challenge july - august 2011
DESCRIPTION
What is our brand? How authentic is it? Why do we need it?TRANSCRIPT
Apa macam? Are you in the mood for some fun as we celebrate Singapore’s 46th birthday? Flip these pages for ideas and rediscover our t iny i s l and. From myths and legends, to the origins of road names and loca l architecture. !ere’s something here to surprise you. Confirm?
Double confirm.
21 -28 pages of tips to get you around
July/August 2011
Staid Singapore apparently has its share of lovers who can’t keep their hands o" each other – so much so that the Mandarin Gallery has had to ban it from happening at its rest areas.
– Rudyard Kipling, writer, 1889
It ’s true. The iPhone has bitten off a hefty 8.5 per cent chunk f rom the smartphone market here, making Singapore the nation with the highest iPhone penetration. bit.ly/highestiOs! !
We are a wacky nation, according to the Guinness World Records. Longest human tooth extracted:3.2cm from Loo Hui Jing in 2009
Highest number of CDs signed consecutively: Singaporean pop singer J J Lin signed 3,052 autographs in two and a half hours in China, 2007
Most couples on a blind date: 536 people at a Nanyang Tech-nological University combined Hall of Residence event in 2005
Largest body mass index check:3,594 participants on National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign Day 2004
Most number of people sitting on one chair: 1,058 backsides at Springfield Secondary School in 2008Can’t imagine? Watch this and other Singapore Book of Record feats at bit.ly/recordchair
SEEN OUR UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL BIRD BEFORE? It’s the crimson sunbird, that topped a 2002 Nature Society poll for a national fowl. Virtually unknown, it’s red and tiny, like our spot on the world map. But if you ask us, we think the construction crane gets the vote. tinyurl.com/sgbird
TRIVIA
3.2cm
Bite!Bite!
Bite!
For a digital art contest, an American who lived here for four years constructed our flag from fruit. Jillian Kooper used a red cloth, a banana, and starfruit slices. Tropical freshness. bit.ly/proudsg 08
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COVER STORY08 BRANDING SINGAPORE SOFTLY, QUIETLY Now it is all about sweet persuasion
FEATURES05 HEDGING OUR FUTURE ON GREEN How Singapore is branding itself as a green city
18 SCHOLARS WITH EMPATHY, PLEASE It is not just about being smart, says Public Service Commission Chairman Eddie Teo
30 TALES FROM FOREIGN LANDS… Foreign Service officer Sim Siong Chye writes a book about his travels
31 FROM GRUNT WORK TO GLAMOUR WALK Go behind-the-scenes of the inaugural ScreenSingapore
34 WHY HRMS IS A BIG DEAL FOR US Vital’s Chief Executive Clarence Ti explains how HRMS respects officers’ time
40 GOT TALENT? Public Service Week wraps up with a talent show
42 UNSUNG HEROES Part 2 of a series on Unsung Heroes: Mrs Soh-Tan Bee Eng of the Destitute Persons Service (MCYS)
HIGHLIGHTS04 NEWS FROM THE SERVICE
VIEWPOINTS02 INBOX Your views on the May/June issue of Challenge
03 YOUR SAY IF YOU WERE OVERSEAS, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE SINGAPORE TO FOREIGNERS? Readers share their ideas
15 A CUPPA WITH… “I SAY WHAT I THINK” Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs) Bilahari Kausikan on why officers should be straight talkers
20 THINKING ALOUD DON’T BE TOO BRAND!CONSCIOUS Pay attention to being authentic, says Colin Goh
29 LETTERS TO A YOUNG PUBLIC OFFICER INNOVATION, NOT MERE IMITATION, IS THE WAY TO GO J Y Pillay shares his views on what’s important for good governance
ON THE JOB36 LEVEL UP VIEW FROM THE TOP Part 3 of a series on Change Management: How a CEO introduced change to the Health Sciences Authority
38 THE BIG IDEA GENGHIS KHAN: BLOODTHIRSTY BARBARIAN OR CULTURAL CHAMPION? Surprising facts about the Mongol warrior
LIFESTYLE14 EXHIBITION COME SEE THE HOUSE + THE CITY The best works from Richard Rogers and partners
21 THE CHALLENGE PULL OUT SURPRISING SINGAPORE 8 pages of tips to get you around
43 LIFE.STYLE WHERE ART THOU Three not-so-typical art spots that will make you think twice about the local art scene
48 THE IRREVERENT LAST PAGE KUNGFU MASCOTS Who will prevail in the battle for our hearts and minds? You decide
05
HELLOHELLOI struggle slightly trying to define the Singapore brand. Clean and green? Efficient and safe? Hip and happening? Certainly, ‘Brand Singapore’ seems to be a lot more desir-able these days. Singapore has been voted the top choice in Asia for expats, and also the best place in Asia to live, work and play, in a worldwide survey by Mercer. For an ordinary Singaporean like me, it seems as if in the short turn of the last decade, my country has suddenly become ‘cool’. Even my Malaysian friends who swore they would never live in sterile Singapore have swallowed their words and moved here.
But can the Singapore brand really be pinned down in a couple of words? And who holds the final word on our brand? Are we branding to appeal to an international audience, or is our brand an articulation of who we re-ally are? I have a sneaking suspicion that how a foreigner views Singapore might be different from how we see it.
To those visiting our F1 race or moving here for work, we may be about buzz, opportunity, east meets west. To
us local folks, Singapore is home – familiar hawk-er centres, where things work, where neighbours
don’t look like us but we get along, and where we revel in food and being kiasu almost in equal
measure. The Cover Story in this issue looks at how the Singapore brand is evolving, and whether it is distinct from our identity, while Colin Goh shares his thoughts on nation branding in Thinking Aloud.
For me, Singapore stands for an immigrant nation that has, through sheer hard work and determina-tion, overcome the odds to reach where we are. Our multicultural society is precious, so too the heritage our forefathers brought. Now that we’ve reached a state in our development where we are no longer struggling to establish ourselves, perhaps we can af-ford the luxury to sit back and ponder how we want to define ourselves in the next phase. Our brand is evolving. And beyond the glistening towers of Ma-rina Bay Sands, or the slogans of business efficacy, I hope we will not lose our soul in marketing our country, or neglect the development of our character as a nation, because being compassionate, generous and peace-loving as a people are just as valuable to the Singapore brand.
BRANDING SINGAPORE
I really liked the latest edition of Challenge! It’s very hip and refreshing, as well as informative.
Grace !amMOE
I enjoyed the richness and breadth of content in the latest issue of Challenge, in particular the “12 Trends”. But I found the break after the eighth trend abrupt: it broke my reading momentum and I couldn’t discern any good reason for having that break there.
Francis NgMinLaw
I was looking at the most recent issue of Challenge Magazine, and was really pleased to see an entire section on going green!
Diana NgMEWR
Challenge just keeps getting better and better. The writing is snappy and the topics are at times thought-provoking. But I do have one complaint: now that you’ve written about the quiet out-of-the-way cafes, the entire Public Service will be descending upon those places!
Ang Siok HuiMTI
My colleagues and I are very impressed by the May/June issue. It’s so important for us to understand the issues Singapore will be facing so neatly packaged in your magazine. We’re planning to generate lessons from the articles for our graduating English Language classes.
Thank you for your work of heart. It’s obvious the amount of care and diligence that must have gone into the creation of this issue.
Mrs Shanthi LingeshCHIJ Katong Convent
PublisherPS21 O"ce, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s O"ce100 High Street, #07-01 The TreasurySingapore 179434 Email : [email protected] : www.challenge.gov.sg
For enquiries or feedback on Challenge, please write to the Challenge Editorial Team at [email protected].
Editorial Advisor Agnes Kwek Editor Tay Li Shing Assistant Editor Shaun KhiuEditorial Assistant Eric LoyTuber Productions Pte Ltd298 River Valley Road Level 2Singapore 238339Tel : 6836-4030Fax : 6836-4029Email : [email protected] Web : www.tuberproductions.com
ManagementDirector Lee Han ShihManaging Director Weiling WongProject Director Liew Wei PingEditorialContributing Editor Bridgette See Editorial Consultant Koh Buck SongStaff Writer Chen JingtingIntern Siti Maziah Masramli Contributors Hong Xinyi, Ryandall Lim, A Makwana, Sheralyn Tay & Wong Sher MaineCreativeCreative Director AshikStudio ManagerCaroline ChuaArt DirectorYip Siew FeiGraphic Designers Amanda Lim, Ng Shi Wei & Ryan OngProduction Manager Nurul MalikStaff Photog rapher Farhan DarmaContributing Photog raphers John Heng (www.daphotographer.com)Norman Ng (www.normanng.com)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.
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INBOXINBOXI’m highly impressed by the latest issue of Challenge, it quite exceeded my expectations :-) The articles are very engaging, can’t wait to read them :)
Kudos to the team! KEEP IT UP!Ang Mien LiMTI The Trends articles were thought-
provoking and the pictures really caught my eye. I especially liked the piece on ageing. Looking forward to the next issue.
Sasmira Adul RahimMCYS
GOOD JOBon your work in Challenge magazine – I am an avid reader of your publication.
Joshua LauMICA
Singapore is like a garden salad, and its people like the different ingredients that retain distinctive flavours to make up the salad’s overall taste. We are made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians and increasingly, people of other nation-alities with their own cultural distinctiveness and strengths, yet we maintain good rela-tions with each other. The ingredients in a garden salad must be fresh, as depicted in our ‘new’ Cabinet formed after a watershed election and a ‘new ’ S ingapore for the future. It is apt to use a food item to describe Singapore as it is known as a ‘Food Paradise’!
Congratulations Barkathnisha for sharing with us how you’d describe Singapore! We are sending you a $100 voucher from Straits Kitchen at Grand Hyatt Singapore so you could treat your foreign friends to a meal when they visit.
IF YOU WERE OVERSEAS, HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE SINGAPORE TO FOREIGNERS?
Editor: We had many entries using food to describe
Singapore. Guess we’re indeed a food-loving
nation! To read more, go to Challenge Online at
www.challenge.gov.sg.
