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012
ober 2
r / oct
e
b
m
e
sept
Best Government Publication (Silver)
What a dog
and a Pile
of
rubbish
taught the Public Service
s fr om th e gr ou nd
Se rv ic e de li ve ry le ss on
08
FRom A DOG AND A PILE OF
RUBBISH: PUBLIC SERVICE
DELIVERY LESSONS
How the Public Service is coping with rising public expectations
38
FREE YOUR MIND
BEFORE YOU LOSE IT
Making a Lasting Power of
Attorney could help you do that
04
FEATURES
Walking in the Public’s Shoes
HIGHLIGHTS
NEWS FROM THE SERVICE
38
VIEWPOINTS
05
EMERGING MARKETS
TRADE MISSIONARIES
Exploring unchartered territories for
the good of the nation
14
ONLY STRONG HEARTS
NEED APPLY
Two frontline staff on the ups and
downs of their jobs
16
WORLD’S OLDEST
CORRUPTION FIGHTER
CPIB celebrates 60 years of
fighting corruption
30
LIKE CANARY BIRDS IN THE
COAL MINE
Artic Circle leaders share what climate
change and rapid development have
brought to the North Pole
32
A CRADLE FOR INNOVATION
02
Inbox
Your views on the July/Aug issue
of Challenge
03
Your Say
DOES THE PUBLIC SERVICE
HAVE A FUNNY BONE? We asked readers for their views
18
Thinking Aloud
DO YOU KNOW MORE THAN
YOUR BOSS?
Teo Hee Lian says you should
27
Letters to a Young
Public Officer
HONOUR YOUR PROFESSION
Ho Peng, Director-General of Education,
shares lessons from her teaching career
Real science takes place at Science
Centre Singapore
28
A Cuppa With…
“WE HAVE A STRONG
ADVERSITY QUOTIENT.”
34
MAKING A BALD STATEMENT
Three officers from Vital shave their
heads for a good cause
Land Transport Authority chief
Chew Hock Yong on the challenges
of managing Singapore’s public
transportation infrastructure
ON THE JOB
05
Walking in a public officer’s shoes isn’t easy nowadays.
The minute people find out I’m a public officer, they can’t wait to tell me what’s
wrong with the Public Service. Recently an acquaintance said to me, “They make
decisions using this,” pointing to her head. “But do they also use this?” she asked,
this time pointing to her heart. Her question summed up one prevalent public
sentiment about us: we lack empathy.
rest & relax
19
37
The Challenge PullOut
THE HIGHLY CONDENSED
SONGBOOK
8 pages of must-know music content
Officers with a passion
HE IS A CONSTANT GARDENER
An NParks officer with a love for all
things green
40
life.style
SHOPPING FOR NOSTALGIA
Retro furniture shops that celebrate
the timeless beauty of the past
44
The Irreverent Last Page
THE NO WRONG DOOR POLICY
No wrong door, but a long corridor?
28
September/O
Watch Tupac perform with Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg
at bit.ly/tupacperforms
DID YOU KNOW?
Kitaro scrapped a concert here in
1984 because Singapore officials
demanded he snip off his luscious
locks before they would let him enter,
in line with a government campaign
against men with long hair.
19
ctober 2012
CLASSICAL
PERFECTION
pages of must-know music content
19-26
If you’ve always wanted
to wade into the realm of
classical music or wondered
what the Millennials are
listening to, then you’ve come
to the right place. Step right
in and immerse yourself as
we conduct you through, in
1, 2, 3 and…
LISTEN
Skrillex is one of the most prominent
dubsteppers of our time. Listen
at bit.ly/skrillex_dubstep. Check
out dubstep pioneer Skream at
bit.ly/dubstep_skream. For a more
mainstream, dubstep-influenced
tune, listen to Britney Spears’s Hold It
Against Me at bit.ly/dubstep_britney.
In the 1998 film The Red Violin,
a fabled “perfect violin” travels
between hands, leaving love, loss
and heartbreak in its wake. With a
moving soundtrack from world class
violinist Joshua Bell. We guarantee
you won’t fall asleep halfway through.
CLASSICAL
MUSIC
CHEAT SHEET
If you ever feel like sounding
more cultured…
DAWN
OF
DUBSTEP
The disconcertingly syncopated
rhythms of Dubstep emerged in
late-1990s south London, and have
worked their way into mainstream
consciousness since. Manipulation
of drum and bass tracks produces
the “wubwub” sound seemingly
omnipresent in most pieces, which
aren’t for the faint-hearted.
So while we may have some way to go in first-class service delivery, one
good way forward may be to take a walk in the public’s shoes. It would
help us to walk a little easier in our own.
Tips from an engagement strategist
MUSIC
ENOUGH
TO RAISE
THE DEAD
Virtual appearances have existed
for years, but the technology shot to
prominence when an original Tupac
Shakur graphic performed at the
Coachella music festival. The dead
rapper’s graphic was created out of
his videos and photos. With Dr Dre
planning on touring with the virtual
Tupac, the opportunities for bringing
back more dead stars seem endless.
Yet, inside these pages you will also find stories of empathetic officers. In A
Cuppa With… Land Transport Authority’s CEO, Chew Hock Yong, shares how
he has tasked his senior management team to put themselves in the shoes of
the average commuter, so as to come up with better ways of getting around.
Only Strong Hearts Need Apply tells of the patience and perseverance of staff at
Community Mediation Centres in getting conflicting parties to the mediation
table. In Letters to a Young Public Off icer, Director-General of Education, Ho
Peng, relates how listening to students, parents and teachers helped her as a
principal.
Happy reading!
36LEVEL UP
INCUBATING SOCIAL MEDIA Communities & ADVOCATES
I can understand the public’s frustration sometimes. One example from this issue’s
cover story From a Dog and a Pile of Rubbish: Public Service Delivery Lessons tells
of how a passer-by had reported that a dog was knocked down by a car, only to be
subjected to a whole string of questions about whether the dog was dead or alive,
and whether it was lying on the road or the grass. This was to determine which
agency was responsible, but incidences like this irritate the public as they are not
interested in who is in charge. They just want the problem resolved.
PU
LLO
Aria: Meaning “air” in Italian, arias
are self-contained songs for a solo
voice within an opera, for example,
Mi Chiamano Mimi from La Boheme.
Get your DJ to steer clear of
these popular wedding tunes so
you don’t kill the romance.
From This Moment On by Shania Twain – Skip this if
you want a unique wedding experience. So overplayed
it’s not even funny.
My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion – Harking to
a tragically doomed love story on what should be the
happiest day of your life does not bode well.
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston – It’s a
bit late (and out of place) to be thinking of “bittersweet
memories” at your wedding, don’t you think? Avoid this
breakup song like the plague.
UT
Soprano: On a scale of vocal ranges
from earth-shaking boom to glassshattering trill, the list goes from bass,
baritone, tenor, contralto, mezzosoprano to soprano. Maria Callas, one
of opera’s greatest divas, was a soprano.
40
Sonata: Music of a particular form
containing four distinct movements
ranging in melody, rhythm and
tempo, most widely developed
during the Classical period from
1750 to 1820.
Vivace: A direction for a piece
to be played in a lively manner.
To find out more, the Austin Symphony has a
comprehensive glossary: bit.ly/austinsymphony
Editor
Tan Hui Min
Top and pants Gap Blazer Banana Republic Shoes Forever 21
Cover STORY
Your Say03
HA~ HA
UST 2012
JULY / AUG
Publisher
INBOX
INBOX
44 The Irre
verent Las
t
PUBLIC
OFFICER
PS21 Office, Public Service Division,
Prime Minister’s Office
We couldn’
t resist com
ing up with
a vers
Internet
meme. Do ion of the “What
you agree?
I really do”
100 High Street, #07-01 The Treasury
Singapore 179434
Email: [email protected]
Web : www.challenge.gov.sg
I was pleasantly
surprised when I saw
For enquiries or feedback on Challenge,
please write to the Challenge Editorial Team
at [email protected].
whip out a copy of
Challenge during
reservist training.
Agnes Kwek
Editor
Tan Hui Min
Assistant Editors
You know you’re
doing something
right when you make
Ruth Lim, Christopher Teo & Geraldine Yeoh
Editorial Assistant
Eric Loy
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd
298 River Valley Road Level 2
Singapore 238339
Tel : 6836-4030
Fax : 6836-4029
Email: [email protected]
Web : www.tuberproductions.com
it to the reading list
of tired men during
outfield training.
Management
Leon Voon
Director
Lee Han Shih
PSD
Project Director
Liew Wei Ping
Editorial
Contributing Editor
Bridgette See
Staff Writers
Chen Jingting & Siti Maziah Masramli
Contributors
Douglas Chew, Richard Hartung, Abigail Kang,
CK Koo, Ryandall Lim, Wong Sher Maine &
Sheralyn Tay
Creative
Creative Director
Ashik
Art Director
Yip Siew Fei
Graphic Designer
Ng Shi Wei
Cont ributing Photog raphers
The digital copy is
definitely useful
and the content is
exciting, as usual.
Keep up the
good work!
Lewis Liu
All information correct at time of printing.
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(Registration No: 197801823M)
57 Loyang Drive Singapore 508968
Wh at my
mum thin
ks I do
It was very
amusing and
had good
suggestions,
especially Commandment
V on avoiding awkward
moments at work!
Lim Chee Gee
IDA
Wh at citiz
ens
thin k I
do
Wh at I
real ly do
Need We
I don’t usually pay much heed to
Challenge but my interest was
piqued to pick up the July/Aug copy.
I started with your Editor’s note; I
even took the extra step of googling
for Nipun Mehta’s Baccalaureate
address because of your brief
mention of it. It is such an insightful
and positive speech, providing so
much for reflection. Thank you for
a wonderful issue of Challenge –
I really like how this
mag has morphed into a
modern, relevant read.
Well done! I look forward to
future issues (I promise I will be
looking out for these in future).
Our Public Officer Meme
went viral online, with more than
1,000 Facebook shares!
So we asked readers if they think that the
Public Service has a funny bone or whether
public officers take themselves too seriously.
Here are their views.
a little more
. Have ideas
or jokes
abou t the
Publi c Servi
ce?
As public off icers, we need to strike a balance between being professional, and
being human enough to laugh at ourselves. People who can laugh at themselves
are humble and approachable – traits that are equally important to a public
off icer. Being serious when the time calls for it and having a sense of humour
are virtues of a truly well-rounded individual.
M
Congratulations Murshida! We’re sending you a $100 Sistic voucher so you can use it to
catch a side-splitting comedy show! Bring a (serious) friend, maybe?
