How many retired officers have top civil service roles: MP Gerald Giam asks Parliament

Singapore ― Parliamentarian Gerald Giam has asked how many retired officers with the rank of colonel and above have held senior positions in public sector organisations following concerns raised over the decision-making process.

A retired Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) brigadier-general was recently appointed to head the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). This raised concerns about the decision process for selecting senior SAF officers for key leadership positions in the civil service, said Mr Giam (Workers’ Party – Aljunied GRC) on Facebook on Saturday (Oct 2).

He was referring to Tan Chee Wee, 47, who was appointed as chief executive-designate of ECDA on Sept 1.

On the appointment, Second Permanent Secretary for Social and Family Development Stanley Loh said, “Mr Tan’s extensive leadership and operational experience in Mindef and the SAF positions him well to lead ECDA to partner the preschool community in the transition towards Covid-19 resilience.”

Mr Tan will help ECDA deliver on its commitment to improving the accessibility, affordability and quality of preschools, he added.

In response to the news, members from the online community wondered if Mr Tan had the qualifications to take on the new role.

The issue of “helicoptered” SAF generals into civilian public service was highlighted among netizen comments.

“If the government really has to do this, please start them from the bottom to gain experience and work their way up first rather than dropping them from a helicopter,” said a concerned individual.

In his post, Mr Giam highlighted his plan to ask the Minister-in-charge of civil service in Parliament on Monday (Oct 4) how many retired officers with the rank of colonel and above had held senior positions in public sector organisations.

“I will also ask how the Public Service Division (PSD), which is responsible for HR policies in the Civil Service, determines which officers are suitable to lead these organisations despite not having had civilian work experience,” he said.

Mr Giam noted that sectoral knowledge and skills for key agencies like ECDA take years to acquire.

“I will be asking if PSD has considered requiring these officers spend several years in understudy before taking the helm of these organisations.”

He listed down his questions as filed:

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Prime Minister (a) how many currently retired SAF officers with the rank of colonel or ME7 and above have held senior positions in public sector organisations; (b) how does the PSD determine which officers have sufficient competencies to lead these organisations despite not having had civilian work experience; and (c) whether PSD has considered requiring these officers to spend several years building up sectoral knowledge and skills before taking the helm of these organisations.

Responding to his post, one Henry Goh said, “That has been a question that citizens have been concerned about for decades, as it runs against the principle of meritocracy and the standards set for commoners to find any job in Singapore.”

“There shouldn’t be a bubble wrap for some individuals to get high paid jobs while telling commoners to accept the ‘fair competition’ standard.” /TISG

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