Challenge. May - June 2013

RUBBISH

MAY / JUNE 2013

How to co-create A new library is leading the way P.6

How to tell a good story Use authentic stories from the ground P.8

How to champion the man in the street Two advocates sharetheir experiences P.10

How to deliver “wow” through service It’s about creating a service culture P.12

How to readthings rightGood data and analysis are needed P.14

How to “do first, talk later” Clean up the turf issues P.15

How to make life simpler Collaborate as a whole government P.16

PLUS: Practical tips for officers

The

howtoIssue

HIGHLIGHTS04 NEWS FROM THE SERVICE

VIEWPOINTS02 INBOX Your views on the Mar/Apr issue of Challenge

03 YOUR SAY HOW CAN SINGAPORE ACCOMMODATE A LARGER POPULATION WHILE IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE? We asked readers to share their ideas

25 LETTERS TO A YOUNG PUBLIC OFFICER MAKE A MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE When the going gets tough, think of the meaning of your work, advises Dr Tan Chin Nam

26 A CUPPA WITH… “YOUR ULTIMATE BOSS IS THE CITIZEN OF SINGAPORE” MOH Perm Sec Tan Ching Yee on who the Public Service really serves

REST & RELAX

17 THE CHALLENGE PULLOUT THE ART OF ZEN 8 pages of tips on taking it easy

36 LIFE.STYLE SO KITSCH, IT’S IN Clever local designs that appeal to the nostalgic Singaporean in us

40 THE IRREVERENT LAST PAGE FOODS FIT FOR VERY CIVIL SERVANTS A tongue-in-cheek look at what some local foods mean to the Public Service

COVER STORY05 THE HOW TO ISSUE Seven articles to help officers work differently

06 How to co-create 08 How to tell a good story 10 How to champion the man in the street 12 How to deliver “wow” through service 14 How to read things right 15 How to “do first, talk later” 16 How to make life simpler

FEATURES29 DEEP-SEATED MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE Upcycled benches from the National Stadium make their way into the city

30 MAKING WAY FOR A MAKEOVER Finance officers are emerging from the backroom to take on more strategic roles

32 THE 2013 ALL-STAR SERVICE LEAGUE Meet five winners of the annual PS21 Star Service Award

36Are you all stressed out from

scrambling to meet work deadlines? Feel you need a break? Here’s your ultimate

guide to the neatest tricks to chill out – and still get

ahead in life!

17-24pages of tips on taking it easy

May/June 2013

THE ORIGINS OF ZEN... Stay with us, for it gets tricky. “Zen” is a Japanese rendition of the Chinese word 禅 (chán), which in turn, was an attempt to pronounce “Dhaya”, the Sanskrit word for meditation. Which is apt since Zen Buddhist monks in Japan were known to lead simple lives; their days spent in meditation, striving to seek enlightenment. These days the term “Zen” is used more loosely to refer to someone who glides through life unruffled. What accounts for the chilled-out demeanour? Inner peace, or too much bubbly? Whatever it is, we’d like to have what they’re having.

FOUR GOOD REASONS TO RELAX... besides the fact that you’re now running solely on caffeine.

“KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON”This phrase started appearing on posters, T-shirts and mugs in the noughties, and became an Internet meme spawning hundreds of variants (e.g. “Keep calm and curry on”). But it was, in fact, a slogan on a 1939 British propaganda poster, aimed to raise the morale of Britons during the dark days of World War II. In 2000, a copy of the long-forgotten poster was found at Barter Books, a second-hand bookshop in England. The owners framed it up and it soon became a hit with customers – so they began selling copies a year later.

1. You’ll get a better work appraisal Research shows that even brief naps will make you more alert and productive. Getting your recommended six hours of shut-eye daily will also boost concentration, so you’ll make fewer mistakes at work.

2. Your friends will like you more How many times have you snapped at a pal because you were too strung up? Or cancelled a date because you were “too tired”? Do your social life a favour: Rest.

3. You’ll stay slim When you’re stressed, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which signals that you need to replenish your energy stores. Result: you eat more, and are likely to crave high-calorie “comfort” foods.

GENTS, TAKE NOTEIt’s proven: women shy away from stressed out men. Researchers examined 74 men, measuring their immune system strength and stress levels. They then asked 94 women to rank the appearance of these men. The lads who were considered sexiest were those who had higher immunity and lower stress levels – suggesting that women are subconsciously drawn to men who are healthier and not frazzled. So chill out, guys!

4. You’ll stay alive, longer Being tired can put your life at risk: never drive or operate dangerous equipment when sleepy. Chronic stress has also been linked to a weakened immune system, which means you’re more susceptible to diseases.

PULLOUT

30

32

17

40

27

Cheers to these quiet warriors; thank you for giving us all peace of mind!

Choon Hong aka the Chef

CHOON HONG CHARLENEHUI MIN

CHRIS

No Hell’s Kitchen, This Challenge January/Febuary 2012

Service is a profession that requires us to have empathy for the needs of our customers, and the perseverance to meet the demands of the job. A big thanks to the training instructors at Republic Polytechnic, who inspire the frontline staff of tomorrow to always

give their best.

From a Dog and a Pile of Rubbish –

Public Service Delivery Lessons

Challenge September/October 2012

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness

of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the ways its animals

are treated.” And people like retired

Principal Animal Welfare Inspector Soh

Seng Beng, who had devoted 37 years to

animal welfare, have helped us progress. Thank you!

Don’t Rubbish That! Challenge July/August 2012Being at the frontline can be challenging but the team at the Department of Public Cleanliness takes it all in their stride. Hats off to their “do first, talk later” approach to keeping Singapore clean!

Maid-to-Order Policies

Challenge March/April 2012

Listening to the people we serve is

more important than thinking in terms

of KPIs or outcomes. Kudos to the

MOM and MCI teams for keeping

your ears close to the ground!

KAIRA

He’s No Quack Challenge March/April 2013

It ’s through the contributions of officers who work tirelessly in locations off

our radar, like Alex, that Singapore has remained safe and sound, hale and hearty. So cheers to these quiet warriors; thank

you for giving us all peace of mind!

Each year, Public Service Week celebrates

the everyday public off icer who serves the nation and is proud of it. Here is the

Challenge editorial team’s hat tip to the

off icers – previously featured in the magazine – who we think really exemplify

the Public Service spirit!

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PublisherPS21 Office, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office100 High Street, #07-01 The TreasurySingapore 179434 Email : [email protected] : www.challenge.gov.sg

For enquiries or feedback on Challenge, please write to the Challenge Editorial Team at [email protected].

Editorial Advisors Tay Choon Hong & Charlene Han Editor Tan Hui MinAssistant Editors Kaira Peh & Christopher TeoEditorial Assistant Diana Lee

Tuber Productions Pte Ltd298 River Valley Road Level 2Singapore 238339Tel : 6836-4030Fax : 6836-4029Email : [email protected] Web : www.tuberproductions.com

ManagementDirector Lee Han ShihProject Director Liew Wei Ping

EditorialContributing Editor Bridgette SeeSub-editorBernice TangStaff WritersChen Jingting & Siti Maziah MasramliContributors Sheralyn Tay & Denyse Yeo InternTay Qiao Wei

CreativeArt DirectorYip Siew FeiGraphic DesignersNg Shi Wei & Ryan Ong

Contributing Photog raphers John Heng (www.daphotographer.com)Justin Loh (shininghead.com)Charles Chua (athousandwords.com.sg)

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. All information correct at time of printing.

Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd (Registration No: 197801823M) 57 Loyang Drive Singapore 508968

GO DIGITALExclusively on Challenge Online at www.challenge.gov.sg

The game plan for a SHARING CITY

How does collaborative consumption help to build a more trusting Singapore?

MARCH / APRIL 2013

HERE’S THE PEPPER THAT

YOU ASKED FOR!

THANKS!

I don’t recall the actual content of your previous email*, but the act of acknowledging readers’ feedback and issuing a public apology on how the question was framed is indeed an act of humility. This is commendable and kudos to the editorial team!

Diana ChinURA

The March/April issue of Challenge has a wonderful theme and a nice way of sharing about sharing without coming across as preachy, patronising or campaign-like. I think there’s mastery in there. If we just follow most of the tips we will surely re-capture the kampung spirit, and do it with upgraded manners.

Douglas OLoughlinCSC

INBOXINBOX

You are CreativeDoes Rational

Thinking Impair Creativity?

Do you colour only between the lines?

Or have you overcome pre-set boundaries

of creativity?

Insider’s TakeMastering

Your EnergyGood energy or

unproductive energy? Find out how you

can raise the positive energy quotient in your organisation.

bit.ly/masteryourenergy

You are CreativeCreativity is a Hike Away

Did you know that ditching your gadgets and exposing yourself to nature may boost

your creativity at work?

bit.ly/creativeinthewild

Duck and CoverJonson at Reservist

Jonson faces his annual two-week

‘holiday’ with the armed forces.