Moh
urshida
’s
Pe o p l e
d Kadir
Associa
tion
Of course we have a funny bone, simply because we are all human beings
to begin with. We joke and spread joy to our family and friends, so
why not just extend it to the rest of the Service? I feel we should be our
true selves and contribute the best we can in the workplace, whilst still
upholding integrity as a public officer.
Allyne Han
CPF Board
Heng San San
MCYS
Using humour to raise public awareness can create a positive view of the
Public Service. The high number of shares that the meme generated is
good evidence of our success in engaging the public. With similar efforts
in the future, not only will we gain strong public support, we will also be
able to attract more talent into the Service.
40 The Irreverent Last Page
I liked The Noob’s Ten
Commandments of the
Public Service.
Wh at I
thin k I
do
Say More?
Here’s wher
e we let
Email us:
the humo
psd_ chall
ur
enge @psd loose , and learn
to laugh
.gov. sg
at ourse
lves
PSD
John Heng (www.daphotographer.com)
Justin Loh (shininghead.com)
Norman Ng (www.normanng.com)
Challenge is published bimonthly by
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd (Registration No:
200703697K) for PS21 Office, Public Service
Division, Prime Minister’s Office. Copyright
of the materials contained in this magazine
belongs to PS21 Office. Nothing in here shall
be reproduced in whole or in part without prior
written consent of PS21 Office. Views expressed
in this magazine are not necessarily those of
PS21 Office or Tuber Productions Pte Ltd and
no liabilities shall be attached there to.
All rights reserved.
thin k I
do
Wh at my
bos s thin
ks I do
I
important
Thou shalt address
never by
people by their ranks,
use “Dear DD…”,
their names. So
morning, PS”.
“Dear PS…” or “Good
loo.
Yes, even in the
II
correct when
Thou shalt be politically
carbon copying
writing emails by
ng order of rank.
people in descendi
III
and
emails in concise
Thou shalt draft
. Avoid sharing
non-emotive language
sad self.
sob stories of thy
IV
e and
to understand, appreciat up of
Thou shalt attempt
made
k – a language largely
embrace gov-spea
.
mind-boggling acronyms
V
awkward
the art of evading
Thou shalt learn
in the lift. “Oops,
the PS, especially
one-on-ones with
an important
loo!” or “I forgot
I need to use the
es work.
document” sometim
Need We Say More?
Suguna Sundaram
Singapore Prison Service
VI
And when thou faileth
to
avoid the PS, thou shalt
avoid
foot-in-mouth disease
by keeping
mum until spoken to.
VII
Thou shalt arrive early
at
meetings to get the
best seat...
in the back row.
VIII
Thou shalt master the
art of sleeping with
eyes wide open at meetings.
Unless thou art
the designated minute-tak
er.
IX
Thou shalt never attempt
to
understand why finance
procedures
are so complicated.
X
Thou shalt master the
art of networking.
When thou art stumped,
there will
always be someone
who can help.
DISCLAIMER: The
Challenge n00b Induction
Team holds
no responsibility
for any loss of income
or drop in
as a result of n00bs
following these commandmenCEP
ts.
*n00b: Slang for a
newcomer, or someone
inexperienced
Here’s where we let the humour loose, and learn to laugh at ourselves a little more. Have ideas or jokes about the Public Service?
Email us: [email protected]
Illustration by Mindflyer
Bernice Tang
Wh at my
frie nds
my fellow NSmen
Editorial Advisor
Sub-editor
Page
~
A
~
H
A
H
HA~
~
This meme proves that public officers do have a funny bone. It builds on
the existing ideas (or stereotypes, if you wish) of how people perceive the
Public Service. All public officers understand the meaning of “wayang”
and “getting arrowed”; this helps us bond, something which we can joke
about during coffee sessions after a hard day’s work. We should celebrate
this funny side of the Public Service to show that we also have a touch of
humour that makes us all human, and approachable.
Dominic Ng
People’s Association
Meetings can be a yawn!
How do you and your
colleagues make them
engaging, productive and even
fun? Share your ideas with us.
Email us: [email protected]
The best entry will win an attractive prize worth
up to
$100!
All other published entries will
$30
win book vouchers worth
each. Please
include your name, agency email address,
agency and contact number.
All entries should reach us by
September 30, 2012.
04 Highlights
NEWS
Coming up...
from the
SERVICE
Road to acceptance
The Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2012 on September
16 is your chance to experience challenges,
endurance and community involvement – all
the elements that make up the reintegration
journey of ex-offenders back into society. End
your run at the Changi Prison Complex and
find out more about helping ex-offenders at
the carnival.
www.yellowribbon.org.sg
HIGH SPEED THRILLS
CELEBRATING Excellence in Tax Administration
To mark its 20th anniversary as a statutory board, the Inland Revenue
Authority of Singapore (IRAS) created a special microsite (http://_www.
iras20.sg) and online games to reflect how taxpaying and tax administration
have evolved over the past 20 years. The microsite features the significant
moments of IRAS’s history, while the online games are helping IRAS to
reach out to younger taxpayers and youths. Part of the celebratory activities
included fundraising for President ’s Challenge 2012 through the sale of
decommissioned revenue stamps, as well as in-house charity events organised
by IRAS staff. A visit by President Tony Tan to Revenue House on August
31 delivered the perfect finale to the celebrations!
The electrifying 2012 Formula 1 Singtel
Singapore Grand Prix packs thrilling race
action and world-class entertainment all in
one fully loaded circuit park. From September
21-23, be thrilled by superstars Katy Perry,
Maroon 5 and Jay Chou as they take to the
Padang stage. Tickets at www.singaporegp.sg.
PS21 EXCEL CONVENTION 2012
INNOVATIVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT
The inaugur al Clean Enviro
S ummit S ingapore and
WasteMET Asia ( WMA)
2012 were held July 1-4.
Themed “Innovative Clean
Enviro-Solutions for Asia’s Growing Cities”, the Summit saw the participation of high-level government and industry leaders, as well as international organisations like the World Bank and the United Nations.
The Clean Environment Leaders Plenary Sessions brought together
participants to address and discuss the challenges and issues in waste
management, while close to 100 exhibitors from international and local
companies featured in WMA 2012. The Summit also saw the launch
of the National Environment Agency’s first sustainability report, based
on the guidelines by the Global Reporting Initiative, the most widely
accepted international standard for sustainability reporting.
Mark your calendar this November 15-16 for this
annual Public Service event at the Gardens by
the Bay. It will showcase innovative ideas and
projects that create significant people-centric
outcomes and public value. Sign up for Learning
Journeys to learn more about the work of other
government agencies. More details will be
provided to agencies once available.
NEW!
MyNiceHome.SG
The Housing Development
Board has launched a new
website on housing and
home -related matters for
home owners and anyone
shopping for a new home.
Be inspired by the home decoration tips and
ideas for green living, or uncover interesting
facts about your neighbourhood. Visit www.
mynicehome.sg and “Like” the site on Facebook.
Follow the leader:
Dr Francis Chong, Director
of the Emerging Markets
Division, leads a 15-strong
team to sell the idea of
entering the emerging
markets to Singaporeans.
Feature07
Dr Francis
Chong is
a man on
a mission.
EMD officers witnessed the launch of the Jewel of Muscat,
a replica of an Arabian Dhow, in 2010 before it sailed from
Muscat, Oman to Singapore.
(From right) EMD officers Oeij Ek Siang and Valerie Yuen, with colleagues
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Economic Development Board,
touring Keppel’s BrasFELS shipyard in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He heads a 15-strong team from the
Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Emerging Markets Division (EMD) that is
charged to develop and establish Singapore’s trade negotiations, agreements
and policies relating to the world’s
emerging markets.
To achieve that, they first have to sell
their own countrymen (and women)
the idea of trading with “exotic” places.
Think Africa, the Middle East, Latin
America, and South and Central Asia.
EMD officers were invited to an audience with Otumfuo Osei Tutu, the King of
the Ashanti people who are based in present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Matryoshka dolls at a souvenir flea market
in Moscow, Russia. Singapore’s trade with
Russia reached S$4.68 billion in 2011.
It is no easy task: in recent surveys
conducted by the team on students’
impressions of these places, it was clear
that plenty of stereotypes still existed.
Latin America is perceived as a blown-up
war zone in the grip of the mafia and
drug cartels; Africa is the dark continent
of poverty and disease, plagued by “blood
diamond” scandals.
Dr Chong is adamant that such attitudes and outlooks need to change.
For the record, Singapore has sizeable
oil, gas and education business ties in
Kazakhstan and the people there are
definitely not Borats.
So to fight these stereotypes and help
Singaporeans better understand the
potential returns of emerging markets,
EMD officers make frequent study trips
to collate ground data and information
about the countries.
According to EMD, Singapore’s total
trade with emerging markets, excluding China and Southeast Asia, doubled
from S$106 billion in 2007 to S$213
billion in 2011.
Also compare the European Union’s
exports to emerging markets such as
Russia, Central Asia, Turkey, India,
Brazil and the United Arab Emirates,
of US$366 billion (approximately S$465
billion), with Singapore’s mere S$30.5
EMD officers Chan Kah Mei (left) and
Serena Liau sampling biscuits in a small
confectionary shop in Mumbai, India.
billion in 2011 – a clear indicator of
the massive trade potential that could
be realised.
“Besides, why restrict yourself to what
you already know? In developed markets,
you enter as a small fish in a big pond,
with lots of sharks; in emerging markets,
there are still sharks but you might be
a bigger fish,” Dr Chong adds.
Given that growth in the G3 economies
(the US, Europe and Japan) is slowing
down, it makes even more sense to diversify Singapore’s portfolio by seeking
opportunities elsewhere, to “rejig the
system”, as he puts it.
His deputy Kelvin Tan agrees: “The US
will not always dominate, and China
may not always be there to sustain our
growth. We need a competitive edge.”
Developing a global imagination
Currently, EMD is talking to differ-
The pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan,
Mexico. The country was Singapore’s
27th largest trading partner in 2011.
ent ministries and studying existing
mechanisms and policies across government sectors, so as to develop a
comprehensive framework for promoting
emerging markets.
Their overriding goal? To stimulate the
“global imagination” of Singaporeans;
that is, the ability to understand, accept
and adapt to the cultural and business
practices of different countries. Only
with that extra edge can Singapore and
Singaporeans excel in this globalised age,
explains Mr Tan.
supported students’ overseas community
service projects by providing contacts or
facilitating tie-ups for post-trip events.
The bulk of their outreach opportunities,
however, comes from building on existing events. For example, when worldrenowned Lebanese composer and oud
player, and UNESCO Artist for Peace,
Marcel Khalife, visited Singapore in May
2011 for a concert as part of a Middle
East symposium, EMD invited him to
conduct an oud masterclass for students
from the School of the Arts.
