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Civil servants must ‘serve with heart, not just execute policies’

SINGAPORE — The Government should pay more attention to the quality and development of civil servants such that officers are “committed, trustworthy, and ... serve with their hearts”, said Dr Lee Bee Wah in Parliament yesterday, citing the spate of train disruptions last year and the naming of Singapore’s newest junior college as examples where the public sector had fallen short.

SINGAPORE — The Government should pay more attention to the quality and development of civil servants such that officers are “committed, trustworthy, and ... serve with their hearts”, said Dr Lee Bee Wah in Parliament yesterday, citing the spate of train disruptions last year and the naming of Singapore’s newest junior college as examples where the public sector had fallen short.

Echoing Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s recent call for the Public Service to look at issues from the ordinary citizen’s perspective and canvass inputs and contributions from more avenues, Dr Lee said civil servants at all levels must go further than “just carrying out the formulation and execution of policies”.

“We need people who are committed, trustworthy and who serve with their hearts,” said the Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency, who was among those who spoke during the debate on the President’s address yesterday.

Noting that civil servants are trying their best to balance more demands from a vocal public, she added: “Perhaps we should pay more attention to the quality of the officers, their career paths, training and the motivation for them to excel, innovate and give their best.”

Although Singapore is known for having an effective and honest Government, there are areas for improvement, said Dr Lee.

The Government could have done better in planning for the long term to avoid train disruptions, for example, if it had trained a pool of engineers and technicians to specialise in maintaining the rail system early on, she said.

Part of the blame for the Sports Hub pitch issue also falls on the Government, she said, saying experts from the National Parks Board could have exercised more oversight over the execution of the project.

Dr Lee added: “Perhaps the Government had drawn the line too fine, too clearly and washed their hands too early.”

The Government also tends to lose sight over how decisions affect “the man on the street”, said Dr Lee, citing the brouhaha over the naming of Eunoia JC.

“The word was chosen for its meaning but did anybody think whether the man on the street can pronounce it easily?” she asked.

Among the other MPs who spoke yesterday, the issue of families was high on the agenda, with calls for more support for young parents and ways to “inspire” people to start families.

Meanwhile, Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng issued a call to unite as one caring nation.

“Singapore is commonly known for our ‘head’ because of our pragmatism. We are admired as an economic miracle, an efficient, well-organised and well-run city ... Many question if we have traded some of our soul and heart in the pursuit of efficiency,” he said.

Stressing that everyone was “indispensable” and played “complementary” roles, he said the Government should work hard to continue ensuring equal access to opportunities and social mobility, as well as the strengthening of social safety nets.

“After all, the well-being of our society, like the body, is measured by the health of all our parts. Similarly, the strength of our social fabric lies in the spirit of mutual support within our society,” he said. “We do not want a racing, erratic heartbeat when we run a long-distance race. What we need is a steady and strong heartbeat that will take us forward in our journey.”

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