Can everyone agree on what he really

does there?bit.ly/jonsonatreservist

To scan QR codes, please download any free QR code reader app available on iTunes Store and Google Play.

Previously when issues of Challenge were circulated, I would flip through them, do a mental “bleh” and leave them aside for the recycling bin. But recent editions have caught my attention with snazzy pictorials and layouts. Now I make a mental note to read the articles during my breaks, and keep some of the interesting and informative Pullouts for future reference. Thanks and keep it up!

Pauline WanCRA

Now available

on iPad

*Two months ago, we sent an email apologising for our boo-boo in the initial phrasing of last issue’s “Your Say” question. We stand corrected.

bit.ly/intuitivethinking

Congratulations, Eng Kian! Thanks for sharing your suggestions

with us. We’re sending you a $100 voucher from a local toy shop for you to

build the most awesome city of the future!

Editor’s Note: Ninety officers responded to our call for ideas but because of space constraints, we are unable to print them all. But thank you for sharing your views!

I dreamt that my dad had asked me to go to the bus in-terchange to get lunch. As I was lazy, I told him I would “ta-pao” chicken rice from the 6th f loor. When I entered the lift, I realised the HDB block I was in was 50-plus storeys high! The lift even went to Basement 5. I felt I was travel-ling in the lift of Taipei 101! So my answer is: increase the height of HDB blocks and drill into the ground to create basements, if necessary.

Andrea ChengMHA

I once saw a private unit that had two bedrooms, one common living and dining room, one main kitchen and an adjoin-ing “grandparents” room with a kitchenette. I’m impressed by this concept that allows extended families to live under one roof, yet respecting their need for privacy. This, for our future generations, seems like an attractive idea.

Phyllis LiuNParks

We can learn from European countries by allowing boat housing along river banks. The use of a lake isn’t limited to the collection of water; perhaps a mini town can also be built in the middle of a lake.

Kelvin LinPUB

Both current and future residents need to assimilate and interact in order to view each other less as competitors, and more as neighbours. Better community facilities can create common ground so residents, both new and old, should be encouraged to participate in activities there.

Nuraishah HamzaICA

While it is unavoidable that there might be more waste or noise because of more human activities, it does not mean that the environment would be proportionately nosier and dirtier. In this aspect, Japan has done well through leveraging community building and technology. Yokohama and Shinagawa are good examples of how they transformed a port

town and an industrial town respectively into eco cities, enjoying clean

air, water, quiet living com-fort and intelligent energy

management. Singapore must do the same to leverage high-tech in its environmental manage-

ment such as sensors in picking up signals/data

a nd automated cont rol systems in decision making

and responses.

Tell us at [email protected].

The best entry will win an attractive prize worth up to $100! All other published entries will win book vouchers worth $30 each. Please include

your name, agency email address, agency and contact number.

All entries should reach us by May 31, 2013.

To join in the national conversation on education, go to moe.gov.sg/our-singapore-conversation

Ideas for a BETTER LIFE!

Ong Eng Kian

NEA

Last issue, Challenge asked readers to share how Singapore could accommodate a larger population while improving quality of life.

Special

03Your Say

COMING UP...NEWSfrom theSERVICEIT’S PLAYTIME AT RAFFLES PLACEMiss the times you spent on see-saws and swings in your neighbourhood park? To evoke nostal-gia and build a sense of belonging, the National Parks Board launched Playsets of Yesteryears, a roving installation of playsets popular in the ’70s and ’80s at Raffles Place Park on March 18. With swings, see-saws and a merry-go-round, it is one of the activities commemorating 50 Years of Greening Singapore. The exhibition is at Raffles Place Park until May 19, then East Coast Park ( June to July), Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (mid-August to mid-October), and Singapore Botanic Gardens (November to December).“Like” www.facebook.com/nparksbuzz for more information.

SAVING WATER TOGETHEROn March 16, more than 35,000 children and adults turned up at loca-tions across Singapore to celebrate World Water Day. Celebrations took place at six key sites – Marina Barrage, Lorong Halus Wetland, Kallang River@Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Jurong Lake, Geylang River and Lower Seletar Reservoir – to mark the importance of fresh water and conservation of this valuable resource. More than 150 community partners organised and/or participated in the fun-filled activities, all for the water cause.

ENGAGING CITIZENS TO CO-CREATE THE FUTUREGain ins ights on how to tap the power of infocomm technologies to engage citizens at the eGov Global Exchange, which takes place June 17-21 at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre. Organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the Ministr y of Finance, the event comprises a forum of industry experts and leading international e-government policy-makers, and an exhibition of success stories and innovations. www.egovexchange.com

KEEPING PAIN AWAYIf you have been feeling the ache from sitting for long hours in front of your computer, this free ergonomics mobile application (ergo@WSH) from the Workplace Safety and Health Institute can help to alleviate your pain. Updated in March 2013, the app allows you to instantly analyse and improve your sitting or lifting posture through photographs or videos. Step-by-step stretching exercises are also provided. Available on iTunes Store and Google Play.

WORLD STREET FOOD IN SINGAPOREFeast on the best street food from around the globe during the World Street Food Jamboree, part of the inaugural World Street Food Congress. Organised by Makansutra and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, this event will take place at the F1 Pit Building & Paddock May 31-June 9. www.wsfcongress.com

On World Water Day, more than 3,000 people formed a giant human water droplet at Marina Barrage to highlight the importance of collective efforts in saving water.

Soft-shell crab burger from USA will be among the street food featured at the Jamboree.

HighlightsHighlights04

The

Since the late 2000s, there has been a shift in the way governments do business – from simply deciding the best for citizens to pausing to think more deeply about what people really want. These governments have discovered that by placing the citizen at the front and centre of what they do, they provide better service and foster greater trust.

So, if you haven’t received the memo yet, here it is in black and white: Say goodbye to the days of “Government knows best” and get ready for a new era of citizen engagement. The head of Civil Service, Mr Peter Ong, told Challenge, “We are past carrying on with business as usual. Singaporeans want to play a larger role in matters that affect their lives and they want greater accountability from the Government. We must engage our citizens well and create a stronger connection and sense of community; work better within and across agencies; and inspire trust through our conduct. These are challenging but exciting times.”

To cut the rhetoric and get to the more practical aspects of “how to achieve all that”, Challenge has put together seven “How To” articles to share how some have already begun to think differently. It’s not an Instruction Manual, mind you, but a collection of insights that we think will be useful to the everyday work of public officers and their leaders. Are you ready to explore a brave new world of governance?

It's been happening for some time now. . .

howto

Edited by Bridgette SeeWritten by Bridgette SeeSheralyn TayChen Jingting

Issue

The

Turn the page

WITH AN INCREASINGLY diverse population and evolving ex-pectations of what it means to be a citizen, the collective wisdom and effort of a community may be the answer to drive public participation, deliver greater public value and nur-ture social ownership.

Co-creation taps the knowledge and inputs of a community in meaning-ful ways to improve public services or to share knowledge for the public good. The power of co-creation is that it develops shared ownership and shifts the paradigm from a “Government knows best” mentality to a “ let ’s do this together” attitude.

Community projects and consulta-tive exercises to participate are start-ing points in growing co-creation efforts, and building competence and capacity that can then lead to deeper levels of participation.

The new library@chinatown offers some insight into what it means to begin the co-creation conversation. It is the first library in Singapore that is “powered by the community”. The library is set up and funded by Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and CP1 Pte Ltd, owner of Chi-natown Point Retail. A group of experts in Chinese arts and culture comprising journalists, educators and language experts was consulted and their views helped to shape the library ’s collection of books and audio visual materials.

Here’s where it gets even better: a team of 40 volunteers – from retirees

to working professionals – now runs the library ’s daily operations with little supervision. Ms Chan Wai Ling, a manager from the Public Library Services, National Library Board (NLB), drops by several times a week to oversee operations and engage the volunteers. The idea of a community-run library stemmed, in part, from the growing readiness of existing volunteers to participate at a

deeper level, says Ms Chan. “For us, it ’s good because it helps the com-munity re-imagine what the library is to them and reconnect with us.”

Doris Choy, 65, a head teacher at an infant care centre, has been a long-time grassroots and library volunteer. “I’ve done storytelling at Toa Payoh and Bukit Merah [librar-ies] for the past five or six years,”

KNOW YOUR POTENTIALCO-CREATORS WELL

Observe and listen intently to your potential co-creators’

needs, expectations and dreams. This helps to determine their

readiness to co-create and co-own a project.

CREATE MEANINGAppeal to co-creators’ ethics,

values and hopes for the future. This gives people

meaning, which motivates them to pursue a larger

purpose that is beyond what they see now.