An d t h i s , EM D b e l i e ve s , c a n b e
achieved by targeting the young. The
team hopes that all Singapore schools
will be eventually twinned with foreign
ones – including those from emerging
markets – to pique our students’ curiosity
about other cultures.
The event yielded wonderful memories
for all involved, and a relationship was
established. That’s how future trade
partnerships are born, says Dr Chong,
whose team’s work includes building
relationships through social media.
S o far EMD has conducted pilot
projects, such as art competitions, and
Yet, the effects of these outreach methods
may only be perceptible in time, and Dr
Working by faith
Chong is realistic about the outcomes:
“Do we know that whatever we’re doing will work? We don’t. But the only
100% guarantee is that if you don’t do
anything, nothing will change.”
the King of the Ashanti tribe wanted
to meet us. We went to his Kingdom
and all of a sudden, these tribal chiefs,
in royal regalia – some on sedan chairs
– began arriving. It was surreal.”
His “never say die” attitude seems to
have rubbed off on his EMD officers,
who relish the unpredictable nature
of their work as a constant source
of excitement.
Freezing trips to pristine Siberia, feasting on camel meat in Saudi Arabia and
visiting sites of biblical proportions in
Petra are just some of the epic adventures
that these officers have lived to tell.
Assistant Director Joanna Tan who
oversees the Africa portfolio, recalls
how terrified she was upon learning
that she was going on a trip to South
But lest one begins to think that a day
in the life of an EMD officer is all about
flying to exotic places, be warned: these
trips can be highly pressurising, with notes
to prepare for ministerial staff, conferences
to attend and projects
to lobby for – on top
of making post-trip
reports and economic
assessments.
In developed markets,
you enter as a small fish
in a big pond, with lots
of sharks; in emerging
markets, there are still
sharks but you might be
a bigger fish.
Africa and Angola, just weeks into her
first job after graduation.
Four years on, her passport is filled with
immigration stamps from Libya to Zanzibar, and she is now more than ready
to hop onto a plane at the word “go”.
She recalls: “We were in Ghana and
suddenly we had a phone call, saying that
Ultimately, Dr Chong
and his team hope that
all their hard work, experiments and outreach
programmes will lead to
fruition.
They are a zealous bunch, always ready
to go forth, as if instructed by higher
orders to explore the unchartered territories and later return to convert the
uninitiated, despite the odds. They are
the modern trade missionaries.
If you have any ideas or suggestions to share,
please contact Dr Chong at Francis_CHONG@
mti.gov.sg.
Cover Story09
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Public Ser
A look at how the Singapore Public Service is coping with rising public expectations.
Text by Richard
Hartung Photos by John Heng
I f t h ere w ere a m et er t h at
measures public expectations of the Singapore
Public Service, it is likely to be inching higher
and higher. Across the board, frontline service
officers are reporting a more demanding public.
tations are increasing. “We created a certain
standard and citizens hold us to it,” said PS21
Office Director Agnes Kwek, who is responsible for service delivery policies across the
Public Service.
They are also encountering more unreasonable,
sometimes aggressive, members of the public
who wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.
Mr Pang agreed: “The older generations inherited a less efficient, less developed Singapore.
Expectations were lower, and the improvements
made were seen as a quantum jump in service
levels. [Now] we’ve become inured to a very
high standard of efficiency and effectiveness.”
Just last year, a man who didn’t like the responses he got from several government agencies persisted in calling the officers repeatedly.
He made over 200 phone calls in a single
morning. “It was mentally and emotionally
very draining for [those] officers,” said Pang
Kin Keong, Chairman of the Public Service’s
Quality Service Committee, adding that public
officers now get more training to manage such
members of the public. (See sidebox ‘Saying
“No” firmly’.)
Rising public expectations
In a sense, Singapore is a victim of its own
success when it comes to why customer expec-
Also, “the new generation [of Singaporeans]
is more educated, well travelled and more
knowledgeable,” said Assistant CEO and
Quality Service Manager Roger Tan at the
Civil Service College (CSC), explaining why
the citizenry now wants greater accountability
and a bigger say in policies.
Technology plays a key role too. Internet-savvy
citizens now expect faster resolution of problems and instant access to information. And
if anything goes wrong or if service simply
10 Cover Story
doesn’t meet expectations, they use
everything from Twitter and Facebook,
to YouTube and blogs, to broadcast
their complaints. Feedback received
by REACH, the government feedback
unit’s web portal, tripled between 2007
and 2011.
The Housing Development Board
(HDB) says one area it finds relatively
challenging is email correspondences.
“We receive requests from customers
demanding a reply to their email within
two to three working days. At times,
they don’t realise their case is complex
and requires more time for investigation,” said Goh-Wong Tze Ying, HDB’s
Director of Organisational Excellence.
Underlying factors
There are deeper issues worth examining. To start with, the ever-increasing
range of government programmes could
result in over-complicated systems,
hampering the delivery of better customer service. Head of Civil Service
Peter Ong explained: “People have commented that the Government is quite
prolific at conceiving new schemes. This
may lead to a proliferation of schemes
that becomes complex and challenging
to administer and access.”
New service
principles
The way Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) are used can hinder good service
too. There may be a disconnect between
the agency and the public where KPIs
are concerned, said Professor Marcus
Lee, who heads the Singapore Management University’s Institute of Service
Excellence.
The Public Service introduced
the principles of CARE (Courtesy,
Accessibility, Responsiveness and
Effectiveness) in 1995. Following a thorough review in 2010,
three new service principles were
added in 2011. They are: PeopleCentricity, Mutual Courtesy and
Respect, and Shared Responsibility for the Public Good.
KPIs tend to be driven by agencies’
needs and what they are capable of delivering, rather than by the customer so
Prof Lee suggested agencies make sure
they link KPIs to the organisation’s vision and mission, and to actual customer
needs. A good example of this, he said,
was the Inland Revenue Authority of
Singapore (IRAS)’s introduction of the
innovative No-Filing Service (NFS) in
2008. Under the NFS, employers can
submit information directly to IRAS,
and taxpayers whose employees do so, do
not need to file a tax return (unless they
have other sources of income). Instead
of adding more staff to handle queues
and queries to fulfil its KPIs of getting
tax returns filed, the agency thought out
We receive requests from customers
demanding a reply to their email within
two to three working days. At times, they
don’t realise their case is complex and
requires more time for investigation.
Mopping up grey areas:
The case
of public
cleaning
In 2011, a huge pile of rubbish
was left uncollected for months.
The reason, said the Department
of Public Cleanliness (DPC)
Acting Head Roger Ng, was that
agencies engaged different
contractors for cleaning
different areas. Drains were
under the Public Utilities Board,
for example, while footpaths
came under the Land Transport
Authority (LTA). For this pile of
rubbish, it wasn’t clear who was
responsible. The search for a
rightful “owner” took months;
the pile of rubbish languished
and sparked criticism from the
public who couldn’t understand
the inaction. This prompted the
founding of an inter-agency
Public Cleanliness Steering
Committee to look into the issue.
The Committee eventually set up
DPC as a whole-of-government
approach to cleaning roads,
pavements, drains and other
common areas. DPC would take
care of all municipal cleaning
services across government
agencies. The new department
taps on technology to enhance
its work: Radio Frequency
Identification technology is
used to tag and track litter
bins and web-based cameras
enable remote monitoring of
cleanliness in public areas.
Public officers are happier too.
National Environment Agency
Officer Manjit Singh said he is
now able to spend more time on
inspections and clean-up,
rather than coordinating with
other agencies to figure out who
is responsible.
Case study:
Saying “No” firmly
Situations can get tough when
you have to say “No” to customers.
Here’s what tax officer Mohamad
Fauzi Bin Mohamad (above) did
when he was confronted with a
difficult taxpayer who was upset
at having to pay a penalty for her
late tax return and shouted at
him. Mr Fauzi calmly continued
to explain why the fine was
applicable. His patience and
empathy finally calmed her down
and she paid the fine. Mr Fauzi’s
firm yet sincere service turned
a nasty situation into one with a
positive ending.
of the box in implementing the NFS.
It was a case of an organisation meeting both its KPIs and customer needs.
There is sometimes a gap between
the officers delivering the service and
the people receiving it. Well-educated
public officers may have difficulties,
for example, in fully understanding the
situations of lowly educated or out-ofwork citizens. One case in point is job
fairs, said Prof Lee, since fresh graduates
who have never lost a job are often assigned to help out-of-work job seekers
in their 40s and 50s. When the gaps
are so wide, it is difficult to connect.
And finally, some issues are compounded when there’s no clear agency
in charge. While the Public Service’s
“No Wrong Door” policy is designed
to solve such problems, even Deputy
Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has
said there are still situations that are
poorly defined and fall through the
cracks. (See ‘Mopping up grey areas’.)
Identifying the gaps
The first step is to identify the gaps
and develop plans to tackle them. At
a broad level, Ms Kwek said that an
inter-agency team’s thorough review
in 2010 of service principles led to a
new service paradigm based on peoplecentricity, mutual courtesy and respect,
and shared responsibility for public outcomes. (See ‘New Service Principles’.)
What is being stressed now is for agencies to design and deliver services from
the public’s point of view, instead of
what the Public Service thinks is most
efficient and logical. Officers are now
being exhorted to “put ourselves in the
shoes of our customers” so methods such
as design thinking are being encouraged. (See Challenge Jan/Feb 2011 for
the cover story on Design Thinking.)
Next, the PS21 Office identifies “structural problems” and solves them so that
the causes of issues, rather than mere
single problems, are resolved.
Cover Story 13
Leveraging that new paradigm, the
Public Service is changing processes,
structures, training and technology to
raise service delivery levels. If problems
aren’t resolved within a certain number
of days, they get escalated from the
frontline up to the agency’s Quality
Service Manager, and sometimes even
to the PS21 Office.
Lessons
from abroad
One Stop Shop
Consulting firm PwC reported
that public sector agencies
worldwide are increasingly
adopting a “One Stop Shop”
model that enables customers
to use a single access point to
get information and services.
Residents in New York can dial
311 to speak to a customer
service agent 24/7 about where
to get help, for example, while
Hong Kong residents can log
onto HKGov.org for the same.
Across the world a “One Stop
Shop” has the potential to “improve the customer experience
and reduce cost by transforming the way governments
deliver services,” PwC said. The
Singapore Public Service has
also conducted in-depth studies
on the feasibility of a one stop
call centre, including a visit
to New York City’s 311 team
to understand the challenges.
While there are some considerations such as resource and
training, work is underway to
introduce integrated hotlines;
for example, the Department
of Public Cleaning’s hotline
and the People’s Association’s
OneConnect hotline.
Whose turf is it anyway?
