lookout for any volunteering activities that catered mostly to the young, elderly and disabled. As the years progressed, I naturally felt that a career in the Public Service would align to my own personal values of giving back to society. Hence, when the opportunity to sign up for the PSC scholarship arose, I naturally signed up for it, accepted the offer when it arrived, and never looked back. Privileged to have been provided with the means to continue with my further education comfortably, it is only natural for me to pay it forward through serving the general public when I graduate.

As part of the PSC Scholarship Holders’ Mid-Course Programme (PSMP), I managed to do an internship stint with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Coincidentally, I joined MOF at the time when DPM Heng Swee Keat announced the Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets. Although I was swamped with work, helping out my colleagues with manpower resource allocation, the experience opened my eyes and I was able to appreciate the amount and variety of work public officers had to do behind the scenes, which we would never have thought of before. Although the internship was entirely work-from-home, I was able to gain a mountain of experience, and I was able to pick up a few handy tips or two with regards to my future career in the Public Service.

During the course of my student life, I was greatly involved in hall activities, such as organising and conducting orientation camps, and making good friends along the way. NTU also had a wide diversity of professors with a multitude of experiences under their belt, which helped value-add to our education along the way. In addition, I embarked on 3 public sector related internships and a private sector internship during my summer breaks to better prepare myself for my future career. I also managed to travel to places such as Switzerland and the United States before COVID struck, enabling me to catch a breather and mentally recharge myself in between semesters in school.

Passionate. Contrary to popular belief, we actually do see a lot of dedicated public officers behind the scenes, having constructive discourse about even the little details behind each and every policy that is being crafted, that goes unnoticed even among the public officers themselves.

Find your passion, and read. Read a lot and work hard, but don’t forget to take a breather at times, especially when stress levels are high and deadlines are looming. While you are a student, go out and explore the different opportunities that the school provides, be it for a volunteering activity, taking part in case competitions, or the more unique clubs that may exist in the school. Broaden your horizons while you  are still young, but most importantly, to be able to enjoy what you do, you should do what you enjoy.