Singapore is like chilli padi, small and short, yet beautiful and attractive.!When you first bite it, what hits you is its fragrance, later its ‘power’ surfaces behind your throat after you have swallowed it, forcing you to re-think about it. We are a small country, with a short history, but boy, do we have a surprise for you!!Yit Chin ChuanNLB
Singapore is like yoghurt. It may appear plain and simple, but deep inside... it is full of live and active cultures. Just like yoghurt, once you’ve had a sampling of Singapore, you’ll feel good inside. !Sanjiv VaswaniAGC
Singapore is like a doughnut – best defined by what’s not there. If you visit Singapore, you won’t have problems finding tasty food, potable water, con-venient transport, memorable sights and plenty of shopping. If you work here, you won’t have problems finding world-class infrastructure, business opportunities, fair competition and a frustratingly fun time trying to understand Singlish. If you come here to set up a home, you won’t have problems finding religious freedom, racial harmony, decent health-care, education opportunities, and
understanding the joys and pains of home karaoke systems. If you are a Singaporean, you won’t have problems finding long queues, sales to take advantage of and, of course, something to complain about endlessly.Kristy LimCNB
I would describe Singapore as the king of fruits, the durian, which is sharp, thorny and dangerous on the outside but juicy and delicious inside. Similarly, Singapore might look unattractive with its ‘harsh’ and ‘strict ’ rules but once a foreigner gets to taste the real Singa-pore, he will love its delicious taste. To taste the durian, some e"ort is required. To see the beauty of Singapore, one needs to get to know its people, places
and food. Good-grade durian is expensive and Singapore is expensive. Welcome to one
of the most expensive places in ASEAN.
Zahri Kasir Mohamad PUB
Barkathnisha Begum Binte Abdul RazzakMOE
03Your Say
COMING UP...
The annual event, organised by the Centre for Liveable Cities, is an exclusive and international platform for mayors and urban leaders to network and discuss replicable best practices
on “high-density, high-liveability development strategies” and urban solutions. The inaugural forum in June 2010 attracted 30 mayors from 28 cities and 21 countries. This year, more than 50 mayors from 18 countries have confirmed their attendance. The forum will be on July 4, alongside the Singapore International Water Week 2011 from July 4-8. www.worldcities.com.sg
The Civil Service Club (CSC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and has teamed up with the People’s Association (PA) to extend PAssion Card benefits to its members. CSC-PAssion cardholders can enjoy more facilities and programmes beyond those of its three clubhouses, such as water sports at PA’s Water Venture outlets and outdoor adventure programmes at the Outward Bound School. www.csc.gov.sg/cscpapopup.html
NEWSfrom theSERVICEWORLD CITIES SUMMIT MAYORS FORUM 2011
PASSION CARD FOR CIVIL SERVICE CLUB MEMBERS
Former National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan (second from right) and former Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Grace Fu (left), at the World Mayors Forum 2010.
NDP 2011 ROADSHOW Get an early start to National Day celebrations at “The Singapore Spirit” roadshow at ION Orchard on July 23 and 24, hosted by celebr i t y DJs f rom SAFR A R adio. Vis i tors can enjoy performances and win National Day Parade tickets and fun packs through games and lucky draws.
SHINE YOUTH FESTIVAL 2011J u l y i s Yo u t h M o nt h , s o co m e s u p p o r t a n exciting lineup of youth-organised activities like Asia’s largest hip-hop event, dance classes and fundraisers. Three outstanding youths will receive the Stars of SHINE Award at SHINE’s Closing Ceremony on July 30.shine.nyc.sg
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT HOMEHeritageFest 2011 celebrates our favourite things about Singapore. It kicks off at Ang Mo Kio on July 15 and continues at various venues until July 31. A concert at Fort Canning will feature well-loved music from the 50s to the present.heritagefest.sg
MONUMENTAL WALKING TOURSDiscover more of Singapore and its past with guided walks of national monuments and historic buildings. Organised by the Preservation of Monuments Board, the walking tours happen every weekend in July. www.pmb.sg
NEW HDB APPA mobile-friendly version of HDB InfoWEB is now an iPhone application. Mobile@HDB gives access to HDB services such as
details of latest HDB sales launches and even where to shop and eat in the heartlands.
Credit: National Heritage Board
Highlights04
No longer content to be a ‘Garden City’, Singapore is branding itself as ‘a City in a Garden’ where greenery and nature is an integral part of life. Challenge looks at how this transformation is
taking place, through the Gardens by the Bay development which will open in 2012.
ourHEDGING
FUTUREon
Text by Sheralyn Tay
REENG
Learning about new plants from the Mediterranean and Tropical Montane (mountain forest) regions, working with horticultural experts and being part of this project is a highlight of her career and showcases the evolution of garden design.
Like the plant life, the team working on the project re#ect diversity in speciality and background, including specialist horticulturalists, landscapers, soil sci-entists, irrigation experts, architects, engineers and many other consultants from Singapore and the world.
Greening and liveabilityAs they enhance Singapore’s new down-town, the Gardens will also mark a new trajectory for Singapore’s country brand.
NParks CEO Poon Hong Yuen sees the Gardens representing the conceptual shift from ‘Garden City’ to ‘A City in a Garden’ – from having a garden in your house to having a house in your garden. “$e idea is of greenery that is more pervasive,” he explained. “It is integrated in the city”.
This comes as public green spaces become a key de%nition of a liveable city, beyond good physical and social infrastructure in public transport, edu-cation and healthcare, good economic opportunities, stable political systems and a safe living environment. Cities that top liveability indexes time and again have good green credentials in environmental policies, green buildings and lots of nature and biodiversity ac-cessible to citizens. Take, for example, Vancouver, with over 200 parks, and Vienna, one of Europe’s greenest cities.
According to the Centre for Liveable Cities in Singapore, urban green spaces impart aesthetic value, foster social interaction, increase physical and psy-chological health, improve air quality, reduce urban heat and create unique habitats. As urban theorist and architect William Lim says in Livable Urban Spaces in Singapore, integrating green spaces enhances an urban environment by ‘softening’ a hard grey cityscape of skyscrapers and roads.
Cities that top liveability indexes have good green credentials in environmental policies, green buildings and lots of nature
and biodiversity accessible to citizens.
Development Manager Marziah Haji Omar (left) and Horticultur-ist Khin Maung Soe are part of the diverse team that is working to create Singapore’s next green icon, the Gardens by the Bay.
FROM BROAD GREEN LEAVES traced with creamy yellow, deep red and purple rosettes to vivid blue buds, the incredible beauty and variety of bro-meliads – a type of tropical #owering plant – symbolise the rich diversity that will be showcased at the new garden icon that will be Gardens by the Bay.
For Ms Marziah Haji Omar, Develop-ment Manager (Gardens by the Bay), National Parks Board (NParks), learn-ing how to care for an array of unique plants and use them in the design of the Gardens’ towering Supertrees and cooled conservatories has been an eye-opening experience.
“$e Supertrees will showcase vertical planting on a scale never presented before in a garden. $e!bromeliads!will add to that uniqueness as they are not often used in vertical planting,” she shared. “Many of the hybrids that we will be using are not commonly found in this region, and some have colourful leaves that add to the design element.”
As for the conservatories, which com-bine cultivation, design and climate engineering in an iconic shell-like design, Ms Marziah believes they “il-lustrate how garden design has evolved beyond just landscape and horticulture, to embrace other disciplines like archi-tecture and green engineering.”
Tracing the evolution of greening Singapore, Mr Poon noted that, in the early days, “well-tended plants and verdant spaces made Singapore an attractive green oasis and gave the impression of orderliness, cleanliness and e&cient administration… [it made] Singapore attractive to investors.” A lush, well-maintained cityscape is still relevant today in imparting the idea of liveability, he said.
$e ‘City in a Garden’ movement is an elevation of ideals envisioned by Sin-gapore’s early leaders. “Today, we take the greening of Singapore to another level. It is part of our image as a liveable city with lots of nature, greenery and biodiversity that is well within reach, in an urban setting.”
He points to how green spaces have – literally – #ourished; from streetscapes
and roadside trees, to parks that have become recreational spaces, and to the iconic Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay. NParks manages some 1.3 million roadside trees and more than 300 parks – including 60 large regional ones in Singapore. Park connectors, rooftop green spaces, a planned green corridor in Orchard Road to nurture a butterfly trail and more add to the “greenery is everywhere” concept.
A living brandMaking plants a ubiquitous part of the landscape has another ad-vantage – biodiversity. Green spac-es provide homes for all manner of birds, butter#ies, insects and small mammals. “We’ve learnt that if we mix tal l trees and shrubs along the street, it helps
SUPERTREES Taking vertical greening to new heights, the Supertrees – man-made tree-like structures rising 25 to 50 metres in height – will host a myriad of plant life. These include exotic ferns, vines, orchids, bromeliads and other types of air plants. The Supertrees will also mimic real trees. They ‘photosynthesise’ via photovoltaic cells that help to light the trees at night. Their ‘canopies’ will give shade while some of the Supertrees’ ‘trunks’ will ventilate the conservatories.
birds migrate better,” Mr Poon shared. Breeding e"orts have also helped re-introduce the native hornbill – which disappeared from Singapore over 150 years ago. Today, these beautiful birds with distinctive beaks can be spied in Changi Village and the Botanic Gardens – there are even several ‘presidential’ hornbills at the Istana.
Also unique are majestic old trees. Mr Poon recalled taking visitors to Orchard Road and what struck them most was the sight of grand old rain trees behind Grange Road. “$ey literally stopped in their tracks and took out their cameras… These old trees located in a busy shopping stretch is something that is not easy to replicate.”
When the Gardens are completed, it wil l be a habitat where people, flora and fauna coexist in an urban setting. Going by the experience of the Botanic Gardens – Singapore’s original green jewel – and its stand-ing as one of the best, most beautiful and diverse gardens in the world, Mr Poon is con%dent that Gardens by the Bay will similarly elevate Singapore’s standing as a truly unique and green global city, a key di"erentiating factor for Singapore’s brand.
COOLED CONSERVATORIESTwo cooled conservatories will showcase different ecosystems and plants unique to these climates. The 1.2 hectare Flower Dome replicates cool dry conditions and will be home to plant species from the Mediterranean and semi-arid tropical regions. The 0.8 hectare Cloud Forest – complete with ‘cloud mountain’ and waterfall – will simulate a cool-moist climate of tropical mountain regions.
07Feature
No cheesy slogans, an emphasis on soft power and reconnecting with the emotive aspects of Singapore’s national identity – the next phase of nation branding for the little red dot is all about sweet persuasion.!
by Hong Xinyi
softly, quietly
BRANDING SINGAPORE
09Cover Story
cultures can quote the trademarks of a nation’s brand so eloquently, and in the service of that nation, that surely must be rated a success in nation branding. The differing images of these two Asian countries are useful lessons for Singapore as it embarks on a new phase of nation branding. Ultimately, says Prof Hal", there is only so much branding can do.
“With any nation branding, there is always more communication about you than there is coming from you. What a country can do is make its broader reputation in tune with the values of its brand, because a brand is only a small slice of your reputation,” he says.
“Countries like Switzerland don’t do much branding, but its reputation is very strong. A country like Qatar, which brands itself as the most open society in the Middle East, is founding new universities and a breathtaking museum of Islamic art, which is all in tune with what they want to stand for.”
In other words, it would be counter-productive to harp too much on the magic of branding, and neglect the real essence of what makes a nation memorable to others – its policies, practices and people.
