pernament secretary of prime minister's office
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On 12th August, my school had the honour of having the Pernament Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Teo, having a dialouge session with the students. I was fortunate to be given the chance to ask him questions. i asked if he was ever against any of the policies or practices of the government, and how far does he support PAP.
It seemed like a nonsensical question, like many of my friends and others think. However it dawned on me the implications of his answer. He replied that he is not PAP, the civil service is not PAP and they work for the government. I believed all along that most people had the perception that the civil service is PAP. Only now do I realise they are 2 different entities. Should they be segregated distinctly?(but of course working as 1 collective unit)
This is because for the 2nd question that I asked, he replied that PAP is the best and of course he supports them. I didn't expect such a one-sided answer. It's not that i have anything against PAP, i support PAP too as i understand it did what was necessary for Singapore. However, shouldn't the civil service be neutral and not support any political group. After all, the civil service is working for the government and the PAP is just a party that forms the majority of the government. As for the reason why the civil service should not support any political party, let me use an analogy. For example, in a singing competition, if a judge supports a singer, he would be inclined to show some favouritism or find it hard to find fault with that singer. Although the civil service is not like the judge who can determine who wins, but its our people's vote, having a civil service that supports a party can have detrimental effects. Likewise, the civil service might find it hard to find fault with the government. Finding fault provides a check and encourages improvements.
Even in a world cup soccer match, the referee cannot be of the same nationality of any team. A neutral civil service will also make competition between politcal parties more fair because the civil service isn't on anyone's side but just working for the government. Also, how will the civil service react against the opposition parties who manage to form part of the government if they were to be clear supporters of the PAP. So, shouldn't the civil service be neutral in supporting a political party?
ok well im thinking of sending this to straits times to post in the forum. can tell me if its flawed or not. like whether got any loopholes or weak pts in my argument, and will this make pap angry n kill me? or blacklist me?
also will this have a big impact? or its just a small issue.
btw ah. its damn wasted u noe. i could haf shoot him at the session. but den i went back to my seat after asking. so i couldnt follow up. and my principal sucks lah. i keep raising my hand to ask somemore qns, she dao me on purpose one. -
well young rookie, just to let you know you're definately no match for an old bird. as for all the unfairness, that's politics for you, welcome to the real world.
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I believe he answered the 2nd question from a personal view point more than as a Perm Sec of PM. Everyone is allowed to have their own preferences. Ask anyone on the streets and different views may come out.
Even someone in civil service may support the opposition. After all Civil Service Job is A JOB, that supports the family. And Civil Service serves the government and not the ruling party. -
or so you believe.Originally posted by ndsef:I believe he answered the 2nd question from a personal view point more than as a Perm Sec of PM. Everyone is allowed to have their own preferences. Ask anyone on the streets and different views may come out.
Even someone in civil service may support the opposition. After all Civil Service Job is A JOB, that supports the family. And Civil Service serves the government and not the ruling party. -
And your point is?Originally posted by vito_corleone:or so you believe. 
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Which really means we have monkeys as Civil servants determining who we can have for a president by: Digging out past histories and enemies of the persons who stands for Election?
How about Hitler ? Vegetarian , no other bad habits?
"De Javu?"