The “No Wrong Door” policy, for
instance, was designed to make sure
members of the public get directed to
the right place, even if they start out at
the wrong agency. However, a review
of the policy in 2011 found that while
it has resolved many issues, it does
not work so well when the issue is in
a grey area where no agency is clearly
in charge, or where the problem can
only be addressed by several agencies
working in tandem.
Mr Pang related this story to Challenge: “A dog was knocked down by
a car on a public road. The question
posed to the member of the public
who reported it was: Is the dog dead
or alive, and where is the dog now
lying? If the dog is dead, it would be
NEA (National Environment Agency)’s
responsibility, but if it is still alive, AVA
(Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of
Singapore) would take charge. It could
also be LTA’s responsibility if the dog
is still lying on the road, but if it now
lies on the adjoining grass verges, then
NParks (National Parks Board) should
be alerted.”
Such cases lead to frustration because
members of the public don’t care which
agency is in charge. All they want is
to have someone from the government
take care of the matter.
To cope with what Mr Pang described
as “turf ” issues, the First Responder Protocol (FRP) was introduced. With the
FRP, an agency which has some ability
to deal with the issue, even if the issue
is not under its charge, should adopt a
“just do it first” mentality and lead an
inter-agency response. This presents to
the public a more coordinated government; more importantly it tackles the
public’s concerns immediately, reflecting
its new people-centric service principle.
Speech analytics
Case study 2:
Going the extra mile
Principal Animal Welfare Inspector
Soh Seng Beng (above) from AVA
has devoted 37 years to animal
welfare. He leads a team of junior
officers to inspect pet shops and
farms, and to investigate animal
abuse cases. Mr Soh was praised
by his colleagues for often going
the distance to give great service.
Once he was so determined to
check on the well-being of a dog
that he agreed to visit the dog’s
owner at midnight – the only time
the owner said he was available.
Mr Soh will retire from the Public
Service this year.
The London Borough of Lambeth Council is tapping on
speech analytics technology to
improve its service levels. It is
expected to save more than £2
million by using this technology, which was originally
designed for military communications. While the military
uses the technology to spot
words like “bomb” or “terrorist”,
the Council uses it to highlight
phrases like “repeat visits” and
“second time I’ve called you”.
Currently, it takes staff an
average of three calls to solve
residents’ issues, costing the
Council about £5 per call. The
Council expects to identify key
problems across hundreds of
calls and help get things right
the first time, thereby driving
efficiency up and costs down.
The extremely unreasonable customers
can place a burden on public resources
with their demands. This means staff have
to be trained to handle them deftly and
know when to “disengage” tactfully, and
focus on other customers who genuinely
need their help.
The FRP was piloted earlier this year with
AVA serving as a First Responder for all
animal-related issues. The FRP is now
being extended to all inter-agency issues.
Earlier this year, there was a request
to trim an unruly grass patch. Though
agencies were unable to quickly determine which agency was in charge, the
Singapore Land Authority went ahead
to get their contractor to trim it as it
had received the feedback first. It then
claimed the amount incurred from the
rightful agency. Turf issue resolved.
Improving training
Apart from introducing changes to
structure and processes, training – one of
the most important steps to improving
service – is being revamped.
CSC’s Mr Tan said that in the past,
training focused narrowly on procedures
and what to do. Now, he said, it focuses
on soft skills, such as building relationships, empathising with customers and
co-creating solutions.
“We rely more on experiential learning
to deepen the value of training”, he
said, so officers now engage in more
role plays or simulations. The College
has also rolled out training to enhance
teamwork and will be developing similar
programmes for using social media and
other newer technologies.
Individual agencies are also ramping up
customer service training. HDB has an
elaborate training roadmap for frontline
staff. This includes training staff to draft
better email responses, with some of
the outstanding replies compiled into
a manual for other officers to refer to.
Learning to deal with tough customers
is also essential. The extremely unreasonable ones can place a burden on
public resources with their demands.
This means staff have to be trained to
handle them deftly and know when
to “disengage” tactfully, and focus on
other customers who genuinely need
their help.
Tapping technology
Technology is another tool wielded by
the Public Service to improve customer
experience. As mentioned, IRAS introduced the No-Filing Service in 2008
that relieves employees of the need to
file tax returns if their employers do
so directly. HDB launched the Mobile@HDB application to complement
its HDB Infoweb, giving customers
with smartphones another channel to
interact with the Board.
Technology also helps public officers to
improve service delivery. NEA Officer
Manjit Singh, who is responsible for
cleaning services, now uses his new
office-issued iPad to respond to problems more quickly. While on-site, he
can send out details and photographs of
problems immediately, without having
to wait till he returns to the office.
From tweaking a broad-based framework at the top to introducing better
technology and process improvements
on the ground, a breakthrough in service
delivery by government agencies is on
the way. And as innovations such as the
FRP have shown, so long as the Public
Service continues to review and adapt
its policies by standing in the shoes
of the public, it has a good chance of
pleasing even the toughest of them.
Feature 15
Nasty remarks, unreasonable
demands and occasional violence
– these are all in a day’s work for
the frontline staff at Community
Mediation Centres.
Text by Chen
Jingting
It could have been a scene
right out of a Hong Kong drama serial. A woman, accused of being the
third party in a marriage, had made a
complaint to the Subordinate Courts
after the wife assaulted her.
Both parties were ordered to go for
mediation. During a heated session
at the Community Mediation Centre
(CMC), the woman struck the wife
in the face.
Centre Manager Diana Heng had to
call in security and halt the session.
The fracas was reported to the courts
and both women were ordered to go
for another mediation appointment.
Dealing with high-strung members
of the public who can turn violent is
something Ms Heng has to be prepared for. She is not a mediator, but
she schedules mediation sessions for
disputing parties and mediators, who
are all volunteers.
In her 14 years at the CMC, Ms
Heng has at times been the punching
bag of frustrated parties in conflicts.
Her job is not for the faint-hearted
because sometimes when Ms Heng
calls to arrange appointments with
disputants, “they start complaining
and shouting.”
There are currently two CMCs; one
at The Treasury and the other at the
Subordinate Courts, where Ms Heng
works with another frontline colleague.
Operated by the Ministr y of Law,
CMCs provide mediation services to
members of the public who wish to
resolve disputes without going through
costly legal proceedings.
At a cost of $5 in administration fee
upon registration, parties get to sit down
with mediators to discuss solutions to
their conflicts.
Parties either sign up for mediation on
their own or are referred to the CMCs
by the police, town councils and other
agencies. In other cases, parties are
ordered by the courts to do so, such
as the wife-mistress tussle.
Paving the way to peacemaking
Most cases that come to CMCs are
quarrels between neighbours, says Senior Centre Manager Tan Chong Yang,
who has been coordinating mediation
For those who wish to sign up for mediation,
you can contact the following:
CMC (Central) – 6325 1600
CMC (Subordinate Courts) –6536 9665 or
register online at bit.ly/cmcmediate
sessions for the last 12 years. He works
with two other frontline staff at CMC
Central within The Treasury.
threatened to report his
“unsatisfactory performance”
to a higher authority.
The number of mediated cases at CMCs
has been increasing yearly; as of July,
there were already about 600 cases
seen this year.
The public officer of more than 40
years – he started out as a clerk in the
Ministry of Education and later worked
at the Singapore Land Authority, before
joining CMC – takes such unpleasant
experiences in his stride. He chuckles:
“I’m just doing my work, serving the
community. It’s quite interesting to help
them solve their problems.”
“The public has become more demanding,” Mr Tan observes. He often receives
calls from disgruntled parties, insisting
that the CMCs conduct investigations
and “take action” against the other side.
At times like these, all Mr Tan can
do is listen patiently to the caller and
explain politely, but firmly, that CMCs
do not have enforcement or investigative powers.
Once, he was even yelled at on the
phone by a member of the public who
Besides taking the heat from frustrated
members of the public, CMC officers
also devote much time and effort to
the administrative work for every case.
Though they do not attend mediation
sessions, which can stretch beyond
office hours, they have to stay back to
time the sessions, send the mediators
off, and then complete
some paperwork before
calling it a day.
CMC officers also need to be alert to
uncommon behaviour among those who
turn up for mediation, for example,
those who mumble to themselves. To
prevent any violence during mediation
sessions, no one is allowed to bring
helmets, walking sticks or umbrellas
into mediation rooms.
For all the trouble CMC officers go
through, “it ’s quite a thankless job
because the thanks go mainly to the
mediators,” admits Ms Heng.
No pain, no gain
Still, happy endings in some cases do
motivate the staff to continue in what
they do.
“Sometimes I feel so touched, especially
when once, the disputing parties came
out of mediation hugging each other,”
Mr Tan says.
As work at the CMC is full of ups and
downs, for Ms Heng, separating work
from personal life was a challenge when
she had just started working there.
“In the beginning I did have second
thoughts about continuing,” she says.
“Every day I went home and thought:
why are people fighting? I felt very upset
and depressed... Now, I have learnt not
to take things personally.”
She has also gleaned a precious life
lesson. “We should not be fighting over
little things… There are better things
to do with our lives.”
Infographics17
BRIBES
World’s
Oldest
Money, gifts,
property,
loans or
payment of
loans
At 60 years old,
CPIB is the world’s
oldest dedicated
anti-corruption
agency.
2
CPIB is an agency, under
the Prime Minister’s Office,
dedicated to investigating
and preventing corruption.
3
CPIB investigates both public
and private sector corruption.
4
CPIB officers who stray are
punished without favour. In 2002,
a CPIB officer was jailed two years
for receiving $1,350 in exchange
for revealing investigationrelated information.
5
Complaints received that are not
corruption-related are referred to
relevant authorities such as:
• Immigration and Checkpoints
Authority handles sham
marriage cases
OTHER TYPES OF CASES
The number of
cases investigated
has been falling
since 2007
because...
Non-related
complaints are
now handled
by other law
enforcement
agencies
Power
BIGGEST CASE
CPIB specialises in investigating
corruption cases.
• Commercial Affairs Department
investigates commercial crime,
fraud and scam cases
Exchange of
Bribes & Favour
Intent
Confidential Influence over
information
a superior’s
decisions
The biggest case (in monetary value)
involved Choy Hon Tim, former Director
of the Electricity Department and Deputy
Chief Executive of the Public Utilities
Board (PUB). He was charged in 1995 of
receiving bribes of up to $13.85 million
in exchange for awarding contracts to
suppliers and contractors of PUB.
WHAT IS CORRUPTION?
Corruption is receiving, asking for, or
giving any gratification (bribe) to reward
or induce a person to do or not do any
act, with corrupt intent. It involves using
power or position dishonestly to give
advantage (favour) to a person or
organisation over others.