Why branding mattersAs a marketable, quantifiable con-cept, “nation branding” arrived on the scene in 1996, courtesy of British
policy advisor Simon Anholt. Today, a country’s “brand” – which encom-passes perceptions of its economy, government, citizenry and culture – is frequently assessed in international polls and indexes.
In practice, however, “nation branding” is much older. History is what happens; nation branding is simply what we make of it. In this more organic sense, nation branding has been around for about as long as there have been nations.
This is particularly true of countries born under exceptional circumstances, which had to de%ne themselves in a hur-ry to justify their existence. Singapore, thrust unexpectedly into independence as a resource-poor, economically vulner-able city-state, is certainly exceptional in this case.
In his new book Brand Singapore: How Nation Branding Built Asia’s Leading Global City, Singaporean writer and consultant Koh Buck Song argues that nation branding has been crucial to Singapore’s economic success since the earliest days of independence, with key government agencies attracting foreign investment by conveying an image of a safe, efficient and corruption-free Garden City.
Drawing investment continues to be a strong focus today, but the type of investment has shifted somewhat as Singapore transitions to a knowledge economy, and it needs to adjust to the new environment, including doing more to project its soft power. Increasingly, multinational companies and foreign talent are likely to place as much emphasis on a vibrant arts scene and creative labour force as on security and convenience.
Ms Karyn Lim, director of business consultancy A.S. Louken, says that in her 10 years of consulting for lo-cal enterprises, she has observed that for certain clusters, nation-led brand-ing efforts have helped companies build positive brand perceptions of their products.
A strong national identity not only unites our people, but also enables them to become our best ambassadors, when overseas or when interacting with visitors to Singapore.
FEW COUNTRIES CURRENTLY dominate international headlines as much as ascendant superpower China. But its ubiquity on the world stage also proves that, when it comes to nation branding, a higher pro%le comes with intense scrutiny.
For every article about its stunning new architectural wonders and powerhouse economy, there are more about dire working conditions in factories and suppression of dissident voices.
$e recent detention of artist Ai Wei-wei is a case in point – this outspoken critic of the Chinese government was an artistic consultant for the “bird’s nest ” stadium bui l t for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a role that further heightens international interest in his current plight.
$e Beijing Olympics, an exercise in nation branding and highly praised for its spectacular ceremonies, was already full of dissonant notes. China was criticised for clamping down on press freedom and human rights.
“The Beijing Olympics did not feel inviting, like you were going to visit friends,” says Gregor Hal", associate professor of corporate communication at Singapore Management University and former managing partner of com-munications consultancy Publicis.
By contrast, Japan’s strong country brand seems impervious to negative factors like its ailing economy. “It used to be a nation that does cheap knocko"s but it is now a symbol of creativity, technological advancement and quality,” says Mr Chris Lee, founder and creative director of noted homegrown design studio and retail company Asylum.
$is was demonstrated clearly when the recent earthquake!in Japan inspired an outpouring of posters and merchandise by international designers for aid cam-paigns. Many designs boasted a clean, minimalist aesthetic that clearly drew on the signature spare elegance of the Japanese artistic tradition. When other
“Singapore faces intense competition as more countries make tremendous e"orts to strategically reposition them-selves. We’re in a ‘brand lag’ situation where the perception of what we have to o"er does not match reality – while we continue to embody our existing core strengths, we have transformed ourselves in recent years.”
Not a campaign or sloganIn essence, this is the message be-ing sent to the international audi-ence: Forget about chewing gum and Michael Fay already, and embrace a new Singapore that is softer, sleeker and sweeter.
To that end, the inter-ministry National Marketing Action Committee was formed in 2006 to align communica-tions e"orts across di"erent agencies.
1960sThe Garden City moniker is coined by then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to create an image of a nation that took pride in the care of its environment.
1961Economic Development Board set up to attract foreign investment.
1972Singapore Airlines debuts. The Singapore Girl becomes such a successful marketing symbol that a wax statue of her is displayed in Madame Tussauds in London in 1994.
1981Changi Airport opens and starts accumulating a steady stream of accolades.
1982Cosmopolitan magazine is banned for racy content. The ban is lifted in 2004.
1983Trade Development Board, later renamed International Enterprise Singapore, launched to help Singapore companies expand abroad.
1990sSingapore joins Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan as one of the Asian Tigers – a phrase coined to describethe fast-growing economies of these Asian countries.
1992The import and sale of chewing gum is banned – an infamous prohibition that was heard about, and stuck, around the world. In 2004, therapeutic gum is re-allowed into Singapore.
1994American teenager Michael Fay is sentenced to caning for vandalism, causing an international furore when President Bill Clinton interceded.
1994Night Safari zoo opens and becomes a popular tourist attraction.
Last year (2010), a new national mar-keting platform was unveiled after a nine-month consultative process that included feedback from Singapore’s public and private sectors as well as international stakeholders.
Called “the Spirit of Singapore”, the key brand attributes of this new platform are: Nurturing, transforming, collabo-rating and daring-to-dream.
In the Brand Singapore Messaging Guide, these four attributes are ac-knowledged to be at least partly aspi-rational – this is rather unusual for a brand message, more often an idealised
“In China, Singapore’s traditional Chinese medicine such as bird’s nests are prized for quality and safety. As such, they’re able to command a price premium over other countries’ similar imports. $e Singapore mark of trust in the HACCP (a food safety assur-ance programme) and even the Merlion seal have become a powerful brand endorsement of local food manufactur-ing brands moving overseas, in light of recent high-pro%le food safety scares in Asia.”
But it is not the same in creative and fashion circles. “With the exception of local brands like Charles & Keith, alldressedup and BICE, Singaporean fashion brands are not known to gain traction amongst international pundits in the last 20 years,” she says.
Creative talent like fashion designer Ashley Isham may have done well internationally, yet one does not im-mediately associate his work with the Singapore brand. $is could explain why the little red dot is working so hard to market itself as a creative hotspot to foreign audiences.
Says Ms Carol Tan, director of the Resilience and Marketing Division at the Ministry of Information, Com-munications and the Arts (MICA):
Called “the Spirit of Singapore”, the key brand attributes of this new platform are: Nurturing, transforming, collaborating and daring-to-dream.
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
A TIMELINE OF SOME EVENTS THAT SHAPED SINGAPORE’S IMAGE
11Cover Story
2000The Ministry of Information and The Arts (MITA) produces the first Renaissance City Report, laying out a plan to turn Singapore into a culturally vibrant world-class city.
2000Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park marked as a “free speech area” where speaking events could be held without the need to apply for a licence under the Public Entertainments Act.
2000The first ZoukOut takes place. It is now one of Asia’s biggest and most popular dance music festivals.
2002The Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay opens and is promptly christened The Durians by Singaporeans.
2003The first Singapore Season is launched in London to showcase the republic’s arts and culture to a foreign audience.
2005Government announces plan to open two integrated resorts, each comprising a casino, hotels and malls. Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa begin operations in 2010.
2005Singapore Tourism Board introduces the Uniquely Singapore tagline, replacing previous slogans New Asia, Surprising Singapore and Instant Asia.
distillation of national traits, but seldom projected as work-in-progress.
$ese attributes are not meant to be repeated as slogans for any explicit branding campaign, but to drive future work in policies and communications, and to inspire and guide agencies crafting their own marketing materi-als. In other words, the next phase of marketing Brand Singapore is all about soft-sell.
Searching for identityIn his book Brand Singapore, Mr Koh writes: “Identity is character, a set of characterisations that flesh out someone or something. This be-
comes a brand only when effort is put in to communicate it to target audiences, and to sustain this mes-saging over time.” In this conceptu-al framework, a brand is a sustained positioning of an identity to inter-nal and external audiences.
Internally, a short history means an identity still in flux. In the early years of independence, Singapore was trying to build a shared na-tional identity for its own citizens even as it was trying to project a cohesive image for the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, brand and identity have not always turned out the same.
For instance, while advertising Singapore as a paragon of colour-ful multi-racial harmony to outsid-ers, the State has often raised the spectre of past racial riots to its citizens to underline the fragility of this harmony.
Potential for dissonance is arguably greater today, as Brand Singapore forges ahead with a shiny cosmo-politan image even as two out of three of the 2,016 Singaporeans interviewed in a 2010 Institute of Policy Studies survey indicated con-cern about the impact of foreigners on national unity.
Hence, to effectively converge iden-tity and brand is one of the great-est challenges facing the Resilience and Marketing Division. The Resil-ience side of the division addresses local residents, while the Marketing side’s target audience is the interna-tional community. Both teams work closely to ensure that locals and foreigners are not ‘seeing’ two vastly different Singapores.
Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Permanent Secretary (MICA) tells Challenge: “How the world sees us and how we see ourselves have to be congruent and authentic, and therein lies
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
A TIMELINE OF SOME EVENTS THAT SHAPED SINGAPORE’S IMAGE
While our iconic buildings may line us up with other countries in the “global branding race”, it will be the people who give the vital boost to Brand
Singapore.
2008The first Formula 1 Grand Prix Night Race is flagged off in Singapore.
2008The first Singapore Biennale debuts.
2009Singapore hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting.
2009Singapore Media Fusion Plan is unveiled. It aims to turn Singapore into a media hub.
2010YourSingapore becomes the new tourism tagline.
2010Italian fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo launches necktie with Merlion motif.
2010Singapore hosts the inaugural Youth Olympics. 2011
Trade event ScreenSingapore debuts. It acts as a premiere location for Asian films, as well as a preview spot for US blockbusters.
the challenge and importance of the work we undertake. A strong na-tional identity not only unites our people, but also enables them to be-come our best ambassadors, when overseas or when interacting with visitors to Singapore.”
Hence, the same soft-sell approach is being used increasingly to com-municate with citizens.
In recent years, Singaporeans are increasingly being wooed with more emotive national identity initiatives that tug at your heartstrings rath-er than hit you over the head with slogans. Think the series of ads es-pousing family values commissioned by the Ministry of Community De-velopment, Youth and Sports (read our coverage in Challenge Sep/Oct 2010) in recent years, which use the aesthetic of arthouse films in the service of government campaigns.
Justin Zhuang, a contributing editor for the Design Society Journal and the founder of the Singapore Visual Archive website, also cites the 2010 Project Singa as a successful example of a national identity initiative.
Supported by the Singapore Kind-ness Movement, this project invited corporations, local artists and mem-bers of the public to submit their
own designs for the well-known courtesy mascot, Singa the Lion. “The concept basically confidently left the designs in the participants’ hands. The message from the organ-isers is that this is not our mascot, this is your mascot.”