TREAT CO-CREATORS WITH RESPECT

Respect co-creators’ contributions by working with them on solutions to

the issues they face. This also encourages co-creators to

develop a sense of ownership.

A new library is leading the way.

Text by Sheralyn Tay

Photo by John Heng

How to CO-C REATE

TI PS

The San Francisco-based non-profit organisation, nicknamed the “Peace Corps for geeks”, ropes in tech geeks and “seconds” them to work with city governments for about 11 months to scope out a project, develop a plan and deliver a solution (apps, IT tools) to help improve local facilities and services, and “fundamentally reframe the functions of government” that is scalable and engages civil society. Watch: bit.ly/codeUSA. Read more at cube.gov.sg/CurrentAffairs/Pages/Working-With-Geeks.aspx

Co-creation taps the knowledge and inputs of a community in meaningful ways to improve public services or to share knowledge for the public good.

High level co-creation: Code for America

How engaged or involved is the public, really? In 1969, Sherry Arnstein wrote her landmark paper, “Ladder of Citizen Par ticipation”, to illustrate the different levels of citizen involvement in the US. It remains a useful reference for assess ing how genuine public engagement is. The lowest rung is “manipulation” (for example, when citizens are put on committees to rubber-stamp decisions), while the highest rung is “citizen control” (for example, when citizens are highly involved in the planning and making of policies and in managing programmes).

WORKING TOGETHER WORKS Library volunteers Mdm Siti, her daughter Norafifah and Doris Choy work closely with NLB manager Chan Wai Ling (right) to run library@chinatown.

she says. Extending her role to help out in operations and gain a behind-the-scenes look was something she says she finds “interesting” and “more meaningful”.

To enable the volunteers to perform their duties well, NLB gave them training in keeping stock of books and shelving, as well as in under-standing how library programmes are structured. Soft skills training – handling customers and conflict management – alleviated some of the volunteers’ concerns about deal-ing with customers.

Some aspects were tweaked as well, reveals Ms Chan. The book number-ing system in library@chinatown is less detailed than in other libraries, so books are easier to shelve. “We

also have more tier guides (labels on shelves) to make it easier for volunteers to identify where to put the books,” she says.

Based on volunteer feedback, shifts were shortened to better suit their schedules and to involve more people. As a backup, a booth also connects library users with NLB’s Cybrarian, a library staff who gives advice remotely via phone and computer.

With the library still in its early stages, the scope for further involve-ment and more volunteer autonomy remains, says Ms Chan: “The ideal end state would be to have volun-teers also run the library in terms of programme curation and selection of the collection.”

Know of good co-creation initiatives? Let us know at [email protected] Read more at bit.ly/arnsteinladder

• Partnership

• Placation

• Consultation

• Informing

• Therapy

• Manipulation

• Citizen control

• Delegated power

07Cover Story

HUMANS HAVE BEEN TELL-ing stories for some 30,000 years, if ancient cave paintings are testa-ments of such.

Today, a tale well told overcomes the “noise” of an information-laden world, Ms Cho Peilin, Manag-ing Director, Asia PR Werkz, points out. “Storytelling is even more im-portant now because our public is bombarded daily with information from everywhere, especially from

[the Internet] and social media. A good story can draw attention and interest people. It allows people to relate and thus find relevance.”

The art of telling a good story is more critical now in a time of per-vasive cynicism – authentic stories can engage, inspire and move, re-vealing meaning without necessarily defining it.

Storytelling imparts meaning, not

just messages; transcending the here and now and transporting us else-where to vicariously experience the new, the novel or even the nostalgic; to leave behind a seed of an idea that can take root and germinate. A good story can also inspire or instruct.

In recent years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has used the art of storytelling to celebrate teachers and inspire others to join the profes-sion. According to Ms Gladys Chew,

How toTELL A GOOD STORYUse authentic stories from the ground.Text by Sheralyn Tay

REAL STORIES Stills from the latest series of MOE recruitment advertisements that were largely based on true, crowd-sourced stories.

KEEP IT REALIn organisational

storytelling, always keep stories authentic.

K.I.S.S.Keep it short and simple.

Avoid getting too technical and make sure it illustrates

the impact clearly.

BEYOND EMOTIONSStories must reveal the underlying impact and relate the audience to

the organisation or larger context/theme/policy.

Stories do more than relate a tale, they tickle your brain! Here’s the science behind that: bit.ly/tickleyourbrain

Assistant Director, Recruitment Mar-keting & Research, the series of new re-

cruitment advertise-ments featuring “Mdm

Ang” and “Mr Kumar” was largely based on true

stories that were crowd-sourced.

“We believe that there are many good stories out there,” she says.

Hearing inspiring stories from teachers on why they joined the profession, she says, “spurred us to think, why not get stories of those whose lives were also touched by teachers? [This] reinforces the fact that there are many teachers like them who are committed to nurtur-ing and inspiring students.”

She adds that using true stories and even getting the teachers themselves (Mdm Ang and Mr Kumar) to be in the advertisements made the stories even more compelling and emotive.

Last year, the public was invited to share stories of teachers who had made a difference to their lives at iremembermyteacher.com. More than 300 entries were received, of which 250 are now published on the portal. The story about Mdm Ang was submitted by her student, Ms Valane Tnee, who was inspired by Mdm Ang to become a teacher herself.

Paul Tan, Director of the Singapore Writers Festival at the National Arts Council, says that storytelling “is what it means to be human”, and the narrative structure of a story is

Storytelling is even more important now because

our public is bombarded daily with information from everywhere, especially from

[the Internet] and social media.

Stories are everywhere: water cooler talk, customer feedback, meetings and even the chatter on social media form a rich source of tales that can be used

to build your organisational culture, inspire, encourage and empower.

what allows its message to reach the deeper recesses of the mind and results in better retention and emo-tional connection.

All stories, fiction or non-fiction, have a similar structure: a beginning, middle and an end, says Mr Tan, who is himself a poet. “Good stories are also sensitive and relevant to the audience, they generate interest through conflict… and have a reso-lution [that gives] closure,” he says.

When it comes to explaining policy, Ms Cho says storytelling can help communicate key information and allow recipients to connect, relate and reflect on how the policies would affect them personally.

How to encourage storytelling in

your organisation

Stimulate sharing of examples/experiences that

illustrate/reflect values

Recognise the best stories and reinforce them by sharing them

Inspire others to share their own stories

TI PS

09Cover Story

Two advocates share their experiences.

How toCHAMPION THE MAN IN THE STREET

IT’S NOT AN EXAGGERATION to say that the Singapore Public Service is often viewed as a bit of a cold fish. Its efficiency notwith-standing, the impression is that it is fixated on achieving quantifiable KPIs – caring less about how people feel, or what they think. No surprise, then, that the call for “a little more empathy” has grown louder, as citi-zens ask, “What about my point of view?”

So how can public agencies de-velop greater empathy? Going fur-ther, how can they challenge policy rules and assumptions on behalf of citizens?

One way is to appoint senior man-agers to take on citizen advocate roles – something the Land Trans-port Authority (LTA) has done for two years now.

Text by Bridgette See

Its Group Director of Engineer-ing Paul Fok wears a “pedestrian champion” hat while his colleague Dr Chin Kian Keong is known as the “cyclist champion”. Dr Chin is Group Director for Road Opera-tions & Community Partnership.

“Our role is to always look at things – for example, at meetings – and ask, ‘Is there a cycling or pedestrian angle to raise or work on?’ It ’s the same when we meet other agencies,” says Mr Fok.

Apart from walking the ground (and in Dr Chin’s case, occasion-ally cycling on roads and through park connectors), both advocates get ideas and feedback from the general public, their own teams and other LTA staff. They also conduct focus group discussions with specific users and consult grassroot leaders and Members of Parliament to make walking and cycling easier, safer and more enjoyable.

The champion’s “hat” is firmly on at all times, says Dr Chin. For instance, he adds, “there was one road that we were considering widening and realigning, so I said, ‘Instead of rea-ligning the road as what it was, why not put in bicycle paths as well?’” The idea didn’t materialise because of land use issues, but “at least there was the attempt to consciously look at cycling.” Dr Chin has also tasked his engineers to be on the lookout for areas where they can introduce signalised crossings for cyclists.

He admits: “If I wasn’t wearing this champion hat, I probably would have waited for someone else to ask for [the crossings].”

Dr Chin also sits on various inter-agency committees that look at cycling infrastructure in Singapore. He’s found that the real challenge lies not just in building bike paths, but in building an accepted cycling culture here. “How do you get non-cyclists to respect cyclists? Culture doesn’t come about overnight. It ’s a long drawn-out exercise that we’ve started on and I think it will go on for a while,” he shares.

APPOINT SENIOR MANAGEMENT STAFF

AS ADVOCATESThey can influence policies at an early stage, and have the clout

to back new ideas, approve budgets and view things from a

macro perspective.