Special
Leniency
privileges
(e.g. speeding
up or interfering
in a process)
Free service,
meals, or
entertainment
757 COMPLAINTS
Maziah Masramli Illustration by Ng Shi Wei
Some corruptionrelated cases were
not pursuable
due to lack of
information in
the complaints
Act
493 or 65% of complaints
were corruption-related.
138
Cases
INVESTIGATED
1
Employment
or contract
Sexual
favours
COMPLAINTS RECEIVED
& INVESTIGATED IN 2011
Catching crooks since 1952, the Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau (CPIB) celebrates its 60th
anniversary this September. Find out what the
Bureau has achieved all these years.
Text by Siti
FAVOURS
Sexual bribery
Of the 138 cases investigated...
77%
23%
from
private
sector
from
public
sector
Number of persons charged
143
Private
sector
VS
13
Public
sector
In 2007, volunteer police corporal
Ng Wan Fu Ivan asked three female
foreigners for sex in exchange for
not arresting them (for vice-related
activities).
Immigration-related corruption
In 2006, an officer took bribes from
foreigners and gave falsified official
documents to immigration
authorities to help the foreigners
extend their stay in Singapore.
Football match-fixing and bribes
Two former Korean professional
football players were charged in
May 2012 for match-fixing, involving
bribes of $8,000. (CPIB completed
the case in two days. )
TIMELINE
September 1952
1959
1960
1984
1989
The British Colonial government
sets up the Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau in the
Supreme Court building. But CPIB
lacks resources, and legislations
to punish corrupt offenders are
largely ineffective.
Singapore attains
self-government. The new
government strengthens CPIB’s
position as an enforcement
agency. The judiciary is
reformed and anti-corruption
laws are revamped.
The Prevention of
Corruption Act
(PCA) is enacted to
provide for more
effectual prevention
of corruption.
CPIB relocates to
Hill Street Centre.
The Complaints
Evaluation Committee
is set up to deliberate
on complaints of
alleged corruption
and to decide if any
investigation should
be conducted.
HILL STREET CENTRE
1995
Polygraph
testing as an
investigative
tool is
introduced.
1996
1998
2004
2008
CPIB begins its
own basic
training course
for new CPIB
officers.
CPIB moves into
the former Keppel
Primary School
building at
Cantonment Road,
where it starts its
Heritage Centre.
CPIB moves to its
current location at
Lengkok Bahru. The
Computer Forensic Unit
is set up. The Bureau's
flag is commissioned
to strengthen identity.
The Financial
Investigation
Unit is set up.
18 Thinking Aloud
Letters to aYoung Public Officer 27
Do you know
more than
your boss?
Teo Hee Lian says we
should know more about our
work than our bosses do.
Honour
your
Profession
by Ho Peng
Director-General of Education
DEAR YOUNG OFFICER,
As a report writing
trainer at the Civil Service College,
I am often asked, “What must I include
in my paper?” and “Why can’t my boss
tell me exactly what she wants?”
Officers remember draf ts that go
through several, sometimes painful,
revisions. Come end of the year, a
third question is, “ Why don’t they
recognise my work?”
In school, when teachers and examiners
read our work, they are also correcting
and grading it. They, who know more
about the subject than we do, know
the answer before they read. There may
be a model answer for comparison.
At work, our readers want to know,
There are also no model answers. So,
writing papers at work is different.
First, we tell our readers something
they need to know now, and probably
did not know before. Therefore, unlike in school where we have a more
knowledgeable teacher who checks our
facts, now we must ensure our papers
are accurate before sending them out.
Second, we help our readers understand
and decide the next step. This includes
showing them what the information
means. How serious is it? What do we
In whatever area we are directly responsible
for, we must know more than our boss.
“What happened in the past, and why?”,
“What should we do now?”, or “Why
are we thinking of this for the future?”
They do not have the answer – until
they read our paper. Even our boss
may not have the answer – until she
reads our paper.
She may have some idea of what the
answer should be. But it is only after
we have investigated the case, interviewed the people, or researched the
issue, that she knows for sure what
happened and why, or what should
be done now, or what we should be
preparing for next. Only then can our
boss give clear directions.
have to do now, and why? Should our
policies or priorities change in future?
Third, we want to show why what we
do matters. Why is our work worthy
of recognition? Why is what we propose necessary and important? If we
cannot do this, we risk our work being dismissed as merely routine. We
may even end up always reacting to
problems because we fail to persuade
our readers to prevent them from occurring in the first place.
This means that in whatever area we
are directly responsible for, we must
know more than our boss.
This is quite reasonable. Let us take
the school example again. A teacher
knows the subjects she teaches and
every student in her class well. She
knows who needs a slower pace and
who more challenging assignments, and
how best to reach both students. The
principal has other responsibilities; he
leads the whole school and knows the
student profile and all his staff well.
But if he is a Science specialist, he
does not have to know as much about
teaching English as the English teacher
does. He also need not know every
student well, only the ones brought
to his attention.
We are like the teacher. We are the
experts and know more about our own
work than our readers (including our
bosses) do.
So when we write papers, we first give
our readers Information they may not
have known before but need now. Then
we explain the Implications. Finally, we
convince our readers of the Importance
of our proposal and work.
This is how we can add value to our
writing. This is also how we show the
value of our work.
Teo Hee Lian is an associate trainer with the
Civil Service College and former director of
the Institute of Public Administration and
Management.
Much of the way I live my
life bears the imprint of my mother’s
teachings. She was promised school
if she worked hard growing sugar
cane and sweet potatoes during the
Japanese Occupation. She worked
hard, but school never materialised.
Fortunately, there was the itinerant
teacher of Chinese classics, who gave
Mum a strong grounding in Chinese
history and classics. When I told her
my decision to become a teacher, she
was overjoyed.
I clearly remember what she said to me:
“jing ye le ye” (敬业乐业). Honour your
profession, and find joy in it. Give it
your very best. This has been a guiding
principle in my life. As teacher, it was
hard work juggling the myriad of tasks
in teaching and knowing the students.
It was especially in extra-curricular
activities that one got to know the
character and temperament of students.
Those moments were invaluable in
guiding their growth as young adults.
Going the extra mile often meant burnt
weekends and school holidays. Perhaps
it was my stubborn nature that made
me dig in my heels, refusing to give
up even when the going was tough.
As a principal in the 1990s, I saw the
world through the eyes of my students,
many from struggling homes, and sadly,
non-intact families. Discipline was poor
when I took over the school. It took
me six months to evolve a clear set of
school rules.
As principal, it was a true test of leadership: balancing the needs of students and
teachers, deciding on what to do in the
short run, as well as the future direction
of the school. It required clear thinking, stamina, drive and perseverance.
To listen was important. This had a
ripple effect, with more and more teachers and parents stepping up when they
saw discernible improvements in the
school that had resulted from feedback.
There were countless suggestions on
ways to build school pride and improve
learning, programmes and facilities.
Af ter extensive consultation with
stakeholders, we wrote to the Ministry
of Education, requesting to move the
school out of the vicinity of the railway
station to quieter surroundings. The
approval was a powerful rallying call
Honour your
profession, and find
joy in it. Give it
your very best. This
has been a guiding
principle in my life.
that gave the school a new verve. I
could see the school turning round, as
discipline improved and a strong sense
of community emerged. The school
was later selected as one of 22 “Demo
Schools” when the first ICT Masterplan was launched, with the inspection
team summing it all up – that we had
a “caring school”.
From this success, what are the lessons
distilled?
•L i s t e n i n t e n t l y a n d w a l k t h e
ground, to know issues and concerns,
to know who could be tapped on,
and be alerted to pitfalls. This helps
in clarifying your thinking. When
in a dilemma, I often ask myself what
would benefit the most people in
the longer run. It also pays to consult
key stakeholders and seek advice from
those with the relevant experience.
•People are important. Respect them.
B e f a i r a n d i m p a r t i a l . R a l l y
people and build strong teams
so that improvements would be
sustainable. Be patient too – the best
results are obtained when there
is a confluence of the right people
coming together at the right time.
•Finally, go the extra mile. To be a
leader, you have to work harder than
anyone else. This means you need to
be physically fit and emotionally ready
to run the course well. Have a regular
exercise regime, and take time out to
re-charge. Most importantly, connect
with family and friends. They provide
you the emotional support to keep
on going.
I have no regrets – this has been a
life worth living, a good life, because
I make a difference to the many young
lives that pass through my hands.
A Cuppa With...29
“We have a
Strong Adversity
Quotient.”
Land Transport Authority
chief Chew Hock Yong talks
about the challenges of
managing Singapore’s public
transportation infrastructure.
Text by
Wong Sher Maine
Norman Ng
Photos by
Here IS probably the
question you have always wanted
to ask the man at the helm of Singapore’s Land Transport Authority
(LTA): Do you take public transport?
The answer is a reassuring “yes”.
Every workday morning, Mr Chew
Hock Yong, 47, catches the train
from Potong Pasir to the Little
India MRT station just outside
the LTA office at Hampshire Road.
“I try to get in early, before 8am,”
he says, on his strategy to beat
the crowds.
Onslaught of feedback
LTA is receiving more feedback
than ever. It now gets 1.5 million
instances of feedback yearly, which
is about one every 24 seconds!
What does Mr Chew make of this?
“I think people want to be heard
and to have their views considered
as well. We’ve a population that ’s
better educated. They want to have
a say in how certain things get done
in the community, which is a good
thing, rather than to have people
who don’t care,” he says.
LTA has hired more frontline officers to handle the rise in feedback,
and it pays even greater attention
to listening to and communicating
with commuters. But he concedes
that it can get tricky when officers
have to say “No” to customers.
“I always tell our officers in LTA,
‘Don’t be disappointed if people
still don’t accept your explanation
after you have carefully explained
our approach’,” says Mr Chew. “As
long as you have done your job diligently and fairly, given due consideration to people’s suggestions and
addressed them, the management
will always be behind you.”
Caught off-guard
Mr Chew, who has worked at five
different ministries before LTA, acknowledges that the public transport crunch is due to a surge in
commuter numbers, and transport
infrastructure is struggling to cope.
Because of service disruptions on
MRT lines and some niggling train
faults, some commuters worry if
they can get to work on time. Meanwhile, COE prices continue their
unrelenting ascent, and car buyers
are unhappy about the prices they
have to pay.
“ We’re doing a bit of catch-up in
our transport hardware. The main
infrastructure will be completed in
the next few years,” he says. “The
challenge is how we manage public
expectations before the cavalry (new
trains and MRT lines) starts arriving from about 2015. We are doing
whatever we can to alleviate the situation. And we are laying the foundation for a better transport system
and better ways of getting around,
going forward.”