To celebrate Total Defence Day this February, a Home music video launched by MINDEF’s national education arm Nexus starred 39 local artistes from different gen-erations, ethnic backgrounds and musical genres, performing a song composed by Dick Lee and first sung by Kit Chan in 1998 as a Na-tional Day song.
Ms Chan mooted the idea and was the project ’s executive director. The video was the latest instalment of
2006The biennial Singapore Garden Festival debuts.
2006Singapore hosts the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings.
annual Total Defence campaigns that had become “increasingly emo-tive, reflective and personal”, says Colonel Lim Kok Siong, then Di-rector of Nexus.
The appeal to nostalgia and patrio-tism, wrapped in a stylish package, garnered more than 250,000 views on YouTube, and was shown on na-tional TV and the cinemas. More importantly, the campaign had Sin-gaporeans responding with more than 800 of their own Home videos.
Living up to aspirationsUnderscoring the inextricable link between nation branding and na-tional identity, the Brand Singa-pore messaging guide explains that besides having an economic and growth perspective, branding aims to inspire a sense of pride among Singaporeans, particularly youth, who are “constantly bewildered by others’ lack of understanding of Singapore.”
But it may not be so easy to con-vince Singaporeans, as Asylum’s Mr Lee points out: “Both STB and EDB have done an excellent job in positioning us. (But) perhaps we have done too well in creating an image that we need to live up to. I don’t think we’re as exciting as we seem to be.”
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
Credit: Singapore Tourism Board
13Cover Story
Editor: What are your thoughts on nation brand-ing? Do we need it? How can we do it better? Email us your views at [email protected]
hai. “Give local creatives a chance to highlight their own work. They have more knowledge of the product and their involvement is a testament to the brand you are selling.”
This has already started happening. Mr Zhuang cites the 2010 National Day Parade, for which local design collective Farm was appointed the first NDP branding director. “The gift packs, posters etc, were all very uniform in design and chosen with great care,” he notes. “Of course, you shouldn’t pick a local team just for the sake of going local, that would be an insult to creatives here. But pick the cream of the crop, and leave the creative decisions in their hands. It ’s a way of involving people who are living here so that they feel a stake in this nation.”
The ultimate test of successful convergence between identity and branding may well be when the messages being conveyed directly by citizens become the best advertise-ment for Brand Singapore – say, for
example, when a film submitted for a Nexus competition is used to pro-mote Singapore at an international conference.
After all, a branding initiative be-comes more effective the more au-thentic and unfiltered it is. Prof Halff says a good way for state-led branding to get its bearings is by listening to what citizens tell their foreign friends about Singapore. “There is a lot of truth in those con-versations that gets at the core of a country ’s reputation, and it is easy to tap into this market research.”
Beyond brandingIndeed, the importance of the citizen as the most trusted brand ambassador of the country has become clear. In a recent Straits Times article (April 4, 2011), Koh Buck Song points out that the citizen on the street is Singapore’s missing ingredient in successful nation branding. While our iconic buildings may line us up with other countries in the “global branding race”, it will be the people who give the vital boost to Brand Singapore.
The Civil Service College’s Institute of Policy Development points out in a paper, Nation Branding and National Identity, that Simon Anholt, who has been dubbed the ‘father of place brand-ing’, argues that citizens need to ‘live’ the brand.
But a 2005 Anholt Nation Brands Index study indicated that Singapore scored lower in self-image than almost all countries with top country brands. $is led the paper’s authors to question if more fundamental issues of national confidence and self-identity need to be addressed.
So, rather than just ask what branding could do for a country, perhaps the real question is what a country – including its business sector and ordinary citizens – is doing to nurture the qualities that its branding envisions.
After all, becoming known as a cool, creative city requires those living here to first walk the talk. Says Mr Lee: “What we need is to reflect so that we understand who we are and how are we to change before we project a certain image of ourselves. We do not become creative or hip just by saying so.”
He suggests a bold, out-of-the-box move: “Perhaps we should appoint a creative director for the nation. That will be a first for any country and a great initiative to show the world that we mean business. It will also ensure consistency in all our creative efforts.”
Ms Lim of A.S. Louken says another way to nurture local creativity is for the Government to tap Singaporean talent for high-profile projects, as is done in Thailand, nurturing Thai creative brands for the world’s fash-ion runways.
Prof Halff notes that large accounts in public relations and advertising very often go to international com-panies, much more so than in places like Hong Kong, Japan and Shang-
Stills from the Home music video launched by Nexus to celebrate Total Defence Day in 2011.
Pictures from Ministry of Defence
Renowned architect Richard Rogers presents his best works in collaboration with the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Exhibition14
S EE T H E B RI G H T P I N K sofas at $e URA Centre’s atrium? Plop down and make yourself at home. $en take a deep breath to contemplate 40 years of the best works from award-winning British architect Richard Rogers and his partners, in the sun-drenched space.
The exhibition has been drawing visitors – especially architectural aficionados – keen to grasp the architects’ design philosophy. But it is not just the sketches and mod-els of projects like the Shanghai Masterplan (pictured) that impress. It is the commitment to breathe life into compact cities by designing buildings that integrate public spaces, that helps communities to interact and thrive.
Richard Rogers + Architects: From the House to the City ends on July 23, 2011. Free admission. Mon to Fri: 8.30am – 7.00pm, Sat: 8.30am – 4.30pm. Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.
COME SEE THE HOUSE
THE CITY
© R
oger
s St
irk
Har
bour
+ P
artn
ers
“I SAY
I THINK”WHAT
In a wide-ranging interview, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign A"airs Bilahari Kausikan likens diplomats to potters, calls the study of international relations a “fraud discipline” and says every public o#cer has a duty to speak up - like he does. by Wong Sher Maine
MR BILAHARI KAUSIKAN SAYS he did not choose to join the elite Administrative Service and he wants to put this on record.
“Let us be very clear,” said the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign A"airs. “$e Administrative Service imposed itself on me and several others in the Foreign Service. We were shanghai-ed in against our will.”
$en a Foreign Service O&cer aged 29, Mr Kausikan and some of his colleagues were marshalled into their boss’s o&ce and told this handful of non-scholars would be absorbed into the Administra-tive Service the following Monday.
“We thought it was extremely divisive, to suddenly separate the sheep from the goats. I said no, but it was not a matter of choice.”
Now 57, Mr Kausikan has spent three decades in the MFA where he was am-bassador to Russia, and Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
In public memory, he is better-known as someone unafraid to speak his mind, from writing a personal letter to a blog-ger who criticised a speech he had made at her school in 2006, to a speech in 2004 which is still making ripples in the Public Service, that the PS21 ExCEL movement had “lost its way”. “I say what I think. I am me, I can’t be anything but me,” he said.
Getting to the MFAMr Kausikan is a voracious reader – “even of the telephone directory in the extreme” – who was once on the road to academia. While writing his dissertation for his international relations PhD at New York’s Columbia University, he had a “satori” – a moment of enlightenment: “I realised I’d be a damn rotten teacher. And why would I want a PhD when it’s just a trade union card for teaching?”
He chose to serve out his eight-year bond in the Foreign Service as his father had been an ambassador, and the MFA was “the only place I knew something about.”
“I ended up struggling to forget every-thing I had learnt,” he said. “Interna-
tional relations is a fraud discipline and is the worst possible training for a career in the foreign service. As a PhD student, we spent an inordinate amount of time debating what the fundamental basis of a country’s foreign policy was: if it was eco-nomic, %nancial or domestic. I thought the world was a logical place.
“I have now concluded that foreign pol-icy is really a series of improvisations to-wards a goal that should be agreed on.”
Working in unpredictable worldWhat really distinguishes MFA from the rest of the Public Service is that it operates in a global environment.
“$e world is fundamentally illogical and therefore unpredictable,” he said. “If in diplomacy, you try %ve things and two work, you are actually doing quite well.”
Adding to the turbulence is the world’s profound, uncertain state of transforma-tion. “$ere are new centres of power emerging in China, India, and while the US used to be at the top of the hierar-chy, it has found it increasingly di&cult to act alone. $e result is a less govern-able world where many things will be sub-optimally dealt with, if at all.”
What this calls for is a tad less bureauc-racy at the MFA and diplomats who can empathise – “I don’t mean warm and fuzzy feelings but being able to under-stand where another person is coming from in order to get your own way”, who can keep their eye on the goal amidst a confusing swirl of events and who have acquired instincts to know which way the wind is blowing.
He tells his o&cers: “A diplomat is a potter who forges a beautiful relation-ship. But one day I might order you to smash the pot because it’s in the national interest. Being nice or having friendly relations is a means. $e end must be national interest.”
A scholar-blind cultureWork at the MFA is very di"erent from other ministries, stressed Mr Kausikan. $e risk of failure is high due to the intrinsically uncertain environ-ment, and o&cers who formulate policies are also expected to carry them out di-rectly, hence requiring “a di"erent frame of mind”.
$e need to be empathetic, to adapt to breaking world events, and that spe-cial instinct to analyse and understand situations are qualities needed in a good Foreign Service o&cer. Intelligence, he added, is therefore overrated as it is not the only necessary quality.
A diplomat is a potter who forges a beautiful relationship. But one day I might order you to smash the pot because it’s in the national interest.
Hence, the ministry has evolved what Mr Kausikan calls a “scholar-blind” culture.
“A scholarship is just a point of entry. It would be a grave mistake to think that it is an escalator. I don’t care if people are scholars or not. I discriminate between people who can do their work and people who can’t,” said Mr Kausikan, who ac-knowledges that the scholarship system has “worked fairly well” in reeling talent into the Public Service.
However, he notes that there are some scholars who have admitted to him that they were reluctant to join the MFA because it is scholar-blind.
“I’m told some Management Associ-ates don’t like to come here because they think they get no special privileges here, which is true, and they have to compete with a lot of clever people. !ey felt they would have less chance of shining and therefore transiting to AO (Administra-tive Service O"cer) scheme if they came to the Foreign Ministry because we treat everybody equal.
“In my personal opinion, those scholars who have a huge sense of entitlement are the ones who are probably not going to make it.”
A scholarship is just a point of entry. I don’t care if people are scholars or not. I discriminate between people who can do their work and people who can’t.
Scholars aside, what matters more is who can contribute best where. For instance, while the MFA has become larger and more professional over the years, an in-ternal challenge he is now grappling with is manpower demographics.
MFA, which went on a recruitment drive in the 90s after a decade-long stagna-tion, is now peopled with young directors ready to go out and replace ambassadors for whom suitable jobs will have to be found back home.
“(MFA) is an animal with a huge head, huge bottom with a rather thin waist,” described Mr Kausikan. “We have a larger proportion of super-scale and senior positions than any other min-istry. Some senior people will have to come back and take advisory positions in other agencies that are discerning that they need to be able to act internationally and regionally.”