MAKE IT KNOWNLTA’s Chief Executive

introduces the champions at every opportunity. This strong high-level support reinforces their roles and raises awareness within

the organisation.

BE OPENAppoint advocates who are

prepared to go beyond their normal duties. Thinking of the larger picture (“Is there

a greater good for society?”) helps, advises Mr Fok.

Becoming an advocate has also changed the way the civil engi-neers at LTA work. Mr Fok reveals that they used to resolve problems on a case-by-case basis. Now, they study the fundamental issues trou-bling most users and attempt to resolve them from a systems or “big picture” perspective.

For instance, they realised that public transport commuters who walked to their rides often had no

shelter. After a study and consulta-tion with stakeholders, LTA intro-duced the Walk2Ride programme in January 2013 to build sheltered linkways within a 400m radius of MRT stations so that pedestrians will find it easier to walk to their rides. Overhead bridges within 200m of MRT stations will also be fitted with lifts if there are no alter-native barrier-free crossings nearby,

so the needs of the elderly and less mobile population aren’t overlooked.

Mr Fok shares that their citizen ad-vocacy broke new ground when LTA built a covered linkway on a plot of vacant land near Lakeside MRT sta-tion. “Traditionally, you don’t touch that,” he says. “Usually [the land au-thorities] would say it ’s safeguarded for [other purposes].” But LTA got the green light by thinking differ-ently: it proposed that that linkway

be a temporary one that could be easily rerouted or tweaked when the piece of land gets developed.

Ultimately, says Mr Fok, their work should be to put “people at the centre of every-thing we do”. That may sound like common sense but it can still be easily overlooked. “Very

often when you do design… you forget who you’re designing for. So wearing this hat of champion makes us extremely aware… that every-thing we build is for people to use,” he says.

The champion’s “hat” is firmly on at all times, says Dr Chin. For instance, he adds, “there was one road that we were considering widening and realigning, so I said, ‘Instead of realigning the road as what it was, why not put in bicycle paths as well?’”

Know of any cit izen advocates in the Public Service? Tip us off at [email protected]

TI PS

11Cover Story

GOOGLE “ZAPPOS” AND “excellent customer service” and you will find stories of the “insane lengths” that the online retail com-pany goes to, to satisfy its shoppers, including talking to a customer for 10 straight hours. Zappos, which sees itself first as a service company (that happens to sell shoes), is guided by a set of core values, most famously, “Deliver Wow Through Service”.

Great service in the private sector can lead to increased profits and customer loyalty. The public sector, not being profit-driven and is instead account-able for public funds, simply can’t go to the “insane lengths” for service à la Zappos. Yet great service in the public sector is just as important as it lays the foundation for building trust. So while their approach to service is different, public agencies still aspire to “wow” customers.

In fact, many public officers do “wow” customers, going by the list of PS21 Star Service Award winners. They don’t hold 10-hour-long chats but they do go the extra mile, as glowing Thank You notes from the public show.

Customer Service Executive Irwan Awang from the Ministry of Man-power’s Foreign Manpower Manage-ment Division, for example, single-handedly changed the mind of a customer about the Public Service. “I was never impressed by services provided by ministries until I met Irwan,” wrote this customer. “He made my day.”

What ’s his secret sauce? “Thick skin,” quips Mr Irwan, now four years into the job at an enforcement unit that handles complex, even contentious, foreign manpower issues. The work

Mr Irwan’s ability to empathise with often distraught or frustrated customers helps him to understand their needs and concerns.

is so tough that Mr Irwan is now the longest-serving customer service officer in the division. He jokingly refers to himself as the “overstayer”.

Jokes aside, Mr Irwan’s ability to empathise with often distraught or frustrated customers helps him to understand their needs and con-cerns. Besides offering them expla-nations, advice or alternatives, he is constantly asking himself the “what if ” and “how can I…” questions to better help them. His bosses say his sincerity, tact and clarity have led customers to accept his advice, even in difficult situations.

Once Mr Irwan counselled a run- away foreign domestic worker who was hungry, fearful of losing her work permit and worried about her debt. Mr Irwan helped her to realise that thinking about ending her life would not resolve her problems, and managed to calm her down. Through his patient counselling and tactful handling of the situation, he man-aged to sort out the work dispute between the domestic worker and her employer.

Mr Irwan’s drive to give his best at work makes him a standout – he’s won five service excellence awards in four years, including this year’s PS21 Star Service Award. He isn’t a unique phenomenon, but the Service could certainly benefit from having more officers like him, especially as expectations of public services are growing.

It’s about creating a service culture.

How toDELIVER "WOW" THROUGH SERVICEText by Bridgette See Photo by John Heng

HE’S A STAR!Irwan Awang from the Manpower Ministry has wowed customers with his empathy and patience.

CALM THEM DOWN AND GIVE THEM ATTENTION

Bring customers to a quieter place to calm them down.

This helps them to listen and think with a clear mind.

EMPATHISE FIRST

Let customers vent their frustrations first. Hear them out; then suggest solutions

or alternatives.

WATCH WHAT YOU SAYDon’t just say “I understand”

as customers might think you agree with them. Paraphrase

what you heard instead. Never raise your voice or be

sarcastic. Counter persistence with patience.

Mr Tay Choon Hong, Director (Services) at the PS21 Office who oversees service delivery policies across the Public Service, points out that many public agencies are priori-tising service delivery by increasing staff training.

More support for training, both for frontline staff and managers, is now available, with a dedicated team from the Civil Service College (CSC) formed in April 2013 to over-see service management and delivery, training and development.

“It will not just be copying the good practices from other organisations, but conducting practice research so that new ideas are synthesised, pilot-tested and refined before ap-plying to our context,” says Mr Roger Tan, CSC’s Assistant Chief Executive. “In the longer term, we will develop in-house tools to di-agnose service strengths and gaps in agencies.”

Currently the Public Service is expe-riencing a high turnover of frontline officers who leave to pursue higher education, says Mr Tay.

“To make it attractive for young officers to stay on as professionals in the service field, the Public Service Division is partnering various agen- Source: Irwan Awang, Customer Service Executive, Ministry of Manpower

START ‘EM YOUNG

Service educator Ron Kaufman says, “Service is taking action to create value for someone else.” He observes that most people receive little service

training while in school. “They get a job and the company

has to deal with the fact that nobody ever taught

them what the fundamental principles of service are and how to apply it and you’re

stuck with remedial customer service training.” He suggests that teaching service early on

in schools can build a stronger culture of service in the

whole country.

THE CUSTOMER HAS A ROLE

TOO While service providers have to create value for

customers, customers can also contribute to a culture of

“uplifting service” by asking “What can I do that would create value for my service

provider?” says Mr Kaufman. A compliment, a smile or even a nicely phrased request and

feedback heartens service providers, inspiring them to

give even better service.

cies to [look] at how service jobs and career tracks can be redesigned,” he reveals.

But let ’s not pin the quality of service entirely on frontline staff. “Senior management has to walk the talk to inspire a service mindset and culture,” stresses Mr Tay.

“Whether you are a policy-maker, a backend systems officer, a front-line customer service officer, know that you are part of the service delivery chain.”

How to handle tough customers

TI PS

13Cover Story

QUERIES, FEEDBACK, COM-plaints, compliments – these are increasingly recognised as precious “data” that can give service providers a better picture of what ’s happening on the ground and how their cus-tomers think.

No surprise, then, that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is gathering such data in a big way. It recently set up mCARE+, a customer relation-ship management system that links up its 365 schools with the minis-try ’s headquarters.

Frontline officers have been trained to track their interactions with the public using mCARE+. These of-ficers act as feelers that “sense” the ground by recording customers’ issues and sentiments; analysts then make sense of the data to spot emerging trends or “hot” issues. These insights

go to senior management, who use them to inform, tweak or improve processes and policies.

This process has already begun to improve the way MOE works, says the ministry ’s Assistant Director of Customer Services Augustine Mah. For instance, its Finance Division changed the way fee information was presented in bills and letters to parents, after analytics identified that some parents did not under-stand the format.

On some occasions, customer serv-ice officers detected trends in cus-tomer feedback, such as parents voicing concern over how policies were implemented at some schools. Quickly, the officers alerted the relevant schools, which then con-tacted the parents to address the issues promptly.

ANALYSE THAT!The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is driving the adoption of business analytics, defined as a way to “extract insights from data of all sizes” by IBM, in the public sector. In 2013, MOF and the Infocomm Development Authority launched the Business Analytics (BAsis) Programme, featuring a S$2.1 million fund to help agencies develop their analytics systems, with MOF co-funding S$500 for every officer sent for training.

Go to http://intranet. igov.gov.sg for more information.

Text by Chen Jingting

Good data and analysis needed.

Recognising that the online world is a rich source of public feedback, MOE is also exploring how analytics could be used to study social media sentiment for the purpose of in-forming its policy design and review and implementation strategies.

