AGC must ‘draw cream of S’pore, develop talent’ to stay at top of game

SINGAPORE — While the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) started out being manned by expatriates due to Singapore’s colonial history, today it has grown into a Singapore team that can hold its own internationally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

However, a key priority now for the AGC is to ensure that its people are well-developed, and to attract some of the best from mid-career professionals and the private sector, he said at the AGC’s 150th anniversary event last night.

Singapore’s first Attorney-General (A-G) was an Irishman, Thomas Braddell, with many other A-Gs being expatriates as well, but on Singapore’s road to independence, it had to shift to an AGC that was run by Singaporeans, Mr Lee explained.

The first Singapore A-G, Ahmad Ibrahim, showed himself to be “as capable as his expatriate predecessors”, and by 1965, the AGC was entirely made up of Singaporeans.

“Today, we have in the AGC a Singapore team, recruited on the basis of experience and ability ... one which we are proud of and can hold its own internationally,” he added.

As the volume of work has grown, and tasks are growing ever more complex, it is all the more important that the AGC has good people that are “equal to the best lawyers in the private sector”, with a sense of public service. “Thus a key priority for the AGC is to make sure ... people are well-managed, well-developed, assessed, promoted and deployed,” he said.

Staff members must be given ample opportunities to rise and develop, and the posts at the top of the AGC have been expanded. Now there are several Deputy A-Gs and two Solicitors-General, which reflects the growing scope of the AGC’s work. This also gives more opportunities for officers to rise within the organisation.

It is important to attract talent from outside as well, Mr Lee said. “(It is) not just to beef up the team in terms of numbers, but also to bring in people with diverse experiences, who have operated the system on the other side, and can bring a different perspective to the AGC’s functions.”

Some recent examples he cited are recently appointed A-G Lucien Wong, who used to be a top corporate lawyer, and former Member of Parliament and lawyer Hri Kumar, now Deputy A-G.

Mr Lee also highlighted the importance of bringing in talented non-legal officers who can support the lawyers, describing executives as the “backbone of the institution”. TAN WEIZHEN