No regretsLooking back over his own career, he has no regrets, never over anything he has said, and certainly not over the incident when un#attering statements he had made of the Malaysian leader-ship were published on whistleblower website Wikileaks. “Diplomacy is about
being frank with each other. Sometimes leaks happen. Everybody takes it in their stride.”
If public o"cers are cautious about what they say, this is what he would tell them: “!en [you] are not doing [your] job because the job of a public o"cer is to give advice… If you get reprimanded, so what? Are you such a shrinking violet that you’d wither away and die?”
To him, a good public o"cer is not afraid to speak up and will vigorously defend his view, but once the decision is made, sticks with it even if it may not be what he agrees with.
“You are complicit,” he stressed. “You carry out the decision and don’t complain after the event. !is is the value of the Public Service. If you had really felt so strongly about it at the time, you should have resigned.”
Has he ever thought of resigning?
“Yes, I have,” he said. “!en I think, is it such a big deal? It wasn’t. On the whole, am I content? Happy? Doing some-thing useful? Yes. I came here intend-ing to serve out my bond but I forgot to leave.”
What’s usually in your cuppa?Co!ee in the mornings; green tea in
the afternoons. In the evenings, more often than not, Jack Daniels
What’s your favourite drink?Bourbon — Jack Daniels or
Maker’s Mark
Where do you normally go for your favourite drink?
I refuse to reveal my favourite bar -- those who need to know already know
and those who do not already know obviously do not need
to know :-)
A Cuppa With... 17
T H ER E H A S B EEN M U C H slaughtering of sacred cows in Singa-pore these days. While there will be no sea change at the Public Service Commission, there will be at least one marked di"erence.
$e Board that picks the best brains for the Public Service will be look-ing out more and more fo r one core quality – empathy, says PSC Chair-man Eddie Teo.
“$e government has identi%ed what I would call empathy as a vital quality for our public servants… $is is clearly something that’s felt at the top and if it doesn’t permeate through the whole Service, the people of Singapore are going to be terribly disappointed.”
But surely empathy would have been a criterion all along? Yes, acknowledges Mr Teo, but now there will be an even greater emphasis.
“Not every public servant (has empa-thy). There’s been a tendency in the past to recognise and reward people for the ability to formulate policies rather than implement policies with the understanding of how they will impact people. It’s a question of shifting emphasis…. Is he or she someone who can feel with his or her heart and not just think with the head?”
In 1951, the Public Service Commission was established. A system unique in the region for grooming top public sector talent was born. Sixty years on, is the system still relevant? Chairman of PSC Eddie Teo tells A Makwana the game is far from over.
But the task is admittedly difficult when the Board is looking at student applicants wanting to get into the public sector.
“It is not going to be easy to deter-mine whether an 18-year-old has or lacks empathy.”
While Mr Teo recognises that empathy is an innate quality, he believes it can be nurtured through proper incen-tives (not %nancial ones, he clari%es) and as officers spend time dealing with real people with real problems on the ground.
“Public servants must not go strictly by the book and ignore individual circumstances and individuals seeking assistance. The principle behind the rule is always more important than the rule itself.”
Finding the right talentConformists and yes-men are a de%nite no-no here.
Recalling one incident during scholar-ship interviews, Mr Teo says: “$ere was one candidate we met the other day who told the psychologist, ‘I think I’m suitable for the Public Service because I follow rules very strictly and never question authority.’ Of course we didn’t take him in.”
Yet, with significant taxpay-ers’ money pumped into these scholarships, concerns remain.
One potentially contentious issue brought up during the recent General Election was the relatively low numbers of scholarships awarded to minori-ties relative to their numbers in the overall population.
“As far as the PSC is concerned, anybody, despite his or her race, who appears before us and deserves a scholarship will get a scholarship. We do not discriminate against cer-tain races and there are no quotas.”
While there is no o&cial system to ensure more proportionate representa-tion of races among scholarship holders, the PSC does give a nudge if it %nds too few non-Chinese applicants in a particular year.
“We go back to the schools and say so-and-so has done extremely well, we’d like to speak to the person to see if they want to apply.” But some, he says, may simply not want to join the Public Service.
Still, PSC continues to confront what Mr Teo believes are misconceptions.
PLEASE
19Feature
One is that theirs is a cookie-cutter ap-proach, with scholarship holders largely coming from the same schools, then the same universities and eventually ending up as similar-thinking o&cers.
While Mr Teo admits that many of the best students tend to come from Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution, that is changing, as the educational system broadens. “There was one year when nobody from Hwa Chong became a President’s Scholar. I’m not sure whether they all wore black armbands the next day,” he chuckles.
Not every public servant has
empathy.There’s been a tendency in the past to recognise and reward people for the ability to formulate policies rather than implement policies with the understanding of how they will impact people.
He rejects the idea that when schol-arship holders come from the same educational institutions, they would all
think like clones. He believes if they were bright, they would not allow
their education and training to restrain their thinking.
No room for obnoxious scholars
The other miscon-ception is that al l
scholarship holders are automatically put on the fa s t track to success. Mr Teo stressed
that those with a sense of entitlement
will be weeded out.
“If your peers and sub-ordinates think you are a
horrible fellow, it will surface… so if you are haughty and demanding
and you think you can get by because you are a scholar, you will be very sorry because you won’t reach the top.”
Like the Foreign Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan (A Cuppa With… on pg 15), Mr Teo thinks every ministry should have a “scholar-blind” attitude.
“If you have someone saying ‘I am a scholar and you better take me in and make sure I do all the important jobs’, then I pity the ministry that takes him in because he isn’t going to be a good o&cer.”
Mr Teo pointed out that scholarship holders who have failed to perform have been asked to leave. $e Administrative Service is also not an exclusive club for scholarship holders only. $e PSC
does appoint and promote top public sector talent even if they are non-scholarship holders. Last year, 11 open market candidates were appointed to the Management Associates Programme.
Still, people continue to question the need for a scholarship system. And with the political arena already undergoing “epochal changes”, is there likely to be a spillover e"ect?
“I don’t see radical revolutionar y changes in the PSC. We have done this for a long time. We spend a lot of money and resources building up future leaders in the Public Service. But so long as there is no huge outcry about the system, we continue to sharpen our tools so that we really choose the right people and do not miss the people who fall between the cracks.”
What about leaving a personal mark behind?
“I don’t look for legacies. I just do my job. And if 10-15 years from now, the Public Service is still a good Public Service with good people at the top, that’s it. I will be very happy.”
English classes? I certainly can’t forget how a trailer for one of my films was banned from TV because it had Singlish in it – apparently on TV, you can’t have dialogue that re#ects how we actually speak.)
I was greatly cheered when there was a huge backlash from the public, because most of us know Singlish isn’t just pidgin; it’s full of humorous, inventive, cross-cultural wordplay and may be the only bit of our culture that is actually uniquely Singaporean.
What the brouhaha proved was that branding is useful for one’s professional image, but it’s a mistake to believe your marketing persona can be a true re#ection of yourself or that you should contort every-thing about yourself to %t your hype.
$is is because brand-ing is a product of pragmatism. The brand you concoct must be based on what works to extract the bucks from your target audience, but that ’s all. Because contexts change, in which case, a new persona is needed. If you’re a startup, it might suit you to be perceived as a nimble maverick. But when you become the market leader, to continue posing as an iconoclast is like being an auntie in a miniskirt.
So one must have a sense of propor-tion when you’re seeking to “brand” a country, which is more than just a simple corporation. Frankly, living in New York for the past decade has shown me that people like a place that’s more than just what’s touted in its bland tourist brochures. No matter
WHENEVER I HEAR THE WORD ”branding”, I immediately think of applying a red-hot piece of metal to a cow’s behind. Of course, this is because I grew up in an era when the act of distinguishing one’s product from those of one’s competitors was simply called “marketing”.
At this point, I’m sure all you profes-sionals out there will jump up and educate me about the distinction between “branding” and “marketing”, and that branding isn’t just some bland packaging exercise, it ’s about crafting an experience, a personality, even an identity. Okay, okay, whatever. Full marks for paying attention during your seminar/MBA.
Sure, creating a distinct and appeal-ing professional identity is crucial in today’s increasingly crowded market-place, whether you’re a corporation, an individual, and now, it seems, a country. But I have very mixed feelings about it.
I owe my ambivalence to the Govern-ment’s anti-Singlish campaign. At the time it was launched, I was stuck in New York doing a graduate degree and the sounds of Singlish were a balm for my homesick soul. I was ba'ed that people wanted to wipe out something that was giving me (and my friends) so much pleasure.
While I appreciated the good intentions of wanting us to improve our ability to communicate with our global clientele, the so-called “Speak Good English Movement” overreached by trying to eradicate Singlish in informal and even %ctional settings. (Remember how the producers of Phua Chu Kang were pressured to have him sent for remedial
how the authorities try pitching New York as a tourist-friendly destination, no one is fooled when they land and have to negotiate the %lthy subways, the rude cashiers and the hucksters. When Mayor Giuliani tried mounting a Singapore-style courtesy campaign, he was the butt of jokes. Anyway, visitors soon realise that New Yorkers’ snarky attitude is very much what gives the city its unique energy.
If there’s a lesson for Singapore, it’s that authenticity is always more interesting. Singapore advertises a fair bit in the American media, with pretty ads and clever slogans, but everyone I speak to continues to think of us as a micro-managing nanny state. Any branding exercise which seeks to Photoshop our perceived inadequacies away is only bound to reinforce that image.
As with its roots in cattle farming, there’s a point at which the brand can come perilously close to B.S.
If there’s a lesson for Singapore, it’s that authenticity is always more interesting.
Don’t Be
Too BRAND-CONSCIOUS
Pay attention to being authentic too, says Colin Goh.
Colin Goh is currently in New York, working on several international co-productions.
Thinking Aloud20
DEAR YOUNG OFFICER,It is some 15 years since I left the Civil Service, and a long 55 years ago that I started my working life.
The question naturally arises, what points of contact are there between my generation and the generations of today, whether Generation X or Gen Y or a future Gen Z. $e world, and Singapore, have moved on. All around us are signs of what we take for progress. Progress is customarily assessed by the consumption of material goods and by the extent of human development.
Consumption is captured by that well-known rubric, per capita income. By that criterion, Singapore has done spectacularly well, rising in just over half-a-century from around US$1,000 for each resident to the current level of greater than US$40,000.
Some may hedge that outcome by alluding to the Gini Coe&cient (the
most commonly used measure of income inequality) or the skewed distribution between capital and labour, or the share accruing to the public sector, the foreign sector, private capital and so forth. Yet, it cannot be denied that the improvement in virtually every measure of human development is quite striking. So, we take pride that we have moved from $ird World to First World in just about two generations. (There may be some reservations, in certain quarters, about whether one or two organs of society have moved to First World status, but that is another question.) Nonetheless, it is timely to pause and ask how Singapore did it, so that its steady progress may, with some luck, continue.
