13 UNE 20 MAY / J
The
how to Issue
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 share their experiences P.10
How to deliver “wow” through service It’s about creating a service culture P.12
How to read things right
Good 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
RUBBISH
30 COVER STORY
HIGHLIGHTS
05
THE HOW TO ISSUE
04
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
FEATURES 29
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
32
NEWS FROM THE SERVICE
VIEWPOINTS 02
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
27
REST & RELAX 17
THE CHALLENGE PULLOUT THE ART OF ZEN
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
40
8 pages of tips on taking it easy
May/June
17
2013
A tongue-in-cheek look at what some local foods mean to the Public Service
FOUR GOOD REASONS TO RELAX ... besides the fact that you’re now running solely on caffeine.
36
THE ORIGINS OF ZEN...
pages of tips on taking it easy
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.
Are 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!
17-24
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.
PU
LLO
GENTS, TAKE NOTE It’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!
“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.
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.
UT
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.
bra tes Ea ch yea r, Pu bli c Ser vic e We ek cele ves the eve ryd ay pub lic off icer wh o ser is the the nat ion and is pro ud of it. He re to the Ch alle nge edi tor ial tea m’s hat tip off icer s – pre vio usl y fea tur ed in the mp lify ma gaz ine – wh o we thi nk rea lly exe the Pu bli c Ser vic e spi rit !
LENE
CHAR
CHOON HONG No Hel l’s Kitc hen , Thi s Cha llen ge Jan uar y/Febu ary 201 2 Choon Hong aka the Chef
Photos Justin Loh Art direction Yip Siew Fei Hair & makeup Rina Sim using Guerlain
Ser vice is a pro fess ion tha t requ ires us to hav e emp athy for the nee ds of our cust ome rs, and the pers eve ran ce to mee t the dem and s of the job. A big tha nks to the trai nin g inst ruct ors at Rep ubli c Pol ytec hni c, who insp ire the fron tlin e staf f of tom orro w to alw ays give the ir bes t.
h– Fro m a Dog and a Pile of Rub bis s son Les ry Pub lic Ser vice Del ive 2 201 Cha llen ge Sep tem ber/ Oct ober
tnes s Ma hat ma Gan dhi said , “Th e grea s of a nati on and its mor al pro gres als anim its s way the by can be judg ed red reti like ple peo are trea ted. ” And r Soh Prin cipa l Ani mal We lfar e Insp ecto s to year 37 oted Sen g Ben g, who had dev s. gres pro us anim al wel fare , hav e help ed Tha nk you !
KAIRA Ma id-t o-O rde r Pol icie s Cha llen ge Ma rch/ Apr il 201 2
is Lis teni ng to the peo ple we serv e s term in g kin mor e imp orta nt tha n thin the to of KPI s or out com es. Kud os g MO M and MC I team s for kee pin you r ears clos e to the gro und !
HUI MIN Do n’t Ru bb ish Th at ! Ch all en ge Jul y/A ug ust 20 12
Be ing at th e fro ntl ine can be ch all en gin g bu t th e tea m at th e De pa rtm en t of Pu bli c Cl ean lin ess tak es it all in th eir str ide . Ha ts off to th eir “do fir st, tal k lat er” ap pro ach to ke ep ing Sin ga po re cle an !
CHRIS He’s No Quack Challen ge March/ April 2013 It’s throug h the contrib utions of officer s who work tireless ly in locatio ns off our radar, like Alex, that Singap ore has remain ed safe and sound, hale and hearty. So cheers to these quiet warrio rs; thank you for giving us all peace of mind!
Cheers to these quiet warriors; thank you for giving us all peace of mind!
