Public servants are scared of speaking up, says MP

SINGAPORE — After saying the Public Service has “lost its heart” in its pursuit to automate processes during last year’s Budget debate, Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Louis Ng returned to his pet topic on Tuesday (Feb 27) — this time, he said public servants are afflicted with a fear of speaking up.

Stressing the importance of the Public Service, which he described as “the heart of our entire system”, Mr Ng reiterated the need to “ensure that the public service attracts superheroes and people who want to change the world”.

Referring to his speech last year where he called public servants a “rare breed who devote their lives towards serving Singapore”, Mr Ng said: “Our public servants are good people… But we now need to make sure that they don’t work in a system where they feel they need to be silent, where they feel they need to be ‘Yes sir’ men or women and where they feel that nothing will change even if they speak up.”

Last year, Mr Ng cited an example of a resident who was slapped with letters demanding mortgage and tax payments while struggling to provide for her late sister’s two children, and said that the Housing and Development Board did not know a letter was sent as it was computer-generated. “Our aim seems to be to process each case as fast as possible and to follow the book as strictly as possible. Don’t deviate, don’t rock the boat and don’t question,” he said then.

Mr Ng said that after delivering his speech during last year’s Budget debate, he received messages on Facebook telling him to be careful, and that he would get into trouble for “speaking up too much”.

He added that he has also been speaking with public servants over the past year at closed-door dialogue sessions to “better understand their concerns, the difficulties they face and their aspirations”.

He recounted that at such sessions, he would always be asked two questions: Would they get into trouble for speaking up? And what is the point of sharing their thoughts as nothing will change?

“There is a general consensus that people will get into trouble if they speak up in the public service,” he said. “They fear that they will be labelled as troublemakers and that their bosses will get angry. They fear it will affect their appraisal and their promotion.”

The culture of not rocking the boat will be detrimental to the Public Service and result in the “loss of good ideas, of better ways of doing things and the loss of good public servants”, Mr Ng said.

To prevent these from happening, Mr Ng said the public servants whom he has spoken to have suggested revamping the appraisal system, which they felt prevents them from speaking up. He noted that some multinational corporations, such as Google and Alibaba, use a “360 appraisal review” that allows employees to review and grade their direct managers. “The current appraisal system (in the Public Service) does not incentivise risk-taking and innovation, and I suggest we change it urgently,” Mr Ng said.

Calling for the Government to ensure public servants “feel empowered”, he said: “We need to make sure that, one we make it easier for public servants to voice their concerns and two, make sure that we follow up on the concerns they raise.”

He added: “Some public servants I met also told me directly that it is almost impossible to feel motivated to do more because mediocrity is rewarded. Status quo is a prized possession. They want to make a difference, which is why they joined the public service, but they do not feel empowered to do so.”

Mr Ng suggested having frequent meetings where public servants can speak directly with senior management — a practice being done at some ministries and statutory boards — across the board. He also proposed having an “internal” Quality Service Managers to address feedback given by public servants.

“We and by we, I mean us in this House and the senior management in the public service, need to make sure that our public servants work in a system where everyone can speak up and where everyone can be heard,” Mr Ng said.