Mr Mah does note, however that “the quality of our analysis can never be better than the quality of our data.” That is why, apart from train-ing more than 2,000 officers, regular emails with tips on using mCARE+ and best practices are sent to them. Audits are also conducted to identify areas for improvement. Hiring data analysts to derive quality insights, though challenging, is key to MOE’s efforts to build sensing capabilities going forward, he says.

How to READ THINGSRIGHT

CLEAR & CONCISEFocus on capturing the key points of customer interactions clearly and concisely, including the

customer’s emotions.

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT

Train officers to input data as accurately as possible (such as asking the right questions), as the “cleanness” of the data will

determine how accurate the insights will be.

GET BUY-INEncourage a mindset shift and communicate clearly so everyone adopts and

continues to use the system, or risk turning it into a white

elephant. (For more on managing change, go to

bit.ly/managechangeseries)

TI PS

RUBBISH

How to"DO FIRST,

TALK LATER"HERE’S A DRAWBACK OF A decentralised government: when the public needs help in “grey” areas where responsibility is not yet defined or turf issues may arise, public officers may spend more time figuring out which agency is responsible, than addressing the concerns quickly.

To tackle this, the First Responder Pro-tocol (FRP) was introduced last year to spur a “Just do first” approach. Now when a member of the public contacts an agency for help, its officers should try their best to resolve the matter first if they are able to – even if the issue is not directly under their charge.

Since the launch of the FRP, some grey areas are now dealt with in a more coordinated manner. The Agri-food & Veterinary Authority, for instance, is the lead coordinator agency, for all animal-related issues. (No more confusion over who to call when there is trouble with crows, mynahs or pigeons!)

For cleaning matters, the Depart-ment of Public Cleanliness (DPC), under the National Environment Agency, is the one taking the lead. The public can call its hotline, or use the “Clean Lah!” smartphone app to alert the DPC to uncleared rubbish.

When a DPC field officer spots a pile of rubbish or clogged drains, he can snap photographs of the mess with his office-issued iPad. The images are sent back to the headquarters to help DPC staff determine the action that needs to be taken.

“If the issue is creating a public nuisance or an unpleasant situation, let ’s clear it up first,” says DPC Di-rector Desmond Tan. Later, the De-partment will sort out which agency “owns” the mess and send the clean-ing bill to them as agencies still have their own cleaning contracts.

But “the DPC is not the govern-ment ’s maid agency,” he stresses. It has successfully shown that a single government entity can take respon-sibility for a public issue, while working with other agencies, to pro-vide better public service.

Ironing out the kinks hasn’t been easy for the year-old DPC and will require more dogged determination. “We’re in the ‘embarrassed inter-mediate’ phase where we’re moving towards the ideal state but we’re not there yet,” says Mr Tan.

The DPC aims to integrate the public agencies’ cleaning contracts by 2016 to further give turf issues the boot.

Clean up the turf issues.

ENGAGE OTHER PARTNERSThe DPC worked with app developer BuUuK to fine-tune their “Clean Lah!”

crowd-sourcing app so that it provides useful information for the DPC’s work.

BUILD CAPABILITIESThe DPC has its own cleaning

workforce so that it can really take action when needed.

GET BACK-UP FROM THE BOSSIt can be hard for officers to resolve some turf issues. Bosses who offer

their help to mitigate the situation, at a higher level, are heaven-sent.

TI PS


15Cover Story

WHEN YOU ARE A NEW parent with a wailing newborn in your arms, the last thing you want to do is to run to different places to register the birth of the baby and submit forms for the Baby Bonus.

Luckily, you don’t have to. You can do both at the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA) or at the hospital your child was born in.

Such streamlined processes make life simpler for citizens, but the relevant public agencies and even private service providers (like the hospitals) first had to figure out how these services could be delivered at a one-stop shop. Questions of train-ing, manpower and costs were likely to have been raised.

It is no easy feat but it definitely makes for more satisfied citizens. This is the aim of the Smart Regu-lation Committee. Formed in 2005 and helmed today by Mr Chan Heng Kee, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social and Family De-velopment (MSF), the Committee pushes public agencies to examine whether their rules could be caus-ing “pain points” (read frustration,

inconveniences, difficulties) for citi-zens, and to explore how they can work with other organisations to simplify processes.

Some key questions that this Com-mittee – whose members consist of the Deputy Secretaries and Chief Executives of several public agencies – asks are: “Why do these pain points exist?” and “How can we ease the impact on citizens?” The aim is to get agencies to think hard about how the rules could be adapted or removed to alleviate the pain points, said Mr Kelvin Chia, an MSF officer and member of the Committee’s secretariat.

Making life simpler for citizens is now a global public service trend. Instead of pushing programmes that governments think the people need, governments are now building capac-ity to offer services based on citizens’ needs. But delivering such seamless service requires governments to adopt a “whole-of-government” or WOG approach.

“Historically, we’re organised in a rather decentralised fashion which… helps us to respond quickly to situa-

THINK CITIZENS FIRSTPlacing citizens’

needs ahead of individual agencies’ priorities helps officers to develop more

holistic solutions.

ENCOURAGE SELF-DIRECTED

COLLABORATIONThe most ideal WOG

collaboration occurs when officers with the right skills,

experience, interests and conviction come together

to form a team.

RESOLVE CONFLICT AT THE WORKING LEVELDon’t escalate problems

too quickly. Resolving operational issues at the

working level builds a stronger collaborative spirit.

Collaborate as a whole government.

tions but this also means that in our daily work, we’ve become used to thinking in smaller units,” said Mr Peter Ong, Head of the Civil Serv-ice in Singapore.

But he stressed the need to look at the big picture if officers want to excel in their individual work. “When we formulate policies in our own agencies, do we take care to attend to spillover impact on poli-cies belonging to other agencies and seek to iron out these downstream impact before we execute?” he asked.

Asking such questions keep the focus firmly on citizens but agen-cies will have to think differently. “Some agencies may be extremely reluctant to make organisational sacrifices or incur costs in service of a larger WOG outcome,” said Mr Ong. “Leaders and line officers may feel they are only accountable for outcomes within their direct area of responsibility.”

It ’s a difficult shift but a neces-sary one, adds Mr Ong. “Change is always challenging and sometimes our officers will feel tired and un-derappreciated. But what encourages me is that our hearts are in the right place, which is to serve the people. So I’m confident that ultimately we will come together as one Service.”

Source: Reviewing Whole-of-Government Collaboration in the Singapore Public Service, Ethos, Issue 9, June 2011. For more tips, bit.ly/WOGthetalk

HOW THE FRENCH DID ITIn 2007, an inter-ministerial body was formed in France to look at how “life events” of citizens and businesses, such as marriage, could be simplified. It created a simple metric (“Is it a simple/OK/complex/very complex experience?”) to monitor progress. It found that two-thirds of the 100 reforms to simplify processes needed inter-ministerial collaboration. Mr François-Daniel Migeon, head of the team, said in a 2012 report Government Designed for New Times that there was a tendency for the different government units to focus on their own internal issues and challenges. “[But] this metric… [forced] them to focus on the perspective of the citizens,” he said. This led to the highest level of inter-ministerial collaboration the French government has ever had.

How toMAKE LIFE SIMPLER

Know of any great WOG projects? Email us at [email protected]

How to WOG better

TI PS

DEAR YOUNG OFFICER,

AS I REVIEW MY 33 YEARS IN the public sector, one thing stands out as the most important aspect of leadership – the ability to make a meaningful difference.

A good leader is one who is able to create purpose out of his or her work, moving and aligning others to achieve greater things together for the organisa-tion. I am fortunate and honoured to have been given many opportunities to create, reposition or transform or-ganisations in the Service. The journey has not always been easy – there were many challenges. What sustained me in difficult times was my personal motto: to be a useful person and to make tomorrow better than today. It is a journey about making a difference in what we do.

I started my career in the public sector as a systems engineer in the Ministry of Defence. There, I applied modern management approaches to solve com-plex problems, including computerising the Ministry. This paved the way for my active involvement in the national computerisation effort that led to the formation of the National Computer Board. In this journey, I observed that everyone can make a difference irre-spective of the level of responsibilities.

Following the decision to transform Singapore into a global city with total business capabilities as part of an economic restructuring in 1986, spirited officers from the Economic Development Board (EDB) went all out to seek new investments to create a knowledge-based economy with higher value-added manufacturing, companies’

operational headquarters and new ser-vices. They had dared to dream – and do – because they had a strong sense of meaning in their work. Clients of EDB were connected with this very purpose and became Singapore’s part-ners in progress.

