Remember common purpose in civil service

I was happy to read about the call by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and head of the civil service Peter Ong for public servants to work closer together ("Call for public servants to work closer together"; Nov 2).

I especially like the reminder that public servants should serve Singapore, and not just their own departments. Such reminders should appear in civil service orientation briefings and in manuals which all civil servants should familiarise themselves with.

Public service senior management must go down to the ground to ensure that this ethos is shared at every level.

Feedback from the public should be taken seriously and not buried in statistics only for quality service presentations.

Every citizen who makes the effort to give feedback should know the outcome of his feedback.

Ng Suan Eng (Ms)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 18, 2016, with the headline Remember common purpose in civil service. Subscribe