Chairman's Review

Singapore fully transitioned to living with COVID-19 as an endemic disease in 2023. Our society held together and emerged united from the pandemic. As shared by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament during the Debate on the Motion on Singapore’s Response to COVID-19, the most important lesson learnt from the crisis is that we are stronger when we stand and work together. This key takeaway will continue to guide our future approaches. Across the Public Service, agencies need to continue working together with the private and people sector, in the interest of the common good, to enable Singapore to overcome our challenges.

Today, Singapore faces an international environment fraught with tensions and uncertainties. Being small and open, as a country trading with the rest of the world, Singapore is susceptible to the fraying of the global economic order and disruption of supply chains when countries turn to protectionist measures. These challenges have reinforced the need for Singapore to cultivate a diverse leadership pipeline, to lead the next generation in adapting to the shifting global dynamics, building bridges across different communities, and identifying new approaches to issues that confront us from trade diversification, social mobility to sustainability and matters of national security. To achieve this, we must continue to attract, develop, and retain good people for the Public Service.

Building a Diverse Leadership Pipeline for an Evolving Future

The Public Service Commission (PSC) Scholarship reflects our commitment to nurturing exceptional and dedicated individuals to contribute to nation-building. We seek to enhance diversity in our leadership pipeline and refine our selection strategies in tandem with the evolving challenges and talent requirements. We are pleased to report progress in our efforts in 2023.

The 65 scholarship holders who proceeded for their studies in 2023 came from a wide range of 19 different pre-university institutions, comprising the Integrated Programme schools, junior colleges, polytechnics and an international institution supporting home-based education.

The PSC (Sustainability) scholarship was awarded to the inaugural batch of three individuals in 2023. They are currently pursuing their undergraduate and postgraduate studies and will embark on a career in sustainability and economic circularity in the Public Service upon graduation. We look forward to seeing more students take up this scholarship in the coming years.

We awarded seven mid-term PSC scholarships in public administration, public finance, sustainability and engineering in 2023. The Public Service will benefit from the maturity, perspectives and experience of these individuals. As the PSC expands its range of scholarship offerings to attract talent beyond the pre-university levels, a mid-term option will be introduced for the Singapore Armed Forces Scholarship and the Singapore Police Force Scholarship in 2024. These mid-term scholarships are open to undergraduate students who have a passion to serve in the uniformed services and safeguard our national security.

The scholarship experience is becoming more diverse and enriching. We are committed to strengthening our partnerships to provide opportunities for our scholarship holders to participate in overseas internship programmes with international organisations and the private sector through the Gap Year programme. This exposure to different cultures and environments enables scholarship holders to gain an understanding of issues beyond the Public Service, and an international network that will contribute to Singapore's future collaborative endeavours with other countries.

Digital and technological literacy will become as essential as language proficiency in shaping thoughts and ideas. I am heartened to see that many PSC undergraduate scholarship holders have diversified into different fields at the postgraduate level e.g. humanities majors at the undergraduate level taking up data science and technology for their Masters, or engineers broadening into economics and management for their Masters. Such well-rounded educational training is helpful to prepare them to be more versatile and adaptive public officers, who can tackle evolving and multi-disciplinary challenges.

Building Partnerships to Strengthen Collaboration

The PSC strengthened collaboration with a wide range of agencies to attract talent to the Public Service. In 2023, we held a Whole-of-Government Scholarship Fair to synergise the outreach efforts of different public sector scholarship-awarding agencies. The recent establishment of a strong Alumni Network has brought together over 160 PSC scholarship holders and public officers from the Administrative Service and the Public Service Leadership Programme, to serve as ambassadors for the Public Service scholarship and career. This proactive outreach not only serves to inspire the next generation of youths but also embodies the spirit of giving back.

The Public Service must also forge close partnerships with the private and people sectors to co-create a roadmap for the next bound of nation-building and refresh our social compact. As future leaders, it is therefore critical that our scholarship holders take an active interest in the community. All PSC Scholarship recipients go through the Youth Corps Leaders Programme (YCLP) to identify, plan and execute projects that address issues in the community and support a meaningful cause. I am pleased to report that they completed eight YCLP projects in 2023 supporting a wide range of issues and stakeholders from mental wellness, vulnerable youths to the elderly.

The Road Ahead

The PSC will continue to work hard to build a robust and resilient leadership pipeline for the Public Service. Our search for talent leads us to individuals dedicated to serving Singapore and our community and who possess the right values. Integrity is at the heart of the Public Service’s values and is essential for building strong institutions and for maintaining public confidence and trust. The PSC remains steadfast in ensuring the integrity of the Public Service by exercising disciplinary control over civil servants impartially, regardless of their rank or seniority, and without fear or favour.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to my fellow PSC members for their invaluable counsel and to the secretariat team for their strong support. We have overcome challenging times in the past year, and I am confident that our core values and adaptability will position us well to navigate the road ahead.