The Civil Servant. Good or Bad? Two point of view : World & Local

Singapore has been known as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. It has always been praised in it’s efficiency in conducting businesses with other countries. The efficiency of doing business can be contributed to certain factors. They are good banking practices, good working ethics, good organization laws, strict civil laws than prevent corruption and crime and a vision to be global & service oriented. There are many others but I think you get the picture.

Singapore is able to provide the goods and services very efficiently to other parts of the world than most counties. Beside Singapore, most developed counties like the United Sates, HongKong, England, Switzerland are doing rather well. We are praised because there are quite a number of countries that cannot provide the goods and services the way we do. The reasons range from corruption to social unrest. Countries like Russia, India & Dubai are seeking our help in improving their economy. The only sad think is that our closest neighbour seldom ask for our help and they keep giving us mix signals. Sometimes they want our help, sometimes they do not. I would not elaborate on this issue as it is not a concern here.

There are plentiful of evidence to show that the Civil Service is doing a good job but somehow it is still not up to the Singaporean expectation. Why? To address this issue, I will look at the comments and questions that had been presented in the article : “S’pore Civil Servant: Love Abroad, Hated at Home. Why do we love to put them down?”

Let’s consider the first question : Could it be a unfair generalization based on a few bad experiences?

There is a saying First impression last. How true is it when it comes to the standard of service we expect from a civil servant. One thing we have to accept is that not everything can be rosy. There are bound to have unpleasant times. We did not leave in a society where equilibrium can be achieved. I would suggest that those that have encountered bad experience with the service of a civil servant to give relevant feedback to the relevant organization so that the company can administer the proper procedures to correct what is not right in the organization.

The next question to consider : Civil servants’ resistance to try new things and ways of doing things?

There are two factors that I think would be relevant to look at. One is the internal organization behaviour of the company and the other the attitude of the person. An organization is made up of regulations and an employee must adhere to it inorder for the organisation to work properly. Some rules may be rigid & some flexible. It all bowls down to the structure of the organization and its functions. It would be encourageable that civil service organizations create more room for the employees to be creative. Give them a chance to do daring things and give them avenue to make suggestions that can need to organisational changes. Some employees are afraid to do this because they are afraid of the replications it has on their job like losing their jobs. Well, I am glad the civil service organizations are moving towards this direction. Civil servants should also change their mindset and realize that they are living in an ever changing room. They should be educated on this matter. Some times it is not their fault that they cannot be creative especially if they were not brought up to be a creative. Please do not forget that we are asians and we come from a conservative culture. We are taught to obey the rules!!! This is commonly true during my parents time. Therefore civil servants at around the age of forty five and above may be more resistant to change or suggest to make changes. As mention earlier, one of the major reason is because they are afraid to lose their jobs.

The next question to consider : Limited room for creative and mistakes. As for the comments of having limited room for creative I have already stated in the above paragraph. I would like to concentrate on mistakes.

Making mistakes has it’s good and bad consequences. It all depends on certain factors like who administered the mistake, how severe was the mistake & the level of tolerance for a company to accept the mistake that had been committed. There some people who think that civil servants should not make any mistakes. They should know their work. Well, civil servants are human too like you and I. Surely they will make mistakes. So far I find civil servants competent in their work. Of course there are occasional hiccups but they are corrected quickly. Depending on how severe the mistake was, a civil servant should be allowed to redeem him or herself. People learn from their mistakes. Team building sessions should be formed where brain thinking tasks are given to the employees to accomplish. Mistakes should be allowed and should be freely corrected. This will help the civil servant to be more daring and creative.

The next question to consider : Demands not meeting expectations? This is rather subjective. Different people have different demands. Of course it is common sense to say that if some demands are too high than they may be too difficult to be reach. Those commented never mentioned what types of demands that did not make their expectations. Therefore to state that the civil service do not reach people’s demand is just a convenient excuse to vent their frustrations on the civil service organization especially when their demands are not met. For my experience, the civil service is doing a good job in meeting demands. If not, the world would not have a high regard for our civil service.

Therefore in life, as there is no perfect human being , there is also no perfect organisation. Like humans, organisations also learn and grow. In Singapore, due to its objective in being nearly 98% transparent, the Civil Service Organisation is actually doing a good job. We cannot always expect them to be giving 100% quality service all the time. There bound to be some mistakes. Lets give the Civil Service Organisation a break and applaud for their great contribution to the society of Singapore