2013 / APRIL MARCH
Publisher
PS21 Office, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office 100 High Street, #07-01 The Treasury Singapore 179434 Email : psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg Web : www.challenge.gov.sg
For enquiries or feedback on Challenge, please write to the Challenge Editorial Team at psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg. Editorial Advisors
Tay Choon Hong & Charlene Han Editor
Tan Hui Min
Assistant Editors
Kaira Peh & Christopher Teo Editorial Assistant
Diana Lee
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd
298 River Valley Road Level 2 Singapore 238339 Tel : 6836-4030 Fax : 6836-4029 Email : info@tuberproductions.com Web : www.tuberproductions.com
Management Director
Lee Han Shih Project Director
Liew Wei Ping
Editorial
Contributing Editor
Bridgette See Sub-editor
Bernice Tang Staff Writers
Chen Jingting & Siti Maziah Masramli Cont ributors
Sheralyn Tay & Denyse Yeo Intern
Tay Qiao Wei
INBOX INBOX 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 OLoughlin CSC
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 Chin
HERE’S THE PEPPER THAT YOU ASKED FOR!
The
game plan for a SHARING CITY
THANKS!
i ava How does collaborative consumption help to build a more trusting wSingapore? No iPad on
lab
le
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!
URA
Pauline Wan
*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.
CRA
Creative
Art Director
Yip Siew Fei
Graphic Designers
Ng Shi Wei & Ryan Ong Cont ributing 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
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Exclusively on Challenge Online at www.challenge.gov.sg
Insider’s Take
Mastering Your Energy Good energy or unproductive energy? Find out how you can raise the positive energy quotient in your organisation.
You are Creative
Creativity is a Hike Away Did you know that ditching your gadgets and exposing yourself to nature may boost your creativity at work?
Duck and Cover
bit.ly/masteryourenergy
bit.ly/creativeinthewild
bit.ly/jonsonatreservist
Jonson at Reservist Jonson faces his annual two-week ‘holiday’ with the armed forces. Can everyone agree on what he really does there?
You are Creative
Does Rational Thinking Impair Creativity? Do you colour only between the lines? Or have you overcome pre-set boundaries of creativity? bit.ly/intuitivethinking
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Your Say03
Ideas for a BETTER LIFE! Last issue, Challenge asked readers to share how Singapore could accommodate a larger population while improving quality of life. 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 comfort and intelligent energy management. Singapore mu s t d o t h e s a m e to leverage high-tech in its environmental manageKian g n ment such as sensors in E g On picking up signals/data NEA a n d a u t o m a t e d c o nt r o l systems in decision making and responses. 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!
I dreamt that my dad had asked me to go to the bus interchange 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 travelling 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 Cheng MHA
I once saw a private unit that had two bedrooms, one common living and dining room, one main kitchen and an adjoining “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 Liu NParks
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 Lin PUB
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 Hamza ICA
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!
Special
Tell us at psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg.
$100!
The best entry will win an attractive prize worth up to All other published entries will win book vouchers worth each. Please include your name, agency email address, agency and contact number.
$30
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
04 Highlights
NEWS
COMING UP...
from the
SERVICE IT’S PLAYTIME AT RAFFLES PLACE Miss the times you spent on see-saws and swings in your neighbourhood park? To evoke nostalgia 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 P lace 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.
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.
SAVING WATER TOGETHER On March 16, more than 35,000 children and adults turned up at locations 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.
Soft-shell crab burger from USA will be among the street food featured at the Jamboree.
WORLD STREET FOOD IN SINGAPORE Feast 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
KEEPING PAIN AWAY If 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.
ENGAGING CITIZENS TO CO-CREATE THE FUTURE G ain insights 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
The
how to Edited by
Bridgette See Written by
Bridgette See Sheralyn Tay Chen Jingting
Issue
It's been happening for some time now. . . 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?
Turn the page
How to CO-CREATE
Text by
Sheralyn Tay Photo by
John Heng
A new library is leading the way. WITH AN INCREASINGLY diverse population and evolving expectations 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 nurture social ownership. 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. 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 consultative exercises to participate are starting 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 Chinatown 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 community 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 [libraries] for the past five or six years,”
TIPS
KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL CO-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 MEANING Appeal 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.