Singaporeans, it seems, are increasingly dissatisfied with getting
around in the city-state – and they
are making it known.
“On hindsight, what probably caught
some planning agencies a bit offguard was that the population grew
at a faster pace than the forecast,”
With that elephant out of the room,
talk turns to how he has had to
“fight fires” at a time when LTA is
under intense public scrutiny.
says Mr Chew. “ When we look back
we can always find things that we
can do better. We’ve picked up from
this experience, and we’re making
our planning and coordination systems more robust.”
was trying to get to the HDB block,
it rained. “He saw there were a lot
of people who were all stuck. He
came back convinced of the need for
a sheltered walkway there, and we
built it.”
LTA will also increase its checks
on MRT stations and tracks: “ We
are also tightening the regulatory
framework so that the operator will
put in more effort in maintaining
the trains properly and running
them well.”
From walkways to cycling paths,
LTA aims to create what Mr Chew
calls a “portfolio of mobility options” to further ease the nation’s
dependency on cars.
Being a commuter champion
Away from the glare of policy and
big engineering projects, Mr Chew’s
heart is firmly with the commuters. He has tasked senior management staff to champion the man in
the street.
His “pedestrian champion” walks
the ground and “pays special attention to how things can be improved
at street level”. For example, whether mothers with prams can walk
around the MRT station easily. The
“cycling champion” does the same
for cyclists.
Despite the challenging times, Mr
Chew remains incredibly proud of
his staff.
“I don’t know if it ’s because we have
to deal with difficult issues, but it
takes people with resilience and
a good spirit to deal with it on a
daily basis and not get demoralised.
At LTA, we have a strong adversity
quotient.” He concludes: “You know
what LTA stands for? It stands for
‘Let ’s Try Again’ – to persevere and
push on and do the right thing, even
when times are challenging.”
“There are things we won’t see if
we approach it from just the higher
perspective of train networks and
lines, and engineering systems,” Mr
Chew explains.
He recounts the story of the “pedestrian champion” who didn’t think
there was a need to build a sheltered
walkway from a train station to an
HDB block in Jurong.
But when he was at the station and
What’s usually in your cup?
Jasmine tea.
Where do you usually have
your cuppa?
In the office. My secretary brews 2-3
cups a day for me.
Feature 31
Like Canary
Birds in the
Coal Mine
generate clean energy. But the windmill
farms have encroached on traditional
reindeer grazing lands, impacting the
reindeers’ hunt for food yet again.
The need to innovate
The indigenous people know they have
to innovate and adapt if they are to
survive climate change and rapid development.
Recently in town to learn more about sustainable
development, two leaders from the Arctic Circle
warn of the challenges brought on by climate change.
Text by Bridgette
Fo r i n s t a n c e , t h e A t h a b a s k a n s
of Chickaloon Village set up Alaska’s
only tribally owned full-time school
to teach and preserve the Athabaskan
culture. Their salmon rehabilitation
project, called the Moose Creek Restoration Project, has been recognised
for habitat conservation.
See Portrait Photos by Justin Loh
Before the days of
electronic detectors, canary
birds were brought into
coal mines to test the air
quality. They acted as an early
warning system as they could
detect toxic gases quickly. A distressed canary was a clear sign of
unsafe conditions.
Today, the indigenous people of the
Arctic Circle say they are the canary
birds of the world. They are the first
to feel the effects of climate change,
with the Arctic warming up twice as
fast than anywhere else.
In 2009, 3,500 walruses were stranded
on Alaska’s north-west coast because
of reduced ice. Scientists estimate that
polar bears are likely to be extinct in 70
years when they lose their breeding and
hunting grounds because of melting ice.
“We don’t want to die. We want our
cultures to flourish, and not be wiped
out,” said Chief Gary Harrison of the
Arctic Athabaskan Council.
Chief Harrison and five others from the
Arctic Council Permanent Participant
organisations (see side box) were in
Singapore recently on a study visit. For
five days, they met government agencies
Olav Mathis Eira (far left)
of the Saami Council and
Chief Gary Harrison of the
Arctic Athabaskan Council.
Saami culture. But climate change is
a big threat.
and institutions that shared with them
Singapore’s experience in environmental
protection, sustainable development, education and community-building. They
also visited the Sungei Buloh Wetland
Reserve, an internationally recognised
site for migratory birds.
Chief Harrison and Mr Olav Mathis
Eira of the Saami Council (representing the Saami indigenous people) were
impressed by Singapore’s focus on sustainability and planning for the future,
they told Challenge. Mr Eira said that
the government seems unafraid to
impose environmental standards on industries and that private companies are
well aware of them. Also, he observed
that instead of seeing environmental concerns as barriers, businesses here see them
as opportunities.
Not against development
Chief Harrison, who leads the Chick-
aloon tribe in Alaska, said the extraction of oil, coal, copper, gas and
other resources in his village has led
to heavy pollution, threatening animal
and plant species. Natural resources are
being exploited too quickly, without
long-term planning. As a result, the
tribe’s traditional way of living off the
land – foraging and hunting – has
been affected.
“ We should look seven generations
ahead, but they look at the now,” he said.
Fearful of further pollution, his people
are fighting plans for a new coal mine
in Chickaloon. After spending US$1.2
million to rehabilitate their waters that
had been badly polluted by previous
coal mining activities, salmon is finally
breeding well again in their area. But a
new coal mine could halt the recovery.
“I don’t want to revolt,” said Chief
Harrison, “but I want to change a
revolting situation. We’re not against
development but if you can’t do it
cleanly, don’t do it. In the long run,
the clean-up is costly.”
Feeling the effects
of climate change
Agreeing, Mr Eira, an
ethnic Saami who lives in
the northernmost part of
Norway, said his people
are also feeling the ill
effects of climate change
and rapid development.
Warmer temperatures mean there are
now rains in the winter. The rain causes
traditional winter herding routes over
lakes and rivers to become dangerous
– the normally frozen ice becomes unstable. Two of his nephews have fallen
through ice before.
I don’t want
to revolt,
but I want
to change
a revolting
situation.
Mr Eira is a reindeer
herder who inherited the
ancestral occupation from his father.
For the Saami people, reindeers are
a source of food, clothing and trade.
Mr Eira hopes his three sons will take
over his reindeers and continue the
“Winter is crucial to the
reindeers,” Mr Eira said.
“When it rains in the winter, they can starve.” The
ice that forms after a rain
covers up the reindeers’
only source of food during winter – lichens. To
cope, Saami herders now
feed the reindeers with
expensive food pellets.
Ironically, the Saami people are also
affected by climate change mitigation
programmes, pointed out Mr Eira. For
instance, the Scandinavian countries
are now installing giant windmills to
Reflecting on his study visit, Mr Eira
said he was impressed by Singapore’s
unique situation of having no natural
resources, and yet being able to thrive
and “find new ways to be sustainable”.
Chief Harrison hoped that more countries, even those that are still resourcerich, would think this way before it is
too late.
For that to happen, the world would
have to take its canary birds’ distress
signal more seriously.
“The world is a living thing and we’re
all co-dependent. You people down here
(in the south) are all co-dependent on
us up there (in the north),” he said.
The Arctic Council
Member States
Canada • Denmark • Finland • Iceland •
Norway • Russian Federation • Sweden •
United States of America
The Permanent
Participants of the
Arctic Council
Arctic Athabaskan Council • Aleut
International Association • Gwich’in
Council International • Inuit Circumpolar
Council • Russian Arctic Indigenous
Peoples of the North • Saami Council
www.arctic-council.org
A student learns about the Arduino microcontroller during
a CRADL ∑ workshop. A light sensor is attached to the
Arduino that has been programmed to turn on or turn off a
lamp, depending on what is detected by the light sensor.
CRADL∑
A
for
Innovation
Feature33
An assortment of gears being cut out from acrylic by a laser
cutter at the CRADL ∑ lab. With its speed and ease of use,
the laser cutter allows students to quickly test out ideas
and prototypes for their projects.
More than just a collection of exhibits, real science takes place at Science Centre Singapore.
Te x t by
Douglas Chew P h o to s by John Heng
Joel Tong, a member of the Science Centre’s Singapore
Academy of Young Engineers and Scientists,
demonstrates his Arduino-controlled blimp he had built
for the Singapore Mini Maker Faire in August 2012.
experimentation programmes explore
scientific concepts and aim to bridge
the gap between the theory and practice
of science.
Participants get to measure the speed
of sound and light, and explore related
phenomena, such as standing waves,
diffraction and resonance, using the
same types of electronic test and measurement devices found in professional
research laboratories.
Students can also make
use of the high tech
scientific equipment at
CRADL ∑ , such as its
atomic force microscope,
scanning electron microscope, 3-D printer and
laser cutting and engraving equipment.
V i s i to rs to t h e S c i en c e
Centre may be familiar with its fascinating interactive and hands-on
exhibits, but little do they know that
behind closed doors, serious science is
taking place.
About a third of the centre houses a
large number of scientific facilities that
are available only to students. They
include a DNA learning laboratory, a
movie-making studio and a robotics
A/Prof Lim, who
heads the Science
Centre, at the newly
opened CRADL∑ lab.
learning centre. There, youths aged 12
to 18 carry out experiments and conduct projects, transforming the science
they had learnt in their textbooks into
real experiences.
“To really learn, you must immerse
yourself in a project,” says Associate
Professor Lim Tit Meng, the Science
Centre’s Chief Executive. “When you
apply science to a problem, it will
inspire and push you to understand
more, because you need to know why
this bit of science applies.”
Launched in April 2012, CRADL ∑
(Centre for Research and Applied
Learning in Science) is the Science
Centre’s latest initiative to inspire
young scientists and engineers to stretch
their abilities.
Through experiments, data collection
and analysis, CRADL ∑ ’s structured
defining the problem and designing
their experiments, to project planning
and management, the young scientists
and engineers take responsibility for
their work.
Meanwhile the sponsorship of DSO
National Laboratories and the Agency
for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR) helps fund deserving projects. The Ministry of Education is
also supporting CRADL ∑ , through
the secondment of teachers as Educa-
ing teachers to be research mentors.
A/Prof Lim intends to work with
schools for them to become satellite
Cradles, bridging the geographic distance that being in the western part of
Singapore can pose.
A/Prof Lim has big plans for CRADL∑:
“We want to give every student, who
has an aptitude for science, a chance to
develop it. We should not leave behind
any potential scientist or engineer.”
Aiming to handle tens of thousands
of students in future years,
he notes that CRADL∑
needs to scale up. He hopes
to generate more results
and attract more funding in
the process.
We want to give every student,
who has an aptitude for science,
a chance to develop it. We should
not leave behind any potential
scientist or engineer.