The same was true for the Singapore Tourism Board. Their brainchild was to rebrand Singapore as a New Asia Sin-gapore, where tourism gets a makeover into an “experience industry” and fun becomes a serious business for enter-prises. Thus the foundation was laid for Singapore to become the unfor-gettable, top global destination that it is today; with work, life, play and learning all integrated into one single lifestyle and space. Not only did in-dustry members find this redefinition exciting, other agencies (the Urban Redevelopment Authority, EDB, etc.) too shared the vision. Tourism became everybody’s business.

When I was appointed Permanent Secretary of Labour, some colleagues offered their sympathy, suggesting managing work permits for domestic helpers and construction workers could not be very exciting. But with the Manpower 21 plan, the Ministry of Labour was repurposed as the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) with the vision to make Singapore a talent capital in the knowledge economy. This involved re-looking at manpower as capital for the country’s knowledge, innovation, emotional well-being and social rela-tions. Efforts were underway to culti-vate an engaged workforce, including transforming the workplace at MOM

into one with which staff can have an emotional connection. Naturally, this mission was a big boost for the motivation and morale of MOM staff.

When former minister George Yeo in-vited me to redefine the national library system, he had asked, why shouldn’t the library be part of a shopping mall? This opened the way for the reinven-tion of the library in Singapore – as a cornerstone of lifelong learning and community building. We experimented with innovations, including the creation of Library@Orchard and Library@Es-planade, co-locating the Drama Centre with the brand-new National Library building and adopting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for the queueless borrowing and returning of books. One constant throughout this journey was the introduction of a coffee culture in every library. Staff who were initially apprehensive about the changes were soon championing the transformation. It is amazing how redefining the meaning of an organisa-tion can ignite and unleash such energy in its members.

So when the going gets tough, think of the meaning of your job, and work creatively and collaboratively to make it more meaningful. Every one of you is a leader in your own way. There is no need to wait for a CEO or public sec-tor leadership position before you make a meaningful difference. After all, we are the stewards of functions entrusted to us by the country – a privilege – and ultimately it’s about making tomor-row better for our children and our children’s children!

25Letters to a Young Public Officer

by Dr Tan Chin Nam Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower (1998 -2001) and

Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (2002-2007)

MOST PEOPLE BUY KNICK-knacks abroad as a souvenir of their holiday.

For Mrs Tan Ching Yee, the Perma-nent Secretary for Health, a life-like fake spilled cup of ice cream – which sits innocuously in her office – has found an unexpected function.

Bought at the Ben & Jerry ’s fac-tory in New Jersey during a family vacation to America last year, this plastic-and-cardboard prank toy has turned out to be a fascinating tool for observing people.

Smiling, she says: “I don’t buy sou-venirs as they’re usually frivolous, but I’ve found this to be a very in-teresting experiment. Most men who come in either comment or do some-thing about it, like try to clean it up. Women would say, oh, don’t touch it, I’ ll get someone to clean it up.

“Most times, people who step into my office and see it probably think I’m a slob, eating ice cream in my office!”

One year into her portfolio, Permanent Secretary for Health Tan Ching Yee talks about the path she’s taken, remembering who the Public Service really serves – and her little ice cream experiment.

Text by Denyse Yeo Photos by John Heng

It ’s apt that for Mrs Tan, who read economics at Cambridge on an Overseas Merit Scholarship, even a quirky keepsake should have its utilitarian value.

And, perhaps reflective of her years working first as a statistician at the Department of Statistics, then as a research economist at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) – think averages, medians, big picture – she prefers to view her career by moder-ate measurements.

“Your ultimate BOSS is the citizen of Singapore”

Declining to reveal her highest and lowest career points, or her biggest accomplishments and regrets, she says: “Life expectancy for women in Singapore is 84, so I will give you the answer when I know it ’s nearer that end!

“One mustn’t be taken in by ex-tremes,” she adds, with a laugh.

Still, it ’s fair to say her accomplish-ments are impressive. After posi-tions at MTI and the Ministry of Education (MOE), Mrs Tan rose to become Chief Executive Officer – at age 37 – of the Infocomm De-velopment Authority of Singapore in 2002. Concurrently, she was also Deputy Secretary (Infocomm and Media Development) at the former Ministry of Information, Communi-cations and the Arts.

In 2005, she was appointed MOE’s Second Permanent Secretary, recei-ving a Public Administration Gold Medal three years later. Now 48, she took over her current role just over a year ago.

She reveals that while she was sad at leaving MOE, she was happy to join MOH because it allowed her “to [restart] the learning process”. She explains: “When you are too long in a place, you get emotionally attached to the job. You also become less ob-jective about it. You become desen-sitised and you think you’ve done it all before.

“I also didn’t want it to be a situation where people would say, ‘no need to check the files, I’ ll just ask you.’ I don’t want to be a living registry!”

Learning a new languageA year into her portfolio at MOH, Mrs Tan is candid about having to learn a different language and “a new set of acronyms”.

“Every so often, I’ve found it neces-sary to check Wikipedia or Goog-le for medical terms, which we use quite a lot here,” she says. “Of course, I also turn to the Director of Medical Services, and he always has a clear layman explanation for me!”

Beyond that, she is busy dealing with the extensive review of Singa-pore’s healthcare financing system, which reportedly will take more than a year to complete.

During the interview, Mrs Tan, who has been through similar sweeping reviews in Mother Tongue poli-cies at MOE, takes pains to explain Singapore’s current 3M system of Medisave, Medishield and Medi-fund, the rationale for their being and why the system needs to be re-viewed to be ready for the future.

But at the end of the day, she says, the crux of the issue is managing af-

When you are too long in a

place, you get emotionally attached to the job, you also become less objective

about it.

fordability and availability of medi-cal and health services, against fi-nancial sustainability, that is, who foots the bill.

She explains: “Every country has to fight the same demons. It ’s an ex-tremely complex system. You’re try-ing to strike a very uneasy balance among competing outcomes. But at some point, somebody ’s got to pay for it. It could be us, our children or our future grandchildren.

“At MOH, that ’s the issue. We rec-ognise that our system may have put a little too much emphasis on sustainability and relatively less on assuring Singaporeans. So we can actually make that adjustment.

“Obviously, a headline conclusion is that the government ’s share prob-ably has to go up. How much and where we spend those extra gov-ernment dollars are not easy deci-sions to make. If we put them in the wrong places, we could be over-incentivising and over-consuming services, which are very real. They are not bogeymen we invented in order to scare Singaporeans.”

She also points to how doc-tors in the public sector use generic drugs that are bought in bulk at lower prices, while private doctors “sometimes buy branded drugs to differentiate themselves, or they don’t get good drug pric-ing”. “People must understand that a difference in price does not always represent a difference in quality,” she adds.

Heart on her sleeveShe speaks of her own experience as a member of the sandwich gen-eration, with three children aged between 10 and 19, and her elderly parents to take care of.

One of her pet peeves is the lack of empathy and civic consciousness in society. If we are going to create a

27A Cuppa With...

A Cuppa With...28

city for all ages, she says, then “we need to re-design a lot of our hard-ware and software”.

By “hardware”, Mrs Tan means elderly-friendly infrastructure such as bigger rest benches and signage, and smart pedestrian crossings. But the “software” is “the most difficult to achieve”.

“We are still a society where if you can get ahead, you get ahead. I could be walking slowly with a walking stick or pushing a wheelchair, and the young and able-bodied still over-take me to go in front or worse, cut me in the queue. We are not yet gra-cious enough.”

But empathy, she says, is “a common requirement” across the Public Serv-ice, noting it is worn on the sleeve “a lot more” in the “social ministries” such as MOE, MOH and the Min-istry of Social and Family Develop-ment, where policies have a direct impact on people.

“I always tell my colleagues, look, your ultimate boss is the citizen of Singapore; it ’s not me, it ’s not [Health Minister] Mr Gan [Kim Yong]. Sometimes, when things are not happening fast enough, I remind them to just remember the poor chap hanging on at the end of the line.

“Every now and then, you have to re-mind people why we are here.”

For Mrs Tan, it ’s that element of building good relationships that has worked the most for her. She credits her having come this far to her “act-ing like a sponge”: watching how her bosses, peers, subordinates and sup-port staff behave.

She says with a grin: “You watch each of them, you absorb a bit and you may unfairly put it into your own method. Then you become better and better. So that ’s how it ’s worked.”

You could say the secret to her success lies in that little ice cream cup on her coffee table.

Every country has to fight the same demons. It’s an extremely complex system.You’re trying to strike a very uneasy balance among competing outcomes.

What’s usually in your cuppa?Coffee. I try to limit to at most

two cups a day.

How do you like it?If I’m in the office in the

morning I’ll ask my PA to buy me a kopi C kosong. If I have a lunch or dinner engagement

outside, it’s a cappuccino without sugar.

FOR 37 YEARS, UNTIL ITS CLOSURE IN 2007, the former National Stadium was the enduring spot where Singaporeans gathered almost every year, to admire the glory and spectacle of the National Day Parade. The place was also home to many a gripping football match and the epic “Kallang Wave” that never failed to accompany the lusty roars of soccer’s old faithfuls. Thus a repository of Singapore memories was born.