Cover Story 07
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.
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.
also have more tier guides (labels on shelves) to make it easier for volunteers to identify where to put the books,” she says. she says. Extending her role to help out in operations and gain a behindthe-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 understanding how library programmes are structured. Soft skills training – handling customers and conflict management – alleviated some of the volunteers’ concerns about dealing with customers. Some aspects were tweaked as well, reveals Ms Chan. The book numbering system in library@chinatown is less detailed than in other libraries, so books are easier to shelve. “ We
High level co-creation: Code for America
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 involvement and more volunteer autonomy remains, says Ms Chan: “The ideal end state would be to have volunteers also run the library in terms of programme curation and selection of the collection.”
How engaged or involved is the public, really? In 1969, Sherry Arnstein wrote her landmark paper, “Ladder of Citizen Participation”, to illustrate the different levels of citizen involvement in the US. It remains a useful reference for assessing 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). • Citizen control • Delegated power
• Partnership • Placation • Consultation • Informing • Therapy
Know of good co-creation initiatives? Let us know at psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg
• Manipulation
Read more at bit.ly/arnsteinladder
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
How to TELL A GOOD STORY Use authentic stories from the ground. Text by
Sheralyn Tay
HUMANS HAVE BEEN TELLing stories for some 30,000 years, if ancient cave paintings are testaments of such.
[the Internet] and social media. A good story can draw attention and interest people. It allows people to relate and thus find relevance.”
Today, a tale well told overcomes the “noise” of an information-laden world, Ms Cho Peilin, Managing Director, Asia PR Werkz, points out. “Storytelling is even more important now because our public is bombarded daily with information from everywhere, especially from
The art of telling a good story is more critical now in a time of pervasive cynicism – authentic stories can engage, inspire and move, revealing meaning without necessarily defining it. Storytelling imparts meaning, not
just messages; transcending the here and now and transporting us elsewhere 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 profession. According to Ms Gladys Chew,
REAL STORIES Stills from the latest series of MOE recruitment advertisements that were largely based on true, crowd-sourced stories.
Cover Story09
Storytelling is even more important now because our public is bombarded daily with information from everywhere, especially from [the Internet] and social media. Assistant Director, Recruitment Marketing & Research, the series of new recruitment advertisements featuring “Mdm Ang” and “Mr Kumar” was largely based on true stories that were crowdsourced. “ 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 nurturing and inspiring students.”
How to encourage storytelling in your organisation 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 emotional 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 resolution [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.
Stimulate sharing of examples/experiences that illustrate/reflect values
Recognise the best stories and reinforce them by sharing them
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
Stories do more than relate a tale, they tickle your brain! Here’s the science behind that: bit.ly/tickleyourbrain
Inspire others to share their own stories
TIPS KEEP IT REAL
K.I.S.S.
BEYOND EMOTIONS
In organisational storytelling, always keep stories authentic.
Keep it short and simple. Avoid getting too technical and make sure it illustrates the impact clearly.
Stories must reveal the underlying impact and relate the audience to the organisation or larger context/theme/policy.
How to
CHAMPION THE MAN IN THE STREET
Two advocates share their experiences. Text by
Bridgette See
IT ’S NOT AN EXAGGERATION to say that the Singapore Public Service is often viewed as a bit of a cold fish. Its efficiency notwithstanding, 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 citizens ask, “ What about my point of view?” So how can public agencies develop greater empathy? Going further, how can they challenge policy rules and assumptions on behalf of citizens? One way is to appoint senior managers to take on citizen advocate roles – something the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has done for two years now.
Cover Story 11 Its Group Director of Engineering 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 Operations & 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, occasionally 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 realigning 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.