The model for development half-a-century ago was fairly straightforward. $ere were plenty of examples to learn from. With good governance, coupled with reasonably ample “factors of pro-duction”, Singapore could steadily close the gap. What next?
By now, it is a truism that innovation, rather than mere imitation, is the way to go. $e rub lies in strategy. Singapore is a pretty small community, and, more importantly, not exactly surrounded by countries that are thriving dynamos of inventiveness and creativity. One option, if there is not enough home-grown talent, is to acquire it, as the authorities frequently remind us. But that resort is not a panacea.
My sense is that two attributes are paramount. First, it is the thirst for knowledge coupled with insatiable intellectual curiosity. $at attribute is a personal one. Every individual has a role in that e"ort, for his own good and for the fortunes of society. It is a habit acquired through diligent ap-plication and practice.
$e Jesuits, for example, are in the habit of “seeking the question behind the question”. $ey may do it sequentially, to the nth degree, until presumably en-lightenment and understanding emerge.
A year ago, a retired head of research at 3M gave a talk in Singapore. He touched on the attributes that the American multinational company seeks in its recruits. Top of the list was intellectual curiosity – the “question behind every question”.
$e second attribute is not a personal, but a collective, one. It lies in that term favoured by sociologists and political scientists among others – diversity. Diversity often goes against the grain of human nature. Individuals are com-fortable with the familiar. $e outlier is an object of curiosity, or worse. Maybe a maverick, a troublemaker, a loose cannon, and so forth. But unless we co-opt them into every activity and at every level, how do we get the sparkle that comes from diversity?
I am reasonably con%dent that, with enlightened leadership and an open society, Singapore has what it takes to make the grade. It will be a future not predicated on business-as-usual.
29
by J Y PillayChairman, Council of Presidential Advisors (2005 to date)
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of National Development (1989-1995)
INNOVATION,
IS THE WAY TO GO
NOT MEREIMITATION,
Once Bitten, Never Shy: Confessions of a Backpacking Diplomat (RRP S$16 excl GST ) is available at Prologue, Kinokuniya and Popular bookstores.
Also available at www.armourpublishing.com and www.amazon.com.
Foreign Service o#cer Sim Siong Chye writes about his backpacking days in his $rst book. by Bridgette See
The most interesting chapter would have to be the one of his first posting to Beijing, China. He does not (and cannot) write about his work, but he spills the beans on futile matchmaking efforts by a local Chinese woman intent on marrying off her daughter to the diplomat.
In Jerusalem, Mr Sim had his backpack chucked out of a guesthouse when he insisted on leaving it there for the day after having checked out. In a fit, he made a police report and the owner got a verbal warning. On hindsight, the diplomat admits to Challenge that he “failed to appreciate the owner’s concerns about bombs left in bags”.
After having been pick-‐pocketed and stranded without luggage, and fought off persistent touts, Mr Sim says he has learnt to plan ahead, and always stays tuned to local conditions and social practices of the places he visits.
The 120-‐page book is a breezy, well-‐written read you could finish in a day. While there are no juicy confessions of a diplomat as the title suggests (think espionage and seduction), it is an inspiration to those who have volumes of travel journals waiting to be transformed into books.
HE WENT, HE SAW AND HE WROTE IT a l l down.
That may be the critical difference between Foreign Service officer Sim Siong Chye and the many of us who love to travel the world.
Bitten by the travel bug at 22, Mr Sim joined the Foreign Service 18 years ago to satisfy his wanderlust. Since then, the diplomat, now in his 40s, has travelled to 41 countries on work and personal backpacking trips.
In Once Bitten, Never Shy: Confessions of a Backpacking Diplomat, Mr Sim – now First Secretary in the Singapore High Commission in Canberra, Australia – writes of his travels in China, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Scandinavia and South America from 1995 to 2004. Drawing from his detailed travel notes, he researched and wrote his book in 2005 and 2006 while on his second official posting in Yangon, Myanmar. “There wasn’t much to do at night (in Yangon),” he quips. Luckily for him, the writing was done before the civil unrest (2007) and Cyclone Nargis (2008) made him a much busier man. Returning home in 2009, he was finally able to get his book to the
publisher’s. He now hopes to write a second one of his travels in Myanmar.
Tales fromlands
foreign
Feature30
Outfit by X-Boundaries
The inaugural ScreenSingapore f ilm event in June attracted celebrities, producers, industry buyers and creative talent to gather in Singapore to
trade ideas, discuss opportunities and showcase their products. Media Development Authority Off icer Dillon Tan tells Challenge what it took
him and his colleagues to make this pipedream a reality. by A Makwana
GRUNT WORK
From
GLAMOUR WALK
to
Event ambassador Zhang Ziyi lends star power to ScreenSingapore at the gala opening on June 5.
members were there – booking their timings at the last minute.”
$e board members included lumi-naries such as %lmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) and %lm %nancier Greg Coote of Avatar fame.
Not being able to speak French did not help either when it came to dealing with local contractors but having a European public relations agency helped.
“It was really, really amazing to see it come through,” he re#ects, on their daunting task.
What followed was a year of long, hard hours of work, meeting di"erent parties’ interests while keeping an eye on the schedule.
MAY 2010 CANNES, FRANCE: Red carpet premieres, celebrities, #ash-bulbs popping.
For a young public o&cer not even a year into his job, it was a Kodak mo-ment in the spotlight. Or, at least, with a good view of it from the sidelines.
$at was the setting when Singapore announced at the glamorous French coastal city that it would host the inaugural ScreenSingapore, a show that could one day prove to be a worthy Asian counterpart.
A year later on June 5, 2011, Dillon Tan, 27, Communications Executive with the Media Development Authority (MDA) was once again at the sidelines of a red carpet event. $is time, it was for the world premiere of the Chinese %lm The Devil Inside Me, the opening event for ScreenSingapore.
For Dillon, ScreenSingapore caps a thrilling journey from that %rst press brie%ng in Cannes when he was #ung into the deep end. “It was so memorable because until the last minute, nobody knew if this project was going ahead.”
He recalls how the green light for ScreenSingapore came just a few days before he boarded the #ight to Cannes – and it was a mad scramble after that.
“We set up the press briefing in a couple of days onsite, which meant we had to come up with the backdrop and make sure all the ScreenSingapore board
BEAM artistes Siona Wu-Murphy and Jourdan Lee.
Zhang Ziyi with Dennis Davidson, ScreenSingapore Board Member.
Rio Dewanto and Atiqah Hasiholan from Red Umbrella that topped the! Asian Short Film Awards@ScreenSingapore.
An Ya from The Devil Inside Me.
FLY Entertainment artistes! Pamelyn Chee and Mindee Ong.
MDA officer Dillon Tan
Want to see more celebrities? Go to Challenge Online: www.challenge.gov.sgFor more info: www.screensingapore.sg
$ere were rewards, though. In April 2011, they scored the coup of secur-ing Tom Hanks to attend his film’s premiere on June 11. Once again, it was touch-and-go, with con%rmation coming only at the very last hour.
Dillon recalls that “up to the day we were supposed to announce the Tom Hanks premiere, we were unable to con%rm him. All our board members were trying to get him to confirm. $en, on the morning of the scheduled announcement, Tom Hanks gave a call to one of them and said ‘Yes, it’s on’. All of us were celebrating and we immediately had a press brie%ng. Such is the nature of the %lm industry, that things get con%rmed at the last minute.”
This was the first time a film event of such a scale was to be organised and time was not on their side. But the team quickly found support from MDA colleagues who had organised events on a similar scale, like the 3DX Festival in 2008, the world’s %rst event dedicated to showcasing 3D technology and content.
With so many parties involved – from international partners to stakeholders such as the Economic Development Board and Singapore Tourism Board – Dillon had to maintain a delicate balancing act.
“There’re all sorts of people telling you different things to do, based on past experiences, limited resources. You need to be able to cut through all the noise and sieve out the information that is relevant. $en give an informed suggestion to your boss and for your boss to execute the decision based on
your justi%cation. $is is part and parcel of every job.”
For Dillon, it was a steep learning curve with certain sensitivities to be managed and a couple of unpopular decisions along the way, such as scheduling a common speaking timeslot for industry stalwarts with jampacked schedules.
Still, the experience has helped him pick up some essential people management skills along the way.
“The biggest challenge is where you learn how to stand %rm and you are able to talk to people way beyond your level. I think it ’s important – when communicating to people at higher levels – to show respect and yet, at the same time, convey your thoughts very clearly.”
Nicknamed “Mr Handyman” fo r handling logistics and making sure
the p rog r ammes r un smooth l y, Dillon says they were no doomsday scenario nightmares.
“What I’ve learnt from this one year at ScreenSingapore is that there are a lot of tough decisions to make. But, as long as you stand %rm and go through the proper processes to make sure things are justi%ed to a good end, things will be resolved because there are no unsolvable issues,” he enthuses.
And this is true also when he is unex-pectedly thrust into the spotlight – such as for this interview.
“I’m used to being the liaison person for the spokesperson, not the spokesperson myself. But it’s all good,” he laughs.
33Feature
Local artistes with Australian Chris Brown, Executive Producer of Bait, the first 3D co-production between Singapore and Australia.
Mediacorp artiste Shaun Chen and partner.
Mediacorp artistes Joey Feng and Jerry Yeo.
Shaw Soo Wei from ScreenSingapore with Raffi Kamalian from web portal Alive Not Dead.
On the morning of the scheduled announcement, Tom Hanks gave a call to one of them and said “Yes, it’s on”. Such is the nature of the film industry, that things get confirmed at the last minute.
TIME IS A COMMODITY THAT RESPECTS neither rank nor status. Everyone has the same number of hours in a day. Just like a soldier who entrusts his life to his commander, pledging to obey orders – in a similar way, every manager holds the same trust with the time of colleagues in his or her care.
For the new human resources management system (HRMS) being introduced this July, many HR practitioners, managers and public o&cers will %nd new features that make doing speci%c tasks easier, faster and better, often with fewer clicks. This is a big deal. In every instance that a feature is introduced to shave o" time, we are demonstrating that we value and respect your time.
Vital is a heavy user of the system, with 40 to 50 agencies contracting us to process transactions using the previous HR system, PM2S. A team of over 100
PRE!EMPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS
I nstead of manual ly t rack ing which e m p l o y e e s h a v e g o n e f o r p r e -employment medica l examinat ions, HRMS wil l per form the track ing and auto-trigger reminders to employees to complete their medical examinations.
