The newspaper article was 'ill-judged' and showed a 'lack of sensitivity', said Mr Teo, the Minister in charge of the Civil Service, yesterday.

A five-week basic cuisine course at the Le Cordon Bleu cookery school costs € 7,750 (S$15,270) per person while basic lessons on baking cost € 5,650.

Mr Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, had attended the cuisine course with his wife while his son went for a baking course.

Mr Teo also said the head of the civil service had written to Mr Tan to 'put the matter on record'.

When contacted, the Public Service Division (PSD) declined to confirm if this was tantamount to a warning letter.

The Jan 6 article in The Straits Times Life! section, headlined Cooking Up The Holiday Spirit, drew criticisms from Singaporeans who felt it showed a lack of empathy for the working man.

Tackling the issue in Parliament, Mr Teo said what Mr Tan did during his vacation leave was 'his private decision'.

'However, I was disappointed with what he wrote in The Straits Times,' said Mr Teo. 'The article showed a lack of sensitivity and was ill-judged.'

The minister was replying to Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, who had asked whether the public service had guidelines to ensure civil servants conducted themselves 'appropriately and sensitively'.

Mr Siew noted that Mr Tan had the prerogative to spend his money as he saw fit. 'But in these times, writing about it in the national newspaper was unnecessarily provocative and unimaginably insensitive,' he said.

Mr Teo agreed.

The article 'struck a discordant note during the current difficult economic circumstances when it is especially important to show solidarity and empathy for Singaporeans who are facing uncertainties and hardship', he said.

He added that civil service head Peter Ho had spoken to Mr Tan 'to make these points and asked Mr Tan to take note of the feedback and learn from this episode'.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Ho said it was 'part of the duty of civil servants to be sensitive to challenges faced by Singaporeans, especially in difficult times like these'.

As leaders, permanent secretaries must exemplify this sensitivity. This is 'vital for the Government to be able to formulate and implement policies effectively'. He added: 'So Mr Tan's comments were clearly ill-judged and were quite inappropriate.'

Mr Ho also said that he and his colleagues 'feel very bad about this episode, because it stands in contrast to the values and ethos of the service'.

It is a setback for the service but it is also 'a reminder of what our duty is, and where our duty lies - to do better for Singapore and for Singaporeans'.

He reminded civil servants that 'we should always conduct ourselves with decorum and humility. Everything takes its marking from this'.

LI XUEYING

DISCORDANT NOTE

'What the civil servant in question - Mr Tan (Yong Soon) - does during his vacation leave is his private decision.

'However, I was disappointed with what he wrote in The Straits Times.

'The article showed a lack of sensitivity and was ill-judged. It struck a discordant note during the current difficult economic circumstances when it is especially important to show solidarity and empathy for Singaporeans who are facing uncertainties and hardship.'

Mr Teo Chee Hean on Mr Tan, who wrote an article on the cooking course he attended with his wife and son in France