Becoming an advocate has also changed the way the civil engineers at LTA work. Mr Fok reveals that they used to resolve problems on a case-by-case basis. Now, they study the fundamental issues troubling 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
Mr Fok shares that their citizen advocacy broke new ground when LTA built a covered linkway on a plot of vacant land near Lakeside MRT station. “Traditionally, you don’t touch that,” he says. “Usually [the land authorities] would say it ’s safeguarded for [other purposes].” But LTA got the green light by thinking differently: it proposed that that linkway be a temporary one that could be easily rerouted or tweaked when the piece of land gets developed.
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?’” shelter. After a study and consultation with stakeholders, LTA introduced 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 alternative barrier-free crossings nearby,
Ultimately, says Mr Fok, their work should be to put “people at the centre of everything 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 everything we build is for people to use,” he says. Know of any citizen advocates in the Public Service? Tip us off at psd_challenge@ psd.gov.sg
TIPS
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 interagency 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 noncyclists 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.
so the needs of the elderly and less mobile population aren’t overlooked.
APPOINT SENIOR MANAGEMENT STAFF AS ADVOCATES They 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 KNOWN
BE OPEN
LTA’s Chief Executive introduces the champions at every opportunity. This strong high-level support reinforces their roles and raises awareness within the organisation.
Appoint 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.
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”.
How to
DELIVER "WOW" THROUGH SERVICE It’s about creating a service culture. Text by
Bridgette See Photo by John Heng
GOOGLE “ZAPPOS” AND “excellent customer service” and you will find stories of the “insane lengths” that the online retail company 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 accountable 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 Manpower’s Foreign Manpower Management Division, for example, singlehandedly 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
Jokes aside, Mr Irwan’s ability to empathise with often distraught or frustrated customers helps him to understand their needs and concerns. Besides offering them explanations, 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 runaway 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 managed 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.
Mr Irwan’s ability to empathise with often distraught or frustrated customers helps him to understand their needs and concerns.
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HE’S A STAR! Irwan Awang from the Manpower Ministry has wowed customers with his empathy and patience.
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.
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 prioritising 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 oversee 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 applying to our context,” says Mr Roger Tan, CSC’s Assistant Chief Executive. “In the longer term, we will develop in-house tools to diagnose service strengths and gaps in agencies.” Currently the Public Service is experiencing 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-
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 frontline customer service officer, know that you are part of the service delivery chain.”
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.
TIPS How to handle tough customers
CALM THEM DOWN AND GIVE THEM ATTENTION
EMPATHISE FIRST
Bring customers to a quieter place to calm them down. This helps them to listen and think with a clear mind.
Let customers vent their frustrations first. Hear them out; then suggest solutions or alternatives.
WATCH WHAT YOU SAY Don’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.
Source: Irwan Awang, Customer Service Executive, Ministry of Manpower
How to
READ THINGS RIGHT
Good data and analysis needed. Text by
QUERIES, FEEDBACK, COMplaints, 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 customers 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 relationship management system that links up its 365 schools with the ministry’s headquarters. Frontline officers have been trained to track their interactions with the public using mCARE+. These officers 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
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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 understand the format. On some occasions, customer service officers detected trends in customer feedback, such as parents voicing concern over how policies were implemented at some schools. Quickly, the officers alerted the relevant schools, which then contacted the parents to address the issues promptly.
TIPS CLEAR & CONCISE Focus 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-IN Encourage 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)
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 informing 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 training 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.
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.
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TIPS ENGAGE OTHER PARTNERS The 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 CAPABILITIES The DPC has its own cleaning workforce so that it can really take action when needed.
GET BACK-UP FROM THE BOSS It 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.
RUBBISH
How to
"DO FIRST, TALK LATER" Clean up the turf issues. Text by
Chen Jingting
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.
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!)
To tackle this, the First Responder Protocol (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.
For cleaning matters, the Department 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 Director Desmond Tan. Later, the Department will sort out which agency “owns” the mess and send the cleaning bill to them as agencies still have their own cleaning contracts. But “the DPC is not the government ’s maid agency,” he stresses. It has successfully shown that a single government entity can take responsibility for a public issue, while working with other agencies, to provide 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 intermediate’ 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.
