Chan Chun Sing urges public servants to shift from doing things ‘for’ Singaporeans to ‘with’ them

Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing has called on Singapore’s public servants to move from a “for” to a “with” approach in engaging citizens. Speaking at a leadership ceremony, he cited the Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks redevelopments as examples where honest articulation of

SINGAPORE – Public servants need to shift away from doing things “for” Singaporeans to doing things “with” them instead, while honestly airing the trade-offs on policy decisions, said Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing on Friday (18 Sep).

Addressing an audience of around 800 public servants during a leadership ceremony at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Mr Chan urged them to engage people and build common ground, rather than solely focusing on brokering agreements for individual issues. “Bringing people together seems straightforward, but to ensure that everyone walks out of the room with the same shared understanding of the bigger picture is a different challenge,” he said.

The public service can do better to bridge understanding, added Mr Chan, who is also defence minister. “This will require us to convene different stakeholders, listen genuinely to their different interests, and articulate trade-offs honestly to create a shared understanding.” He raised the example of the recent debates on Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks. Earlier this year, proposed residential development plans at the two locations drew public outcry, with residents and nature groups calling for stronger environmental safeguards. The government eventually decided to retain more greenery, resulting in fewer homes planned in those areas.

“Everyone has their preferred outcomes, everyone has their strongly held personal convictions. But there is a need to align on the bigger picture, the trade-offs and the range of considerations – housing needs, land use, energy, transport, and even sewage planning,” said Mr Chan. He added that public servants must be “clear-eyed” about what they can do. “We do not need to possess every answer or capability ourselves. We need to know what we must be good at and have a responsibility to decide, what others are better placed to do, and how to bring citizens, communities, businesses and government towards a common outcome.”

Earlier in his speech, Mr Chan noted that amid a more complex and contested world, the demands on leadership are changing. Workforce transformation, for instance, must navigate the disruption brought about by artificial intelligence, while leveraging the opportunities it presents, all against the backdrop of an ageing population and sustaining economic growth. “These issues before us are increasingly interconnected and cut across conventional organisational boundaries,” he said. Hence, Singapore’s public service leadership must continue to evolve as the world changes. “We start from strong foundations, built by generations of officers and leaders before us. But we are never complacent and we can never assume that what brought us here thus far will be enough to take us forward. Every generation must earn our relevance anew, and build what Singapore will need next.”

Mr Chan also urged public sector leaders to be “entrepreneurs” of governance excellence and strategic space. He said Singapore’s public service leaders must not only keenly understand the world and Singapore’s partners, but also actively forge new bilateral and multilateral partnerships. “Where we can find common ground, we must grow those opportunities and forge new partnerships. Where we find differences, we must contain them and redirect our energies to those areas where we can still work constructively together with our partners.” He cited how the government constantly refreshes Singapore’s network of free trade agreements and creates new frameworks, such as Singapore’s digital economy partnership agreement with Chile and New Zealand, which was a world’s first.

Mr Chan encouraged public servants to deliberately deepen their external and international exposure, including through civil service exchange programmes, overseas development programmes, and attachments to international organisations or foreign public agencies. “These experiences give our officers a deeper understanding of our international partners and norms, and help us build critical networks and relationships,” he said. He cited Singapore’s bilateral relationships with New Zealand and Australia, along with its ASEAN chairmanship next year. “These are not partnerships of convenience. They are deliberate efforts to create new space for cooperation and advance our shared interests.”

Mr Chan said that even as Singapore addresses its own national challenges, it should do so in ways that develop solutions and capabilities others find valuable. He cited Singapore’s semiconductor ecosystem and the government’s delivery of public services as positive examples. “But the point is not a single successful initiative. The point is whether we continually challenge ourselves to experiment, innovate and reimagine what’s possible. Whether it is educating and supporting youths to thrive in an AI-driven world, strengthening social cohesion, or tackling the next challenge we cannot yet foresee, we must proactively scan the horizon and reimagine the solutions with courage and creativity.” When governance is done well, it is not just good public administration, but a form of “strategic relevance”, said Mr Chan.