Paul Tambyah encourages PAP MP to raise issues about the Civil Service in Parliament

Singapore — Opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Chairman Paul Tambyah has given his encouragement to a People’s Action Party politician who wants to raise issues about the Civil Service in Parliament.

On Monday (Sept 28), PAP MP Louis Ng said on Facebook that, when Parliament sits next week, he is planning to ask Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to abolish the Civil Service performance management system of stack ranking and the use of Current Estimated Potential (CEP) within the Civil Service.

This is not the first time Mr Ng, a two-term MP in Nee Soon GRC, has spoken up about how the stack ranking system and the CEP creates needless pressure for those in the Civil Service.

In a speech in Parliament on July 11, 2018, he highlighted the struggles teachers face:

“Teachers join teaching to make a difference to the lives of our youths. And yet the reality of the pressure from competition created by our own performance-based ranking and reward system can skew teachers’ choices. We want teachers who teach for the love of teaching, not teachers who teach for tests. 

“Perhaps, there should also be a de-emphasis of ranking and rewarding of teachers based on ranking. Ranking teachers pits them against each other and may incentivise some teachers to do what is visible or measurable – like teach to teach, to the test. Educators are pitted against each other, which could also reduce the incentive for some to share resources and ideas, or to work together.”

In his recent Facebook post, Mr Ng sought feedback on his plans to raise these issues again in Parliament. He was encouraged to do so, including by Dr Tambyah, who was among the 1,000 Facebook users who “liked” Mr Ng’s post.

In a comment published under his personal Facebook profile, Dr Tambyah encouraged Mr Ng to raise the matter in the House. He wrote: “Good point. Please take it up.”