How to
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 Service in Singapore.
MAKE LIFE SIMPLER
Collaborate as a whole government. 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 training, 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 Regulation Committee. Formed in 2005 and helmed today by Mr Chan Heng Kee, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the Committee pushes public agencies to examine whether their rules could be causing “pain points” (read frustration,
inconveniences, difficulties) for citizens, and to explore how they can work with other organisations to simplify processes. Some key questions that this Committee – 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 capacity 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-
TIPS How to WOG better THINK CITIZENS FIRST Placing citizens’ needs ahead of individual agencies’ priorities helps officers to develop more holistic solutions.
ENCOURAGE SELF-DIRECTED COLLABORATION The 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 LEVEL Don’t escalate problems too quickly. Resolving operational issues at the working level builds a stronger collaborative spirit.
Source: Reviewing Whole-of-Government Collaboration in the Singapore Public Service, Ethos, Issue 9, June 2011. For more tips, bit.ly/WOGthetalk
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 policies 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 agencies 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 necessary one, adds Mr Ong. “Change is always challenging and sometimes our officers will feel tired and underappreciated. 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.” Know of any great WOG projects? Email us at psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg
HOW THE FRENCH DID IT
In 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 FrançoisDaniel 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.
Letters to aYoung Public Officer25
by Dr Tan Chin Nam Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower (1998 -2001) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (2002-2007)
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 organisation. I am fortunate and honoured to have been given many opportunities to create, reposition or transform organisations 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 complex 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 irrespective 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 services. 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 partners in progress. The same was true for the Singapore Tourism Board. Their brainchild was to rebrand Singapore as a New Asia Singapore, where tourism gets a makeover into an “experience industry” and fun becomes a serious business for enterprises. Thus the foundation was laid for Singapore to become the unforgettable, top global destination that it is today; with work, life, play and learning all integrated into one single lifestyle and space. Not only did industry members find this redefinition exciting, other agencies (the Urban Redevelopment Authority, EDB, etc.) too shared the vision. Tourism became everybody’s business. W hen 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 ver y 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 relations. Efforts were underway to cultivate 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 invited 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 reinvention 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@Esplanade, 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 organisation 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 sector 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 tomorrow better for our children and our children’s children!
“ Your
ultimate BOSS is the citizen of Singapore” 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
MOST PEOPLE BUY KNICKknacks abroad as a souvenir of their holiday. For Mrs Tan Ching Yee, the Permanent 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 factory 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 souvenirs as they’re usually frivolous, but I’ve found this to be a very interesting experiment. Most men who come in either comment or do something 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!”
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 moderate measurements.
A Cuppa With...27
When you are too long in a place, you get emotionally attached to the job, you also become less objective about it.
In 2005, she was appointed MOE’s Second Permanent Secretary, receiving 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 objective about it. You become desensitised 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 language
A year into her portfolio at MOH, Mrs Tan is candid about having to learn a different language and “a new set of acronyms”.
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 extremes,” she adds, with a laugh. Still, it’s fair to say her accomplishments are impressive. After positions at MTI and the Ministry of Education (MOE), Mrs Tan rose to become Chief Executive Officer – at age 37 – of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore in 2002. Concurrently, she was also Deputy Secretary (Infocomm and Media Development) at the former Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
“Every so often, I’ve found it necessary to check Wikipedia or Google 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 Singapore’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 policies at MOE, takes pains to explain Singapore’s current 3M system of Medisave, Medishield and Medifund, the rationale for their being and why the system needs to be reviewed to be ready for the future. But at the end of the day, she says, the crux of the issue is managing af-
fordability and availability of medical and health services, against financial sustainability, that is, who foots the bill. She explains: “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. 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 recognise 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 probably has to go up. How much and where we spend those extra government dollars are not easy decisions to make. If we put them in the wrong places, we could be overincentivising and over-consuming services, which are very real. They are not bogeymen we invented in order to scare Singaporeans.” She also points to how doctors 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 pricing”. “People must understand that a difference in price does not always represent a difference in quality,” she adds.