“ CRADL ∑ a i m s t o c u l t i v a t e t h e
research mindset so that research
and development becomes part of
the nature of our students’ training,”
says A/Prof Lim.
Another workshop gets students to
measure the non-linear conducting
properties of semiconductors. Students
have to work out for themselves the
elementar y charge of an electron.
Other workshops deal with electromagnetism, electronic circuits and even
quantum physics.
More advanced students with the
aptitude for scientific work can sign
up to conduct research at CRADL ∑ .
From proposing the research project,
tor Researcher Mentors. They develop
and teach CRADL∑ programmes, and
mentor student research.
One recent project studied microwaves
in ovens. From the results, the student
researchers learned that the waves are not
evenly distributed within the oven, and
thus discovered problematic hotspots.
Another tackled whether plants moved
in the dark. The students had to think of
how to isolate any stray light waves in
a darkened space, and how to measure
the minute movements.
Recognising that the research programmes at CRADL∑ will have a limit
in capacity, the centre is also train-
Already linked up with DSO
and A*STAR, the Science
Centre plans to enlist small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) to
provide real technical problems in their
businesses that student researchers can
tackle, at the same time exposing them
to entrepreneurship.
Some real-world problems might prove
to be too difficult for the students so
research scientists from CRADL∑ and the
scientific organisations sponsoring CRADL∑ act as consultants to guide them.
But A/Prof Lim notes: “ We don’t
underestimate the power of youth.”
The fresh eyes of the young scientists
might see what the more experienced
have missed, bringing to the table novel
perspectives that might open up new
dimensions in science.
Feature 35
Making
a bald
statement
Going bald for a
reason (from left):
Clarence Ti, Jason Toh
and Wong Wai Mun.
It is important that people are aware
of and understand cancer so they
can join in giving encouragement
and showing support to the patients
in their fight against cancer.
Shaved heads at Vital help open hearts and
minds to the issue of cancer.
Text by Douglas
Chew Photo by Justin Loh
For Mr Clarence Ti, the
Chief Executive of Vital, cancer is a
subject that cuts close to the heart. The
40-year-old lost his father to cancer last
year, after a year of fighting.
“I know first-hand that it’s not an easy
time,” he says. “Support is so important,
not only for the patient but also for the
caregivers who have to make sacrifices.”
So when a colleague mooted the idea
of getting their heads shaved to help
attract donations for the Children’s
Cancer Foundation’s annual Hair for
Hope (HfH) fundraiser, Mr Ti wasted
no time in saying yes.
Together with 16 others from Vital,
a shared ser vices centre under the
Finance Ministry, Mr Ti had his head
shaven at an HfH satellite event held
on Vital’s premises on June 21. That
inspired more than 180 Vital colleagues
to support the cause, raising more than
$9,000 – nearly double the original
$5,000 target.
Mr Ti is clearly moved by this. “We all
need great colleagues to rouse us from
our preoccupation with our own lives,
to remind us that there are those in our
society whose lives are more difficult,
more in need than our own,” he says.
Mr Ti, however, is also quick to point
out that the satellite event was not an
official corporate event.
“Beyond letting our staff send out
e m a i l s on t h e s u b j e c t , t h e re w a s
actually very little that the ‘organisation’ did,” he says. “The word of mouth,
the buzz, the rallying was all done
by the equivalent of a grassroots
movement. It was an effort from the
ground up.”
Creating awareness
For Vital’s Operations Director Wong
Wai Mun, shaving his head was his
way of sharing hope.
Less than a year ago, he had suffered a
stroke and lost his speech and memory
temporarily. Now getting back on his
feet again after months of rehabilitation,
he shares, “As I pondered over what life
is about and the blessings which I have
received, I realised that giving a little
hope to others is perhaps a small but
right thing to do.”
Mr Wong, who last shaved his head
during his National Service, says his
family fully supported his decision to
participate in the fundraiser. Like the
rest of his newly bald colleagues, he
is doing his part to start conversations
with curious friends and colleagues on
the issue of cancer. He hopes their
efforts will help more people become
aware of cancer, and boost the chances
of early detection and cure.
For Mr Jason Toh, Head of Business
Growth at Vital, going “botak” for the
cause is about delivering a vital message to cancer patients: do not give up.
Mr Toh, whose grandmother and uncle
both passed away from cancer some
years ago, understands only too well
the importance of encouraging patients
in their battle against cancer. He adds:
“Through my action of shaving my
head, I [also] want to teach my kids
the values of empathy and care.”
Rallying Vital
Having participated in HfH the past
two years, Mr Toh was about to shave
his head for the third time as an individual “shavee” when he thought he
could, in fact, rally the entire Vital to
join him in the fundraising.
when no one was willing to take the
lift with him, as he took advantage of
the enclosed space to ask for volunteers
to join in the shave.
As the main coordinator for the satellite event, he encouraged his colleagues
to sign up as “shavees” or to donate to
the cause. Part of this involved sending
out publicity emails to explain to his
colleagues the work of the Children’s
Cancer Foundation and about childhood cancer.
He also organised an educational talk
by the Foundation, where a child who
had recovered from cancer and was a
beneficiary of the foundation shared
with Vital officers his story of battling cancer.
Mr Toh jokes that there was a period
“It is important that people are aware of
and understand cancer so they can join
in giving encouragement and showing
support to the patients in their fight
against cancer,” Mr Toh says.
And while he is pleased that the donations surpassed the $5,000 target, he
also makes it clear that the fundraiser
is about more than dollars and cents.
“It’s not the monetary value,” Mr Toh
says. “It’s about having the heart to want
to do your part. So you find donations
coming in between $5 and $500. And
these add up.”
36 Level Up
Officers With A Passion 37
Incubating
Social Media Communities
&
Twe
et
Tw
ee
t
Advocates
Tweet
et
Twe
et
Twe
Twe
et
Creating deep engagement,
from the bottom up.
YOUR MONTHLY PROGRESS
report on your social media campaigns
is due: you cross your fingers that your
fan acquisitions have increased with
more likes on your Facebook page and
more follows on your Twitter site. After
all, aren’t these numbers supposed to
indicate the level of success of your
social media endeavours?
Or so we think. In fact, as we mature
and move towards Government Social
Media 2.0, we are actually more concerned with the quality of engagements,
as the real measure of the success of
our social media communications. This
means looking beyond acquiring likes,
shares and follows, to developing strategies to build advocacy from the online
community as a powerful tool of influence, since 90% of online participants
trust peer recommendations, compared
with 14% who trust advertising.
As such, we’ve refined an Integrated
Social Media Engagement framework
to help government enterprises establish and sustain public engagement,
for tomorrow.
1. Listen
Enterprises should closely monitor
online conversations, to decipher pertinent issues and pick out key trends,
tonalities and sentiments. In short,
Norman Ng
take a macro perspective of the online
conversation landscape.
2. Profile Stakeholders
No two stakeholders are alike, so to
conduct deep engagement, we must
recognise their diverse positions and
concerns. This means understanding
the ASPINE (Actions, Sentiments,
Perceptions, Interests, Needs and
Expectations) of stakeholders, and
leveraging these as key target points
of engagement. Using ASPINE as a
tool, government agencies might uncover blind spots and anchor constructive points of engagement that relate
to stakeholders.
3.Communication Strategy
& Roadmap
We need to ask, what are our desired
communication outcomes? The answer:
Mindshare, Heartshare, & Action.
Mindshare refers to creating stakeholder awareness and interest in your
engagement; Heartshare, to the buy-in
through positive influence and support
engendered; and Action, to the acting on
your engagement. Use this framework
to guide your engagement strategies.
4. Engage-Influence-Advocate
Manage and influence the relationships
and experiences of online stakeholders. Don’t go in with a transactional
mindset. Rather, execute your engagements in a way that supports
conversations on a personal level. This
could mean adopting a people-oriented
tonality of engagement, addressing each
participant in person; or sustaining real
two-way conversations.
He is a
ConstanT Gardener
Do this and you will then develop a
credibility that gives people compelling
reason to engage you online. Because
they will start to see that you’re not
merely keen to “market” to them the
government, but you’re listening and
empathising with them, as real people
with real concerns.
An NParks off icer has cultivated a love for all things green from a young age.
The van of Clarence Chua
sprouts a grass roof.
It is a green and innovative way to
keep cool in Singapore’s blistering heat.
Made up of a series of shallow trays
that could support a lush lawn and
yet be secured safely on the van roof,
the mobile patch is the brainchild of
Clarence, a manager of visitor services
at Gardens by the Bay.
So for government agencies thinking
of how best to move forward beyond
Social Media 1.0, start by putting the
“social” back into social media: build
relationships through quality conversations and focus on the online experience
of your stakeholders.
Norman Ng is an Engagement Strategist,
and is the Managing Director of Icon Media
Group. He has delivered consultancy and
enterprise capability development solutions
to Fortune 500 corporations and public
enterprises. He adjunct lectures at the Civil
Service College on various programmes
covering traditional-new media and public
communications.
Text by Sheralyn Tay Photo by Samuel He
Text by
“My van does not have roof insulation,
so on a hot day it is like an oven,” he
said. “So I thought, why not make my
own insulation, but on the outside?”
The 29-year-old is an ardent fan of
nature who spent his growing-up years
catching spiders and roaming in parks
like a kampong boy (despite living in
an HDB flat), thanks to the enthusiasm
of an equally nature-loving father.
But it was at university when he worked
on a photo essay of Singapore’s green
spaces for his final-year project that his
simple love for nature deepened into
a conviction. Now Clarence is a supporter of local green spaces, knowing
how important it is to “strike a balance
between preserving natural heritage and
development”.
The eye-catching garden van is a simple
creation resulting from Clarence’s green
philosophy. And it doesn’t hurt that
the vehicle always brings on smiles
wherever it goes. He recalled: “Once,
a woman and her child ran after the
van and told me how cool the idea
was. She put her young daughter on
the roof and took a picture.”
Well, who wouldn’t? After all not only
is it a cool idea in tropical Singapore,
it’s a heart-warming one too.
Feature 39
For most of us, planning
for sickness or death doesn’t come easily.
People tend to remember only the
best parts of life and there is a general
reluctance in today’s culture to think
about growing old and losing memories,
said Richard Magnus, Chairman of the
Public Guardian Board.
So when Mr Magnus, 66, decided to
make a Lasting Power of Attorney
(LPA) and wanted to discuss with his
family about who should handle his
affairs should he lose mental capacity
one day, his children initially resisted.
“They didn’t want to talk about this
now; they said we could resolve the issue when it comes,” the former senior
district judge recounted.
Such a mindset and the taboo of talking about death and sickness tend to
deter many people from planning for
contingencies in life.