To keep this piece of Singapore heritage alive, com-munity arts organisation FARM, along with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council, launched the bench design competition in September 2012.

bench invited the public to reinterpret their memories of the national icon by designing benches using wooden planks salvaged from the stadium during its demolition. The organisers also commissioned 25 designers to do the same. The result is a varied collection of wooden benches – from a campfire stack to a nine-metre long wave and even a torture rack – that made their first public appearance at the design festival SingaPlural in March 2013.

If you’re keen to reconnect with your past, head down to the URA Centre’s ground floor atrium from May 20 to June 18 to warm the seats of these memory-laden benches.

For the most updated information on the location of the benches, please visit www.bench.sg.

DEEP-SEATED MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESEA project to remember the old National Stadium has allowed the iconic venue to live on in the form of benches.

Text by Tay Qiao Wei Photo by John Heng

29Feature

The Ministry of Finance is pushing for f inance off icers to emerge from the backroom, for a more strategic role in the organisation.


THINK OF A FINANCE OFFICER, and images of a tough gatekeeper or a bean counter (a disparaging term for a fastidious accountant) probably come to mind.

Or worse, finance staff are even viewed as “terrors” who chase public officers for payments when the financial year draws to a close, says Mr Anthony Tan who was Director of the Transforma-tion Office at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) at the time of the interview. He is now Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Health (MOH). Others get frustrated with their finance colleagues for rejecting their requests for funds, likening it to “squeezing blood out of stone”, Mr Tan adds,

noting that those finance officers are just fol lowing rules to ensure prudence and propriety in the use of public resources.

In short, finance folks are often seen as impediments rather than enablers when it comes to advancing the organ-isation’s projects and objectives.

It is a mindset that long needs an overhaul. The role of finance officers does not need to be confined to cash flow and revenue models. Instead, they can further contribute as stra-tegic partners in policy planning and decision making. With this aim of elevating finance roles from a merely supportive function, MOF’s Strate-gic Finance Transformation Office

(SFTO) was thus set up. The SFTO comes under the larger Transforma-tion Office that pushes for changes throughout the Public Service. Once led by Mr Tan, the Transformation Office is now under the charge of Dr Thia Jang Ping.

W hy a makeover is dueCurrently, many finance officers are performing back-end functions such as processing payments and claims. Often, they are consulted only after manage-ment decisions have been made, leav-ing them to scramble for funds later.

In fact, the financial expertise that finance officers possess can be used more strategically earlier on in busi-ness planning, for example, in help-

ing senior management make better decisions in resource prioritisation and allocation, says Mr Tan. This helps to ensure that the money is used efficiently to achieve outcomes that benefit the country.

For a start, some public agencies already have finance officers play-ing strategic roles.

Director (Healthcare Finance) Lai Wei Lin from MOH, for instance, is a double-hatter who not only over-sees the budget but is also heading the ministry’s policy divisions.

To Ms Lai, a finance officer needs to possess the qualities of both a gatekeeper and a strategic business partner: the officer cannot simply approve every request for funds, but he or she can have a say in how that money can be used effectively.

W hen f inanc i a l re source s a re managed wisely, they can be “a powerful lever to transform behav-iour… through the clever design of incentives,” she adds. For instance, Ms Lai and her team of finance pol ic y of f icers are working to design subsidy policies in a way that would encourage patients and healthcare providers to use the more cost- and clinically effective drugs and treatments.

With a likely increase in healthcare spending because of our rapidly ageing population, it is important that finance officers are roped in to plan the budget and how it will be used for the coming years, says Mr Tan. Using their financial expertise, they can suggest clever investments the ministry can make now that will contribute towards better outcomes in the future.

Nudges in the right directionMeanwhile, finance officers them-selves would like to play a more active and strategic role in projects

or business operations, as the SFTO has found after a series of Listening Tours with finance staff of different levels from various agencies.

In response, the SF TO recently launched the new Finance Compe-tency Framework, a guide for offi-cers on becoming better business partners, in April. The framework comes with a directory of the train-ing courses available to help officers acquire the right competencies and skills to perform their roles better.

Being strategic also involves the ability to better manage risk, for example detecting financial fraud. MOF has teamed up with the Infocomm Development Author-ity of Singapore to equip finance officers with analytics tools that will enable them to pick up fishy spending patterns after scrutinising certain financial data. For instance, the tools can help finance staff assess the authenticity of transport claims in their departments.

See the value yet?These efforts to beef up the skills and knowledge of finance officers will have little effect unless senior managers at agencies start to value their finance staff for their stra-tegic role. On the ground, public officers can involve their finance colleagues at the decision-making stages of a project.

For those willing to come on-board the transformation journey, be prepared for endless modifications to the finance function, because it will always evolve to keep up with changing times.

“It ’s [similar to] a big, messy migra-tion; trying to bring officers – the fast movers and stragglers – from one point to another,” admits Mr Tan. But if a change in the finance role can help the Public Service to make better sense of its dollars and cents, the effort is worth it.

The role of finance officers does not need to be confined to cash

flow and revenue models. Instead, they can further contribute as strategic partners

in policy planning and decision making.

Strategic Business Partner

DecisionMaking

PolicyPlanning

31Feature

Whether it’s changing a customer’s tennis court book-ings five times or helping an elderly resident pen a letter to his overseas daughter, this understanding officer is keen to help residents in any way she can. She enjoys her job, which allows her to combine her passion for serving the community with her love for meeting people. Although some residents approach the Kampong Glam Community Club (CC) for help with their personal matters unrelated to the CC, Ms Sim still tries her best to provide a listening ear and link them up with the relevant agencies. “They just don’t know where else to go,” says Ms Sim, her heart

going out to the elderly residents who often come in asking for financial aid. She also thinks out of the box to improve the CC’s work processes, such as setting a cut-off time of 5pm to inform tennis students if their classes were to be rescheduled due to bad weather. This was well received by the par-ticipants, who were saved the trouble of contacting the CC about the class every time the sky turned grey. Asked what drives her at work, she says: “The world is round, what goes around comes around. If I help someone today, he might end up helping me next time.”

SIM MAY LING, CONNIEConstituency Management Executive, People’s Association (Kampong Glam Constituency Off ice)

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In the Public Service, some individuals just stand out from the crowd

when it comes to delivering top-notch service. They’re the Giants of the Service League, the Most Valuable

Players who take their teams to greater heights. Challenge meets f ive of these MVPs who recently won the annual PS21 Star Service Award.

Text by Tay Qiao Wei Photos by Charles Chua Art dir e c t ion by Yip Siew Fei

WONG LI LIN, MABELINE Assistant Manager, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

Nobody likes the taxman. But thankfully, tax officers like Ms Wong help to alleviate the many headaches associated with paying taxes. The chirpy and approach-able officer is an attentive listener who has the knack for explaining policies and solutions to taxpay-ers in terms they can relate to. In 2011, she received more than 100 compliments from satisfied taxpayers when she served as a frontline counter officer. One even thanked her for the “stress-less, wonderful” experience of paying her dues. The assistant manager, who now leads a team of officers, shares her service philosophy: “Even if the problem does not fall within your job scope, you should try your best to help.” Once, a citizen, who was trying to pay his fees to another agency, was directed to IRAS. He became upset when he was informed that IRAS could not process the payment. Ms Wong sensed that the man felt he had been given the runaround and empathised with his frustration. She listened patiently and called up the agency to understand the situation. She then made an ex-ception and allowed the man to use IRAS’s electronic terminals for his transaction. Even after she had put him on the phone with an officer from the other agency to guide him through the process, Ms Wong stayed with the man until he completed the transaction.

The world is round, what goes around comes around. If I help someone today, he might end up helping me next time.– Connie Sim

33Feature

Ms Huang is only three years into her job but she has already earned a reputation for speediness in responding to queries and resolving problems. The senior trade officer processes strategic goods permit applications and answers enquiries about strategic goods, which are military goods or civilian items that could be used in weapons of mass destruction. Sometimes when the questions are more complex, Ms Huang coordinates meetings between trad-ers and Singapore Customs officers to resolve the issues. Her quick and friendly service has earned praises from traders. “I would say mutual respect is very important in delivering good customer service,” says Ms Huang, who comes across as unflappable. “They need to know our limits and we need to know what we can give them.” When dealing with impatient or unreasonable customers, she makes the effort to explain that every application takes time as it has to be manually assessed, given the

sensitive nature of strategic goods. Ms Huang, whom her colleagues call a “trusted team player” and “a willing mentor”, takes pride in understanding her customers’ needs and going beyond her duty to suggest workable solutions for them. Once she recommended that a com-pany improve its existing workflows and practices in its permit applications. With her constructive advice, the company was able to receive its permit approval quickly, not just for that instance, but for subsequent cases too.