DEPLOYMENTS AND POSTINGS In the previous PM2S system, it takes t h re e d ay s ( t wo ove r n i g h t r u n s ) t o p r o c e s s p o s t i n g a n d s e c o n d m e n t o f e m p l oye e s. Wi t h H R M S , m u l t i p l e deployment actions (e.g. an officer is posted to one ministr y, such as MTI, a n d s e c o n d e d t o E D B o n t h e s a m e d a y ) c a n b e p e r f o r m e d w i t h i n t h e same day and will take only two days
(one overnight run) to process.
Clarence Ti, Chief Executive of Vital explains how the new human resources management system respects off icers’ time.
MINISTRY
DAY 1
DAY 2
HRMS saves time with fewer clicks and automation
Every minute counts
WHY
HRMS
FOR US
BIG DEALis a
CROSSING OF EFFICIENCY!BARIn PM2S, it takes 45 minutes to process each crossing of efficiency-bar case, including various manual information checks and manually preparing letters to employees.! With HRMS, it will take only 10 minutes to process each case, including triggering electronic notifications
to employees.
CONTRACT RENEWALSIn PM2S, it takes 60 minutes to process each contract renewal and confirmation case, including entering 20 data fields. ! With HRMS, it will only take 12 minutes to process each case; updating only five data fields. ! In addition, multiple cases can be processed on a single screen. ! HRMS also allows Vital HR Officers to view contract renewal cases that the Ministry HR Officers have not released for processing.!This
allows better planning of work at Vital’s end.
MATERNITY AND EXTENDED MATERNITY LEAVE In PM2S, each maternity leave transaction has to be manually approved so the data wil l f low to the pay system (for reimbursement from MCYS). ! With HRMS, transactions will be auto-approved by the system.
PENSION COMPUTATIONSIn PM2S, past wage information of pensionable of f icers have to be manually entered. !With HRMS, the Excel spreadsheet the Vi ta l HR O f f icers use to sum var ious salary components into the total salary needed in the final pension computation in PM2S/HRMS can be uploaded into the system, hence eliminating manual data entry.
o&cers in HR Services uses the system every day to process appointments, contract renewals, promotions, leave applications, retirements and resignations for the Public Service.
It is estimated that in the first rollout in July 2011, 8,000 manhours in processing time can be saved annually because of the new features. Now, multiply this by all the years in the future. $ese enhancements come in various forms, including reducing manual data entry, automating noti%cations and reminders, cutting processing steps and eliminating multiple overnight runs. (See diagram)
$e features sound simple but impact o&cers in signi%cant ways. As part of an inter-agency group, the HRMS team looked for opportunities to review the most mundane, most tedious part of day-to-day tasks to be automated in the system. $is is respect for officers’ time. For the significant number of seniors in the organisation, the minutes probably matter even more.
$e more manual the process, the more it is prone to human error. Not only do time savings get o&cers home at a decent hour, they also reduce transcription or typographical errors as well as lapses in follow-up. An 80 per cent process reduction by automation or removal can be thought of as doing an afternoon’s work in an hour. At the individual’s level, this is a big deal.
More than a million transactions are processed by Vital each year, many of which start with a record in HRMS. We say we battle the law of large numbers and Murphy’s Law each day. $ese enhancements are part of a longstanding Public Service tradition of continual improvements in what we do. More importantly, they express the Service’s core value of excellence.
More than a million transactions are processed by Vital each year, many of which start with a record in HRMS.
Vital, a department under the Ministry of Finance, was launched in July 2006, as part of the Singapore Public Sector ’s effort to aggregate common administrative services for the whole of Government. The suite of services includes finance services, human resource services, payroll and claims services, learning and development services and travel management services.
PM2S HRMS
Electronic Noti"cation
Step 1Submission of data
Step 1Submission of data
Step 2Waiting for approval
Step 3Data to pay system
Step 2Data to pay system
PM2S
Auto approval
Final Pension Computation
HRMS
PM2S HRMS
Only5 data "elds20 data "elds
35Feature
CEO
by Wong Sher Maine
Staff had to see that senior management was fully supportive and vocal about the change and that the job was not simply left to consultants.
D R J O H N LI M , A T RA I N ED medical doctor with a health manage-ment degree from Harvard University, knew soon after he took over the reins at the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in 2006 that there was room for improvement.
Yes, the Health Products Regulation Group (HPRG) of HSA – which ensures that health products in Singa-pore meet internationally benchmarked standards – was competently run. But as the saying goes, things can always be better.
“Expectations of industry stakeholders, namely the healthcare companies, were increasingly demanding. We needed to boost our service levels,” said Dr Lim, on the need for manpower and process changes in the HPRG’s department of 215 sta".
Roping in leadersA five-person team compr i s ing top management , i n -c lud ing the CEO, was a s s emb led to form the Change Board. “Conceptually, it ’s a steering com-mittee. You always need a team of senior people seen to be actively engaged as they make decisions and facilitate decision-making, account-ability and communications across all levels of organisational hierarchy,” said Dr Lim.
Dr Lim and members of the Change Board were physically present for all key meetings. “It had to be a team effort, to show strong commitment and tha t we we re on the s ame page,” he recounted.
It can be said that when it comes to organisational change, no one thinks harder than the people at the top. Dr John Lim, Chief Executive of the Health Sciences Authority, tells Challenge what went through his mind as he and his team steered the organisation’s regulatory arm through a major overhaul.
VIEW
TOPTOP
CHEAT SHEET FOR
LEADERS
How to help your organisation deal with change:
Leaders have to show commitment. Be
present to front all verbal communications
Invest time and effort into hammering out
details of the change process
Customise what is said to different groups
of staff
Be empathetic and proactive in managing
the people side of change
37Level Up
The big picture. Whenever he spoke to sta" about the need for change, Dr Lim provided an over-arching vision instead of focusing on individual con-cerns. He said: “If you move the sta" to see more or beyond, then it helps manage their fear and uncertainty.”
Empathetic leadershipManpower changes were perhaps the most challenging aspect of the HPRG change process.
“The main difficulty in this transi-tion was handling the sensitivities of the reorganisation,” said Dr Lim.
As part of addressing the need for succession planning, the Change Board grappled with having to lat-erally move senior divisional heads from executive to advisory roles. This was a delicate task. However, it was made possible because of the trust Dr Lim had established with senior divisional heads, having worked with them for eight years. He also hosted a private lunch for them to demonstrate appreciation for their contributions to the organ-isation over the years and to empha-sise they were still part of the team. It turned out to be an act of grati-tude and respect that touched them.
Said Dr Lim: “In times of process-driven change, the need to focus on managing the people side of change is crucial. Efforts to preserve hu-man dignity and mutual respect, as well as proactively addressing con-cerns and fears, can go a long way in facilitating people through change.”
The result? A year on, the new leaders have settled into their new responsibilities. The staff have responded positively to the changes and there is greater collaboration throughout the Health Products Regulation Group.
This is the last of a three-part series on Manag-ing Change. It was developed together with the Civil Service College’s Centre for Organisation Development.
Saying it right Communication was a crucial piece in assembling the change puzzle, as the leaders had to ensure that change was widely accepted and wholeheartedly adopted – an area that Dr Lim and his team paid care-ful attention to.
“We over-planned and spent a lot of time thinking through how people might react,” said Dr Lim. Some of their communication strategies included:
Providing a third-party perspective. Professor Robert Peterson, a leading practitioner in Canada’s healthcare regulatory landscape and who had implemented major change in Health Canada’s therapeutic products division, gave a talk on developments in the %eld of healthcare regulation. Said Dr Lim: “It is important for an external and credible expert to provide a third-party perspective for employees to gain an appreciation of the changing operating environment, and the pressing need for change.”
Appealing to logic. As most HPRG sta" are scienti%cally trained, hard facts and %gures supporting the change were produced. “A communication e"ort to them cannot be just about managing their emotions, important as that is. They also need substantial examples to back up the case for change,” said Dr Lim.
And although external change con-sultants were hired, Dr Lim and the Change Board decided early on to front all the verbal communications to the staff involved. “Staff had to see that senior management was fully supportive and vocal about the change and that the job was not simply left to consultants,” said Dr Lim.
Roping in staffStaff members who were more close-ly involved in the change exercise were selected as “implementation champions” and “process owners”, so they could form a communication link between the Change Board and the rest of the staff experiencing the organisational changes.
MOST OF US KNOW GENGHIS Khan as the warrior who led a hardy and ruthless army of Mongols to conquer large swathes of Asia and Europe in the 13th century. Less known is the role the Mongols played in cultural exchange and innovation that continue to in#uence our lives today, says author Jack Weatherford in Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.
$e Mongols had no technological breakthroughs of their own but mixed and matched technologies to create unusual hybrids, says the anthropologist. $eir highly-skilled engineers from China, Persia and Europe, for example, combined Chinese gunpowder with Muslim #amethrowers and applied European bell-casting technology to produce the cannon.
A recently concluded exhibition at the new ArtScience Museum showcased some of Genghis Khan’s legacy. Challenge brings you the highlights.
Genghis Khan conquered 30 countries and 3 billion people with 100,000 warriors
The only permanent structures Genghis Khan built were bridges to allow his armies and goods to move quickly across water
Sources: Genghis Khan: The Exhibition (Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum) & Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
by Bridgette See
39The Big Idea38 Official seals
Paiza
Fast food horse meat
Fast & efficient!
PantsNational Parks
Protected!
Meritocracy
Officials had to sit for a Civil Service Test and were selected regardless of nationality, and appointed by merit alone.
Religious Freedom
Genghis Khan is said to be the first in the world to pass a law permitting total religious freedom.
Fashion Forward
Mongol warriors wore pants to move more easily on horseback. They popularised the attire, making it more popular than robes in the West too.
Feisty Fork
Before they met the Mongolians, Europeans used the knife and spoon, and considered the fork to be effeminate.
Music and Movement
Western European musicians used to pluck their stringed i n s t r u m e n t s until the Khan’s emissaries shared the Asian way of playing music with the sawing motions of a bow.
Fast Food Nation
Not wanting to stop during their invasion marches, the Mongols tucked mashed horsemeat under their saddles to heat it so they could eat on the go.
Diplomatic Immunity
Genghis Khan introduced a policy of extending protection to diplomatic representatives of any nation. If you carried a “paiza” (tablet of authority), you would be spared, even if you were an enemy.
Hooray!
Thought this was a Western cheer? It was originally a Mongolian battle cry.
To preserve his favourite wildlife and hunting grounds, Genghis Khan established protected nature reserves.
Money, Money, Money
Invented in China hundreds of years before, paper money came into wide usage only in the Empire of Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson.
Express Delivery
The Mongol army used a relay system of horses and riders to carry messages across long distances during their wars. This evolved into an efficient postal service across the vast Mongol empire.
Yes, we do! !e PS Got Talent "nale show closed Public Service Week 2011 with a bang at Suntec City’s Rock Auditorium on May 20. Public o#cers showed o$ their hidden perform-ing talents, drawing in screaming supporters, and created an atmosphere that sure lived up to the PSW ‘Family’ theme.