Heart on her sleeve
She speaks of her own experience as a member of the sandwich generation, 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
28 A Cuppa With...
city for all ages, she says, then “we need to re-design a lot of our hardware 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 overtake me to go in front or worse, cut me in the queue. We are not yet gracious enough.” But empathy, she says, is “a common requirement” across the Public Service, noting it is worn on the sleeve “a lot more” in the “social ministries” such as MOE, MOH and the Ministry of Social and Family Development, 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 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. “Every now and then, you have to remind 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 “acting like a sponge”: watching how her bosses, peers, subordinates and support 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.
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.
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DEEP-SEATED MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE A project to remember the old National Stadium has allowed the iconic venue to live on in the form of benches. Te xt by
Tay Qiao Wei
P h o to by
John Heng
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, community 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 memoryladen benches.
For the most updated information on the location of the benches, please visit www.bench.sg.
The Ministry of Finance is pushing for f inance off icers to emerge from the backroom, for a more strategic role in the organisation. Text by
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 Transformation 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,
Chen Jingting
noting that those finance officers are just following rules to ensure prudence and propriety in the use of public resources.
(SFTO) was thus set up. The SFTO comes under the larger Transformation 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.
In short, finance folks are often seen as impediments rather than enablers when it comes to advancing the organisation’s projects and objectives.
W hy a makeover is due
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 strategic partners in policy planning and decision making. With this aim of elevating finance roles from a merely supportive function, MOF ’s Strategic Finance Transformation Office
In fact, the financial expertise that finance officers possess can be used more strategically earlier on in business planning, for example, in help-
Currently, many finance officers are performing back-end functions such as processing payments and claims. Often, they are consulted only after management decisions have been made, leaving them to scramble for funds later.
Feature31
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.
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 Competency Framework, a guide for officers on becoming better business partners, in April. The framework comes with a directory of the training courses available to help officers acquire the right competencies and skills to perform their roles better.
For a start, some public agencies already have finance officers playing strategic roles. Director (Healthcare Finance) Lai Wei Lin from MOH, for instance, is a double-hatter who not only oversees 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 financial resources are managed wisely, they can be “a powerful lever to transform behaviour… through the clever design of incentives,” she adds. For instance, Ms Lai and her team of finance p o l i c y o f fi c e r s a re wo rk i n g t o 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 direction
Meanwhile, finance officers themselves would like to play a more active and strategic role in projects
Strategic Business Partner
Decision Making
Policy Planning
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.
Being strategic also involves the ability to better manage risk, for example detecting financial fraud. MOF has teamed up with the Infocomm Development Authority 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 strategic 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 tr ansf or mation jour ne y, 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 migration; 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.
Te x t by
Tay Qiao Wei
P ho to s by
Charles Chua
A r t d i r e c t i o n by
Yip Siew Fei
SIM MAY LING, CONNIE Constituency Management Executive, People’s Association (Kampong Glam Constituency Off ice) Whether it’s changing a customer’s tennis court bookings 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 participants, 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.”
Styling Sheh Hair & makeup Rina Sim using M.A.C Apparels GAP, Banana Republic & Uniqlo Accessories Accessorize Shoes Pedro
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.
Feature 33
The world is round, what goes around comes around. If I help someone today, he might end up helping me next time. – Connie Sim
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 approachable officer is an attentive listener who has the knack for explaining policies and solutions to taxpayers 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 “stressless, 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 exception 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.
HUANG YAHUI Senior Trade Off icer, Singapore Customs 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 traders 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
I would say mutual respect is very important in delivering good customer service. – Huang Yahui 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 company 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.
