The State of Denmark

The State of Denmark

Why even many civil servants are not rooting for the PAP

It has been said that the election in 2011 is a watershed one. Never have there been so many seats being contested. Never have there been so many ex-civil servants running in the opposition camp. Based on my conversations, it seems current civil servants are not too happy with the status quo. Why are so many civil servants (secretly) not rooting for the PAP?

Civil servants serve the Ministers and see them up close. They know who are capable and effective, and who are not. They know who are genuine and nice, and who are not. They know whose public persona is quite different from their private one. They know who has a longer list of personal preferences when they travel. Word gets around.

They know the system. Some like the system, especially if it pays them so well. Some become disillusioned when they know the system.

They know that the grassroots advisor in that area gets invited to grace the events that the public service organises. They know the grassroots advisor gets involved in the community initiatives they roll out. They know who the grassroots advisors in Hougang and Potong Pasir are. They find it strange why the grassroots advisor is not always the elected MP of the area.

They know who controls the People’s Association (PA), a statutory board. [Hint: Look at the Board composition.] They know the grassroots organizations are part of the PA. They wonder about the role of grassroots organizations – the blurring of lines between the party and the government.

They know how the various upgrading programmes by the various branches of the public service – parks, hawker centres – are packaged into a five-year plan for the area. They know the difference in treatment in the upgrading programmes – the HDB, hawker centres and other infrastructure – in certain wards. They know how appeal letters from different MPs are treated differently.

They know about the debates in Parliament. They know how the MPs send their speeches or questions to the Ministries beforehand, so that the Ministries can prepare the answers in advance. They know how prepared all the speeches are (since they’re the ones drafting them). They know which MPs ask good questions, and which don’t. They know who answers ad-hoc follow-up questions well, and who doesn’t. They know about the Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs) – a PAP construct that is neither part of the government or a parliamentary process. They know which GPC MPs pay attention to the policy issues. They know how the Ministries entertain the GPCs at least once a year during Budget debate. They sometimes attend Parliament sessions to take notes as part of their job. They know the attendance of the MPs, and see first-hand the debate that goes on in Parliament.

They know how any substantial shareholdings of media companies have to be approved by the government. They know who the Chairmen of the media and newspaper companies are.

They know that the majority of the unions are under the NTUC. They know who heads the NTUC. Some find it strange to see NTUC going into business such as property development. They know about the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF), a statutory board. They know it is funded by contributions from union members. Some wonder about its Board composition. Some wonder about its going into property development.

They know the system, and how the government controls everything. They know how legislation is worded to give the Executive branch (i.e. the government) great discretion. Some may like it this way so that they can do their job effectively. Others may wonder at the potential of abuse.

Civil servants know the culture of policy-making. They know the economic agencies have much greater sway in policies, while the social and environmental ministries have to clean up the mess created thereafter.

They know the difference between the rhetoric and the reality.

Not all civil servants know all this. But if you did, and you are a civil servant, what would you do?

Ex-Civil Servant