Behind the ScenesL-R: Vanilla Essence’s Mohd
Budiman (NParks) hams it up
for the camera; Toh Ching
Raing (Prisons) riffs on his
hand-made guitar.
Big VoiceWinner Mr Abu Tahir Bin Nayan from ITE HQ belts out a
moving rendition of Without Love by Tom Jones. “I’m not
worried about the judges. I’m more nervous because my
adopted daughter (below, in pink) is watching me perform
for the first time.”
Surprise StarPeople’s Association
Chief Executive Director
Yam Ah Mee steals
the show, making a
cameo appearance to
announce the top three
winners.
In the LimelightClockwise: Theeban Gunasagar (SPF) breaks into
a Wacko Jacko dance routine; Mauryn Ng (ITE East)
elegantly croons Jenny Tseng’s Cantonese classic
Tomorrow Sounds Like Today ; Caleb Lye (Singapore
Polytechnic) plays the guitar for Team SP’s original
song The Gift , which goes on to win third place;
Chris Chia (People’s Association) thrills the crowds
and his ardent fans with A-Mei’s Dream of the
Titanic ; Matthew Chan (DSTA) wins second place
for his rendition of JJ Lin’s 100 Days .
41Feature
Unsung Heroes 42
Once the homeless enter one of the Ministry’s 10 welfare homes, they often lack motivation to return to the community as they are well cared for there. A long-term resident at Angsana Welfare Home feared using his money, despite having enough to move out and sustain himself. Mrs Soh-Tan convinced him to move to a community home where he could enjoy better facilities and living arrangements.
She once scoured a Chua Chu Kang hawker centre to identify a client with dementia, asking around with a photo until someone recognised the woman.
An inspiration to younger colleagues for her dedication and resourcefulness, Mrs Soh-Tan credits her Chinese education for imparting “responsibility, sincerity and respect for our work”. In recent years, %nding Christianity also strengthened her commitment to helping the needy.
Even as she jests about retiring soon, she muses: “Working directly with destitute persons, we learn more about problems in society. We should take pride in our work and show that we sincerely want to help them.”
“60 AND SEXY ”, “OLDER AND WISER”. THE knick-knacks decorating Mrs Soh-Tan Bee Eng’s desk show that, for her, age is no barrier.
For more than 38 years, the 61-year-old has served in various departments in the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
Now a Senior Sta" O&cer in the Destitute Persons Service, she helps the homeless %nd jobs, accommodation and %nancial assistance. $ey are often alcoholics, gamblers, or have mental disorders. “$ese are people who have messed up their lives,” she says. “$e most challenging part is how to make them realise their mistakes, stand up again and face life.”
%is Unsung Hero has turned around the lives of many, return-ing destitute persons to their families and the community.by Siti Maziah Masramli
This series celebrates dedicated staff who were nominated for the Public Service Week’s Unsung Heroes tribute. For more stories, go to www.challenge.gov.sg.
HELPING HOMELESSthe
Make way, huge, established art institutions. This issue, we take you slightly off the beaten track and introduce three not-so-typical art spots that will probably make you
think twice about our local art scene – in a positive sense, of course!
THOUARTWHERE
Text by Ryandall Lim Photos by Norman Ng
daughter (pictured) whom she named the gallery after, Dahlia Gallery is located on the second f loor of a shophouse in Chinatown, offering a completely di"erent perspective to the mechanical commercialism going on in the street below. Atypical of art spaces, the gallery is dressed in cheery red and blue hues, exuding an intimate attrac-tion, as if inviting visitors to stay and experience its unassuming optimism.
Dahlia Gallery exists as a tranquil art oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of its complicated surroundings, carrying the hopes and aspirations of eager young artists, and the passion of its owner.
Address69A Pagoda StreetSingapore 059228
Contact62227809
Webdahliagallerysg.com
Opening hoursTuesdays – Saturdays:12pm to 7pm;Sundays: 12pm to 5pm Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays
DRAWN BY PASSIONDahlia GalleryWhen Debbie Pang graduated in 1993 with a Diploma in Fine Arts, she found it a struggle to pursue her passion, as there were few galleries willing to showcase the works of a young local artist back then.
Today, instead of being an artist, she manages art, and runs Dahlia Gallery. Ms Pang’s areas of focus are clear: providing emerging artists, especially Singaporeans, with a platform “as af-fordable as possible” to exhibit; and taking their work to regional art fairs – opportunities that were almost non-existent during her youth.
Opened in December 2009, two months af ter Ms Pang gave bir th to her
45Life.Style45Life.Style
School arts complex, it also organises the Singapore International Photog-raphy Festival, which, despite being held only twice so far, has gained rave reviews by the international photogra-phy fraternity.
In its short existence, 2902 has helped raise the profile and appreciation of photography as an artform in Singa-pore tremendously. And judging from the gallery’s plans for expansion, and goal to become a regional photography resource centre, this dream looks set to get bigger.
Address11B Mount SophiaOld School, #B2-09Singapore 228466
Contact63398655
Web2902gallery.com
Opening hoursWednesdays – Saturdays: 12pm – 8pmSundays: 12pm – 6pmClosed on Mondays, Tuesdays (private viewings only) and Public Holidays
A PHOTOGRAPHIC DREAM2902 GalleryA strange mural covers a wall in 2902’s o&ce. In it, a caped camera-headed man leads a #ying pencil over skyscrapers.
“$at represents our mission,” explains Ms Gwen Lee (pictured), Director of 2902 and one of its %ve partners.
“I don’t see us as superheroes, but we are doing our best to pave the way for artists,” she elaborates.
Built on a dream, 2902’s aim was to %ll a void in the local photography scene. An enthusiastic photography hobby-ist, Ms Lee felt that while there were many local aspiring photographers, there was no dedicated gallery to market their work.
And so, on 29 February 2008, the gal-lery simply named after its birthday was born.
Today, 2902 is Southeast Asia’s largest photographic art gallery showcasing works of emerging and accomplished photographers. Housed within the Old
BARROSA STUDIO4 Woking Road, #01-02Singapore 138688
Lee Gilbert: www.picasaweb.google.com/ studiobarrosa/[email protected]
Dr Praema Raghavan-Gilbert: www.picasaweb.google.com/[email protected]
Laila Azra: [email protected]
ART ON THE WILD SIDEWessex EstatePossessing a laid-back, rustic charm, Wessex Estate, a 28-hectare residen-tial site comprising black-and-white pre-war walk-up apartments in a lush green setting, is today home to about 30 local and foreign professional artists.
Among them, a coup le who a re retirees-turned-painters feel at one with nature here and hone their craft, undistracted. Having worked for the United Nations previously, Dr Praema Raghavan-Gilbert (top left) now spends her time painting with her husband Mr Lee Gilbert (bottom), an American and part-time business studies lecturer, in what she calls her “island of solitude”.
Together with Indonesian artist Laila Azra (above), the trio form Barrosa Studio. Especially for Ms Azra, a
47 Life.Style
mother of three young boys, the studio provides a respite from the chores of daily life, to engage in her lifelong passion for painting.
Similarly, Mr Max Kong (above), who specialises in mixed-media pieces and shares his studio space with Japanese ceramicist Saya Yamaguchi, feels that the place allows him a sense of “freedom in life”. Both artists, who are in their 30s, live and work there. And even though the space is hardly extravagant, they have every reason to be happy living in Singapore’s Eden equivalent for artists.
“It’s a blessing to do what I do here,” admits Mr Kong.
Breathing the air from this wild side, these artists could hardly yearn for very much more.
MAX KONG STUDIO3 Westbourne Road, #01-01 Arabia CourtSingapore 138943
Max Kong: [email protected]
Saya Yamaguchi: [email protected]
Frances Alleblas Studio2 Woking Road, #02-03Singapore 138707francesalleblas.com
Joyce Loo - Joy Clay Studio and Gallery10 Woking Road, #01-01Singapore 138691joyclay.sg
Kelly Reedy - Studio Arts27 Woking Road, #01-01Singapore 138705kellyreedy.com
Marisa Keller Art & Printmaking Studio28 Woking Road, #03-05Singapore [email protected]
Dick Lim – d’Art Studio5 Westbourne Road, #02-03 Blenheim CourtSingapore 138944d-artstudio.com.sg
OPENING HOURS:Visits to all Wessex Estate studios by appointment only.
OTHER STUDIOS IN WESSEX ESTATE
The Irreverent Last Page48
THE BATTLE IS ON TO WIN OUR HEARTS AND MINDS. WHO WILL PREVAIL? Tell us who you think is Singapore’s most iconic mascot and why. Email us at [email protected] by August 13, 2011 and stand to win a specially designed Challenge souvenir! Remember to leave your name, agency, email address and contact number.
Need We Say More?Here’s where we let the humour loose, and learn to laugh at ourselves a little more. Have ideas or jokes about the Public Service? Email us: [email protected]
Illustration by Kulturkampf
THERE ARETHERE ARE
55PAIRSPAIRS
WONWONTO BETO BE
OFOFMOVIEMOVIE
VOUCHERSVOUCHERS
Submit your answers byAUGUST 13, 2011 at:
Challenge Onlinewww.challenge.gov.sg
Please include your name, email address, agency and
contact number.
All winners will be notified by email.
TRIVIAQUIZTRIVIAQUIZ Get to know the Public Service Commission (PSC)
better as it celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
1. Chairman (PSC) is appointed by .
a. Prime Ministerb. Deputy Prime Ministerc. Presidentd. Head of Civil Service
2. In the past two years, PSC has diversified in its member-
ship - five new eminent members were appointed. They are Mr Richard Magnus (Chairman, Casino Regulatory Authority), Ms Chua Sock Koong (Group Chief Execu-tive, Singtel), Prof Lily Kong (Vice-President, University & Global Relations, National University of Singapore), Mr Alan Chan (Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd) and .
a. Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnamb. Mr Philip Jeyaretnamc. Mr J B Jeyaretnamd. Mr T T Jeyaretnam
3. When the PSC was set up in , its key role was to oversee the recruitment, promotion and terms of service of colonial civil servants.
a. 1951b. 1959c. 1961d. 1965
4. PSC’s current role includes . It is a neutral and independent body, meant to carry out its work without fear or favour from any one, including the government of the day.
a. convicting civil servants in Courtsb. disciplining errant civil servantsc. promoting all civil servants to entry Superscale gradesd. appointing Singapore’s Prime Minister
5. PSC’s core mission is to uphold the principles of in the Singapore Public Service.
a. Service, Integrity and Excellenceb. Impartiality, Integrity and Excellencec. Service, Integrity and Meritocracyd. Impartiality, Integrity and Meritocracy