Feature 35
RUSIAH YUSOF Customer Service Off icer, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) From business registration to statutory compliance, this veteran customer service officer has handled a broad spectrum of queries at ACRA for the past 17 years. For Ms Rusiah, 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 NAIDU School Counsellor, Gan Eng Seng Primary School “It’s like a dream come true for me. I couldn’t be happier,” 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 management 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.
Curated and w r itten by
Tay Qiao Wei
P h o to s by
John Heng
A r t d i r e c t i o n by
So Kitsch, It’s In Clever local designs that appeal to the nostalgic Singaporean in us.
U N L E S S Y O U H AV E B E E N living under a rock, you would have noticed 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 sentimentality, 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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Yip Siew Fei
S t y l i n g by
Ng Shi Wei
Life.Style 37
3. Wafer Ice Cream Notepad by The Little Drรถm Store, $12
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This simple local favourite will not melt even under furious note-taking. www.thelittledromstore.com
4. Nyonya Kueh Sticky Notes by Singapore Souvenirs, $15
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Savour these Peranakan desserts layer by layer without having to worry about the expiry date. www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel
5 5. Ais Gem Magnets by Winston Chai, $15 Keep children (and gullible grown-ups) away from these seemingly tasty treats. www.farm.sg/store
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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.
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www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel
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
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8. Old School Mosaic Playground Pin by The Little Drรถm Store, $25 Have fun with pins inspired by the fast-disappearing playgrounds of the past. www.thelittledromstore.com
9. Jotterbook Set by Wheniwasfour, $25 Relive your school days with these classroom must-haves: a hardcover note book, a flag eraser, a wooden ruler and a 2B pencil.
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www.wheniwasfour.com
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
11. National Day Tote Bag by Olivia Lee, $23 Never forget our independence day with this canvas take on the Chinese Almanac Calendar.
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www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel
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Feature 39
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. www.farm.sg/store, bit.ly/museumlabel
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13. I Don’t Friend You Book by The Little DrÜm Store, $19 Reminisce with this collection of simple childhood games that can be played anywhere. www.thelittledromstore.com
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
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15. Carrying Memories Tote Bags by Jacqueline O, $22 (small)/$32 (large)
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Bring your favourite childhood memories with you wherever you go with these canvas totes. www.thelittledromstore.com
40 The Irreverent Last Page
As the saying goes, you are what you eat. The Challenge Nutrition Department reveals how “flavourful” the Public Service can be.
ICE KACANG A 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.
ROTI PRATA You stretch and flex to meet the needs of customers. Just what’s needed for excellent service!
KUEH LAPIS Bite 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.
CLAM How many times have you wished your colleagues would speak their minds? These gahmen officers are so clammed up, they give others the hives.
TEH TARIK Prata 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.
AGAR-AGAR Sweet, 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.
POPCORN You 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 PUFF Simple 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.
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: psd_challenge@psd.gov.sg
trivia quiz 1.
Besides being the National Library Board’s first communitysupported library, is also the first themed library on Chinese arts and culture. a. library@hollandV b. library@chinatown c. library@harbourfront d. library@punggol
2.
Public Service Week (PSW) 2013 will start on
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Where can you view all the photo entries submitted by public officers for PSW 2013? a. Twitter b. Cube c. Facebook d. LinkedIn
4.
Movie Vouchers to be won
a. 19 May 2013 b. 20 May 2013 c. 21 May 2013 d. 22 May 2013 3.
Pairs of
recognises and rewards public officers The PS21 who have consistently demonstrated high standards of service. a. Star Service Award b. Service Excellence Award c. Excellent Service Award d. Service Star Award
Submit your answers by June 3, 2013 at: Challenge Online www.challenge.gov.sg Please include your name, email address, agency and contact number. All winners will be notified by email.
congratulations to the winners of the March/April 2013 Trivia Quiz Marc Teoh SINGSTAT
5.
was launched in The design competition entitled 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
Song Qiu Rong AGD
Ong Tian Nah MOE
Goh Kheng Beng URA
Toh Hoon Sin SEAB