Text by Siti
Maziah Masramli
Why the need to plan
However, Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly. The number of persons aged
65 and above was 300,000 in 2010 and
is estimated to rise to 900,000 by 2030. The likelihood of suffering age-related
illnesses like dementia or stroke increases
as a result. Dementia cases are set to
grow from 28,000 in 2010 to 80,000 in
2030. This means one in 15 Singaporeans
aged 60 and above will likely lose their
mental abilities by 2030.
The ageing population led the government to enact the Mental Capacity Act
in March 2010. The Act allows an adult
(the “donor”) to appoint one or more
trusted persons (“donees”) to act and
decide on matters of personal welfare
and/or property and affairs through
an LPA.
For example, a personal welfare donee
can decide where a donor should live
or what to eat or wear. A donee given
responsibilities over property and affairs
can manage a donor’s bank accounts,
finances, property and assets.
Overcoming attitudes
The Office of the Public Guardian
(OPG), a Division of the Ministry of
Community Development, Youth and
Sports (MCYS), was set up in 2010 to
maintain the register of LPAs as one
of its functions.
To raise public awareness and to overcome resistant attitudes, the OPG has
held 14 LPA workshops and 277 public
talks from March 2010 to end-2011. So
far, close to 2,000 people have already
made an LPA.
Public officer Low Sze Wee, 42, made
a will after buying a flat. He also made
an LPA.
Unlike a will, which functions only after
a person passes away, the LPA comes
into effect when a person is still alive
but is vulnerable and unable to make
decisions due to reduced mental capacity.
It is a relatively simple process for a
donor to appoint donees while being
sound of mind. “To save everybody the
The LPA comes
into effect when a
person is still alive
but is vulnerable
and unable to make
decisions due to
reduced mental
capacity.
• OPG encourages
individuals to plan
proactively through
an LPA so that their
interests can be
protected if they should
lose their mental
capacity.
• Making an LPA
involves appointing a
trusted person(s) to take
care of specific areas
of one’s life – personal
hassle, why not make an LPA when I’m
still able to make the decision?” said
Mr Low, who works at the National
Art Gallery.
Life is unpredictable
Hence the OPG wants to move citizens
to make the decision sooner rather than
later, and to think about their lives the
way they think about their assets.
“When we buy a house and want to
pass it on, we make a will. But our life
is more valuable than a house,” said Mr
Magnus. “An LPA is more than just
filling forms. You’re affirming that even
if you lose mental capacity, your dignity
and autonomy should still be protected.”
“Many people don’t realise that the
capacity to make decisions is integral to
themselves,” he continued. “If you lose
a hand, you can still function without
it or use a prosthetic. If you lose your
mind, you lose your personality.”
The LPA isn’t just for the elderly. An
accident could make a person mentally
incapable as well. The OPG hopes their
campaigns will persuade more Singaporeans to sign an LPA and encourage
their loved ones to follow suit.
After Mr Magnus convinced his two
children of the benefits of an LPA, they
have become his donees.
“If every public servant brings the message home to their family, it will help to
change mindsets,” said Mr Magnus.
welfare and/or property
and affairs matters. To
make sure that a person
is signing the LPA
voluntarily, it must be
certified and witnessed
by an accredited doctor,
practising lawyer or
psychiatrist.
• The OPG organises
workplace talks and
free regular workshops
for the public to
learn more about the
LPA. On-site mobile
clinics to facilitate LPA
registrations can also
be arranged. There are
guidebooks and online
instructional videos to
take applicants step
by step through the
LPA form. For more
information, visit
www.publicguardian.
gov.sg or call 1800 226 6222.
Life.Style41
Shopping
Second-hand homeware specialists
Hock Siong & Co
Nostalgia
Ryandall Lim scours modern Singapore for retro furniture shops
whose products and designs celebrate the timeless beauty of eras past.
P h o to s by
Norman Ng
Reputed as Singapore’s leading second-hand furniture and homeware
store, Hock Siong sells items sourced mostly from local hotels. Look
out for unique finds such as silverware with dragon head handles,
shisha lamps and old-school marble dustbins. The best part? You can
even bargain down the already oh-so-low prices. Started 20 years ago
by karang guni man Mr Toh Chin Siong, Hock Siong today shares a
special bond with its customers. Says its store manager Brillyn Toh:
“We’re more a community than a shop. We’ve loyal customers who pop
by every weekend, and sometimes even bring snacks or home-cooked
food to share with us!” Indeed the friendly atmosphere of the place is
contagious, courtesy of the cheerful staff. You’d wish you could bring
some of that great hospitality back!
Address:
153 Kampong Ampat #01-03
Junjie Industrial Building Singapore 368326
Opening hours:
9.30am-5.50pm (Daily)
Telephone:
62818338
Website:
www.facebook.com/hocksiongco
Item price range:
From $0.50 for a shot glass to about $2,000 for display shelves
Vintage chair haven
ReStore Living Pte Ltd
ReStore Living represents a small number of young, mid-sized, retrothemed household shops started by entrepreneurs keen to marry their
passion for preserving old furniture with a self-satisfying career. Just
two years old, this vintage furniture shop is the baby of good friends,
Megumi Wettstein and Liew Hwee Min. The simply decorated shop
is bright and cheery, with a row of colourful, newly upholstered dining chairs perched on the shop’s railing. Below them, a number of
retro wooden cabinets sit side by side. Everything in the shop is
unique and for sale. They were sourced from HDB void decks or
industrial estates and restored. The shop also houses a cafe, where
one can relax around old tables, on chairs of different shapes and
sizes, enjoying home-made waffles, ice cream and piquant coffee. The
store-and-cafe concept, explains Ms Liew, allows young homeowners
to have a cozy, stress-free environment as they contemplate possible
buys over a cuppa. But don’t take too long to decide, or that perfect
chair you were eyeing might just get sold as you sip on your cuppa.
Address:
124 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088533
Opening hours:
11am-7pm (Tue – Fri)
11am-6pm (Sat & Sun)
Closed on Mondays
Telephone:
62223510
Website:
restoreliving.blogspot.sg
Item price range:
Dining chairs from $190 onwards
Life.Style43
Loyalty through time
Just Anthony Pte Ltd
From the outside, the bungalow that Just Anthony occupies looks
and feels like an old museum. Its spacious driveway is half-filled with
ceramic vats and lined with pot-bellied statues and stone lions. Step
inside, and you’ll find that most of the products – from traditional
wooden chests, dressers, cupboards to an original Shanxi horse-cart –
are from China. Many of the items come with their histories intact.
Just Anthony also restores, reproduces and customises popular wooden
furniture styles, including those from the Ming dynasty. Feast your
eyes on elaborately carved wedding beds, shiny mother-of-pearl dining sets, a fish-shaped stone pillow, hand-painted wash buckets and
iconic circular shelves. Just Anthony bills itself as having Singapore’s
largest selection of Chinese antique furniture. Ms Danielle Lee manages the place with her father, Anthony. Here, loyalty is very much
the name of the game. “Customers who’ve been buying from my
father long ago, now have children who come back to us,” says Ms
Lee. Just Anthony has been around for 30 years, and with the level
of product authenticity maintained through time, future generations
may just keep coming back.
Address:
379 Upper Paya Lebar Road
Singapore 534972
Opening hours:
9am-6.30pm (Daily)
Telephone:
62834782
Antiques treasure trove
Changi Junk Store
Pak Haji Basman Johari’s 40-year-old Changi Junk
Store is an odd inhabitant among the numerous
eating outlets, karaoke joints and budget hotels that
line colourful Joo Chiat Road. It is packed with all
kinds of furniture and knick-knacks, some spilling
out into the common walkway and onto the road.
Curious passers-by peek in, and some quickly dismiss
the store as containing what its name says; but those
with a good eye will spot some rare prized pieces.
In fact, nearly half of Pak Basman’s more than
1,000 items – most of which are kept in a Kallang
Pudding Road warehouse – are precious antiques.
Interesting finds include a gold-leaf bridal dais that
once belonged to Bugis royalty, a pair of wooden
Peranakan clogs, intricately carved bird cages, classic
Malay sireh sets, Indonesian oil paintings and teak
carvings. And if you have a piece of old furniture,
Pak Basman will gladly restore it to its former glory
for a fee. Today, the sprightly 72-year-old still cuts
a strapping figure and continues to single-handedly
collect, deal and restore his wares.
Address:
125 Joo Chiat Road Singapore 427413
Opening hours:
9am-5pm (Daily)
Telephone:
96359425
Website:
www.facebook.com/pages/Changi-JunkStore/279725578711337
Item price range:
From $15 onwards
Website:
www.justanthony.com
Item price range:
$25 for hand-painted dishes
and ceramic tiles, to $18,000
for a 150-year-old original
canopy bed from Shanxi
44 The Irreverent Last Page
No Wrong Door
There’s never a wrong door. It’s just that sometimes there’s a very long corridor.
1
At the 2012 Excellence in Public Service Awards, Deputy Prime
Minister Teo Chee Hean announced the addition of
new service principles to the existing four of Care, Accessibility,
Responsibility and Effectiveness (CARE).
a. one
b. two
c. three
d. four
2
The newly implemented First Responder Protocol, which builds
upon the Public Service Division’s No Wrong Door policy was first
.
piloted in 2012 by the
a. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority
b. National Environment Agency
c. National Parks Board
d. Singapore Land Authority
3
The Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) assistance package covers up
of eligible costs for SMEs to encourage them to raise
to
service standards in their industry.
a. 50%
b. 60%
c. 70%
d. 80%
4
Launched in 2011, the
is awarded to the most outstanding
organisation that has demonstrated the highest levels of customer
satisfaction and organisational service excellence.
a. Premier Customer Satisfaction Award
b. Singapore Service Excellence Medallion
c. Best Customer Service Award
d. Gold Medal for Excellent Customer Service
5
is the second phase of the Go the Extra Mile for Service
(GEMS) movement which aims to raise the level of service
excellence in Singapore.
a. GEMS 2.0
b. GEMS Up
c. Next GEMS
d. NuGEMS
Need We Say More?
Here’s where we let the humour loose, and learn to laugh at ourselves a little more.
Have ideas or jokes about the Public Service? Email us: [email protected]
Pairs of
Movie Vouchers
to be won
Submit your answers by
OCTOBER 3, 2012 at:
Challenge Online
www.challenge.gov.sg
Please include your name,
email address, agency and
contact number.
All winners will be notified
by email.
Congratulations
to the winners of the
July/August 2012
Trivia Quiz
Roslinda Arsad
ICA
Tein Jun Gang
NEA
Lim Zhongyan
HDB
Tong Woei Cheng
EMA
Yeow Keshin
MCYS
For answers to last issue’s quiz, please go to
www.challenge.gov.sg.