HUANG YAHUI Senior Trade Off icer, Singapore Customs

I would say mutual respect is very important in delivering good customer service. – Huang Yahui

“It’s like a dream come true for me. I couldn’t be hap-pier,” says Ms Naidu of her job, which allows her to work with children and make a difference to their lives. The effusive counsellor believes that every child is an “uncut diamond”; her mission is to help them discover their potential. Ms Naidu takes it upon herself to ensure that her clients’ emotional and physical needs are met, even if that translates to more work on her part. She has taken a child who was suspected of being a victim of abuse to the hospital for treatment, and helped a defiant student mend his dysfunctional relationship with his mother by mediating talks between the two.

In the latter case, addressing the student’s family issues led to improvements in his attitude and school results. To engage the children during counselling sessions, Ms Naidu has created innovative games that allow her clients to learn social, self-help and even anger manage-ment skills through play. Students and colleagues alike know Ms Naidu for her “cheery greetings”, “words of encouragement” and “positive energy” that she has not lost despite her recent struggle with cancer. “When there is a reason to be happy, when there is a reason to smile, I grab that opportunity because life is really so short,” she says.

RUSIAH YUSOF Customer Service Off icer, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)

From business registration to statutory com-pliance, this veteran customer service officer has handled a broad spectrum of queries at ACRA for the past 17 years. For Ms Ru-siah, making sure her customers’ problems get resolved, pronto, is a priority. Recently, a company had updated its share capital wrongly and filed for a court order to rectify the mistake. But the information it gave in the court order was incomplete too. When the customer turned to ACRA for help, Ms Rusiah quickly followed up on the case, going beyond her working hours and even over the weekend. She then liaised with the relevant divisions in ACRA and resolved the issue within a few days. Her going the extra mile thus spared the company from having to file a second court order. She explains: “They’d already spent a lot of money on the court order… We didn’t want them to get another, which would have been even more costly.” Ms Rusiah’s personal motto of “serving with a heart and a smile” has not gone unnoticed: she’s won service awards and more than 80 customers wrote in last year to compliment her. “I came in a bad mood, but she got me smiling,” said one thankful customer. Her bosses call her “an exceptional team player”, as she thinks nothing of taking over her colleagues’ cases when they face difficulties. And despite the accolades, Ms Rusiah remains refreshingly grounded: “It makes me glad to be able to help customers resolve their queries and put a smile on their faces. The kind words from our customers are always a source of encouragement for me.”

BRINDA KUMARI SHANMUGAM NAIDUSchool Counsellor, Gan Eng Seng Primary School

35Feature

1

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So Kitsch, It’s In

Curated and writ ten by Tay Qiao Wei Photos by John Heng Art dir e c t ion by Yip Siew Fei Sty l ing by Ng Shi Wei

Clever local designs that appeal to the nostalgic Singaporean in us.

U N LES S YO U H AV E B EEN living under a rock, you would have no-ticed an upsurge in all things nostalgic on this little red dot in recent years. What was old-fashioned has become so “in”. No surprise, then, that local designers have also put their own spin on the things they love about their childhood years and Singapore. The result? T-shirts emblazoned with chilli crab or laksa, necklaces made up of five stones, and even a tongue-in-cheek Fred Perry-like Durian pin. Steeped in sentimental-ity, these knick-knacks are as much a celebration of our identity, as they are perfect gifts for visitors who want a real taste of Singapore.

1. Katong Laksa T-shirt by nomnom, $29 Proclaim your love for your favourite local

dishes such as laksa, nasi lemak and chilli crab, with these tees.

www.ilovenomnom.com

2. Festive Food Hongbaos by &plentymore, $5

This set of eight delicious red packets will set off your cravings for those

delectable festive treats. www.andplentymore.com

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4. Nyonya Kueh Sticky Notes by Singapore Souvenirs, $15

Savour these Peranakan desserts layer by layer without having to worry about the expiry date.

www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel

5. Ais Gem Magnets by Winston Chai, $15 Keep children (and gullible grown-ups) away

from these seemingly tasty treats. www.farm.sg/store

7. Durian, for those who dare (pin) by Donn Koh, $16

Flaunt this medal of bravery for having conquered the king of fruits! (Also available

for jiu ceng gao, kueh tutu and ice kacang.)www.farm.sg/store

3. Wafer Ice Cream Notepad by The Little Dröm Store, $12

This simple local favourite will not melt even under furious note-taking.

www.thelittledromstore.com

6. Bak Chang Five Stones by Singapore Souvenirs, $12

Now you can play with your food too: try this unexpected fusion of Chinese glutinous rice dumplings with a popular childhood game.


37Life.Style

8. Old School Mosaic Playground Pin by The Little Dröm Store, $25

Have fun with pins inspired by the fast-disappearing playgrounds of the past.


11. National Day Tote Bag by Olivia Lee, $23

Never forget our independence day with this canvas take on the Chinese

Almanac Calendar.www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel

10. Five Stones Necklace Set by Wheniwasfour, $25

Add a dose of nostalgia to your outfit with this family of five around your neck.

www.wheniwasfour.com

9. Jotterbook Set by Wheniwasfour, $25Relive your school days with these

classroom must-haves: a hardcover note book, a flag eraser, a wooden ruler and a 2B pencil.

www.wheniwasfour.com

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12. Singlish Perpetual Calendar by Donn Koh, $18

Start your day by checking out this tongue-in cheek interpretation of the

traditional perpetual calendar. It even predicts (in Singlish) how your day might go.


14. Merlion Shopper by Hans Tan Studio, $12

Learn how to fold your shopping bags into a compact triangle with the dotted

lines on this reusable tote. www.farm.sg/store

13. I Don’t Friend You Book by The Little Dröm Store, $19

Reminisce with this collection of simple childhood games that can be played anywhere.


15. Carrying Memories Tote Bags by Jacqueline O, $22 (small)/$32 (large)

Bring your favourite childhood memories with you wherever you go with these canvas totes.


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39Feature

CLAMHow many times have you wished

your colleagues would speak their minds? These gahmen officers are so clammed up,

they give others the hives.

POPCORNYou know the type. They butter up

others and make a lot of noise. But hey, at least when they pop under pressure,

they are real yummy.

CURRY PUFFSimple comfort food that is easy to eat but

requires a steady hand to form its fluted edges elegantly. Similarly, a meticulous and warm touch

is needed to deliver services that satisfy.

AGAR-AGARSweet, refreshing and firm, agar-agar

can come in different colours and shapes. But there’s one thing they all have

in common: they honestly have nothing to hide. You can see right through them.

Noob alert! 1 WOG: Whole-of-Government

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]

As the saying goes, you are what you eat. The Challenge Nutrition Department reveals how “flavourful” the Public Service can be.

TEH TARIKPrata is best served with teh tarik. The

best customer service officers perform well even when stretched to their limits. They stay calm and resilient even when things get hot,

and are willing to go the distance to serve.

ROTI PRATAYou stretch and flex to meet

the needs of customers. Just what’s needed for excellent service!

KUEH LAPISBite into this all at once and you risk

getting into a sticky situation. But if you have the perseverance to peel through the layers of hierarchy, you will start to

make sense of it all.

ICE KACANGA pinnacle of exhilarating goodness,

ice kacang wouldn’t be quite as awesome without the diverse flavours of all its ingredients

– shaved ice, coloured syrup, condensed milk, beans and jelly. Just like WOG1.

The Irreverent Last Page40

Besides being the National Library Board’s first community-supported library, is also the first themed library on Chinese arts and culture.

a. library@hollandVb. library@chinatownc. library@harbourfrontd. library@punggol

Submit your answers byJune 3, 2013 at:

Challenge Onlinewww.challenge.gov.sg

Please include your name, email address, agency and

contact number.

All winners will be notified by email.

Pairs ofMovie

Vouchersto be won

1.

Public Service Week (PSW) 2013 will start on .

a. 19 May 2013b. 20 May 2013c. 21 May 2013d. 22 May 2013

2.

Where can you view all the photo entries submitted by public officers for PSW 2013?

a. Twitterb. Cubec. Facebookd. LinkedIn

3.

The PS21 recognises and rewards public officers who have consistently demonstrated high standards of service.

a. Star Service Awardb. Service Excellence Awardc. Excellent Service Awardd. Service Star Award

4.

The design competition entitled was launched in September 2012, inviting the public to submit designs for benches using seating planks from the former National Stadium, as a meaningful way of remembering this heritage landmark.

a. plank b. sculpture c. mosaic d. bench

5.

to the winners of the March/April 2013

Trivia Quiz

Marc TeohSINGSTAT

Song Qiu RongAGD

Ong Tian NahMOE

Goh Kheng BengURA

Toh Hoon SinSEAB

trivi aquiz

congratulations

Challenge. May - June 2013

Documents

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