Address by Head, Civil Service Leo Yip at the Administrative Service Dinner 2025

ADDRESS BY HEAD, CIVIL SERVICE LEO YIP AT THE
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE DINNER ON 15 APRIL 2025
AT MARINA BAY SANDS EXPO AND CONVENTION CENTRE

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat,
Minister Chan Chun Sing,
Chairman and Members of the Public Service Commission,
Colleagues and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction and Celebrations

A very good evening to all of you.        

2.             Let me begin by thanking all my colleagues in the Administrative Service for your service, contributions, and leadership over the past year. You play an important role in our Public Service, to lead, to align and to exemplify what makes our Service effective. 

3.             I want to also thank DPM Heng for his presence tonight, and for his support for the work of the Administrative Service and the Public Service. The support of our political leadership has enabled all of us in the Public Service to focus on doing the right things, such as thinking and planning ahead.  

4.             Tonight, we congratulate the 13 officers who have been appointed to the Administrative Service, and 60 officers who have been promoted. They include my Permanent Secretary colleagues Albert, Wan Yong, Kai Fong and Luke.  

5.             I also join DPM Heng to pay tribute and to celebrate the distinguished service of five of my Permanent Secretary colleagues – Gabriel, who retired last September; Yeng Kit, who retired in January; Foong Pheng and Jeff, who retired earlier this month; and Ching Yee, who will be retiring next month.

6.             I have worked closely with all of them over the years. They are my friends and close colleagues, some of whom I’ve known for almost my entire career. We have seen through together good times and bad. I am grateful to each of them for their support, friendship and camaraderie. In particular, I have worked most closely with Ching Yee over the past seven years in our current roles. She has been a pillar of strength. I valued very much and will miss her sharp insights and her wise counsel. Each of my five friends have been instrumental in enabling us to achieve what we have collectively set out to do together, as a leadership team of Perm Secs. I will miss all five of them. Please join me in showing our gratitude to all of them.Thank you very much for your significant contributions and on all of our behalf, we wish you a happy retirement.

Our System of Governance

7.             At last year’s Admin Service dinner, I spoke about the system of governance that we all contribute to. We all work within this system and strive to improve it, in order to keep Singapore exceptional and improve the lives of Singaporeans. This is the foundation of good governance that DPM Heng mentioned earlier.

8.             I will highlight some attributes of this system of governance:

               a.   First, we in the Public Service work closely with the political leadership with whom we share a common understanding of what serves the best interests of Singapore;

               b.   Next, we bring in good people who have a strong conviction for our purpose, assiduously develop them and spare no effort on leadership development; 

               c.     We think and act in a Whole of Government manner, and not just in the narrow interests of our organisations;

               d.    We proactively review our thinking and assumptions, and reinvent our policies;

               e.    Finally, we keep a long-term orientation to make tomorrow better, even while dealing with today’s challenges.

9             This evening, I want to speak about two other themes that are important for strengthening our system of governance. They both begin with the letter “R” – the first is resilience and the second is renewal. Let me elaborate.

               a.    Firstly, building resilience to better withstand shocks and adversity, such as the US “tariff storm” that we are facing now.

               b.    Secondly, renewal, in the context of planning for and ensuring leadership renewal, which is integral to sustaining and strengthening our system of governance.

Strengthening Resilience

10.          We must do more as a Public Service, to strengthen resilience of our system of governance. This tariff storm is the latest major shock that has afflicted the world. It will not be the last.

11.          We have weathered many major shocks over the years, amongst them the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, SARS in 2003, the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. Each crisis was different, but similarly caused severe disruptions, and threatened permanent damage to our economy and society.

12.          The frequency of such crises has been increasing in recent times – since COVID five years ago, we have had two wars around the world, rising big power tensions and now a tariff crisis. Some people have called this a world in permacrisis – a world in permanent crisis – or a world in polycrisis, which means a successive, series of crises. And indeed, when this happens, it brings about an extended period of instability and insecurity.

13.           Many of you were involved in fighting the COVID pandemic and that pandemic highlighted, amongst others, in a very stark way, the importance of strengthening resilience in our economy, society and country. So, what is this resilience that we need to strengthen? Well, it is the ability of a country and its people to be prepared to withstand the impact of potential shocks, evolve responses and recover stronger. We achieved that during COVID. Of course, a crisis can also present us with new opportunities. But we will have the capacity to seize new opportunities only if we can build resilience.

14.          So, what then can we do to strengthen resilience in our Public Service and in our system of governance? Let me first offer four quick points.

               a.    Firstly, we need to strengthen our collective ability as a Public Service to navigate this uncertain, volatile and even dangerous global environment. This includes planning for low probability but high impact scenarios; preparing contingency plans and exercising them, and stress-testing our systems and processes, such as our food supply chains, against shocks and crises.

               b.    Secondly, we must organise ourselves, and build the capacity to adapt and respond nimbly to these shocks, because each shock will be different. There will be no template and there will be no set piece that we can replay every time. This requires us to operate effectively across ministry boundaries, and be a well-functioning Whole of Government machinery.

               c.     Thirdly, we must be very clear where our risks of over-dependence are, such as food, medical supplies, and others, and have plans to mitigate these risks. Because in a crisis, as we have seen in COVID, such over-dependence can be crippling.

               d.    Finally, we must build buffers and reserves which can be deployed on a rainy day. And the most well understood example is our national reserves. But, another example is organising and pre-training our public officers for re-deployment to new roles when a crisis hits.

15.          In short, we have to ready ourselves in a much better way to withstand any shock and have the agility of mindset and action to organise ourselves, respond, and recover. This applies to us as a system of governance, as a Public Service, and to each of our ministries and agencies. And when the rules of the game change, and a new global order emerges, we have to be adaptable to pivot quickly and to seize new opportunities.

16.          As Administrative Officers, you are well-placed to contribute to this work. Why? Well, you have a strong understanding of how our Whole of Government system operates. You have served in different sectors, different ministries, you have built up networks across different organisations, and you can connect the work being done across the entire Public Service. You also have the dexterity to switch between what I call “on-track” work – which is the work that we do when conditions are stable, and in times of normalcy we stay on track – and “off-track” crises, which is the work that we do when we are put off track, such as during a crisis. And you must be able to thrive in both “on-track” and “off-track” work, sometimes switching between the two, and lead your Public Service colleagues to do the same. In short, you play an important role in building up our resilience to disruptions and shocks.

Public Service Leadership Renewal

17.          Let me move on to the second theme I wanted to speak about, and that is Public Service renewal. And I will want to explain why this is important for sustaining the effectiveness of our system of governance.

18.          Prime Minister Lawrence Wong took over the reins of the Government a year ago. In tandem with the political leadership renewal, we in the Public Service are also undergoing a renewal of our own leadership.

19.          In recent years, several Permanent Secretaries have retired. So have several Deputy Secretaries, Chief Executives and other senior Public Service Leaders.

20.          This leadership renewal has been taking place on an ongoing basis. It is an important feature of how we operate our system of governance. We plan carefully for leadership development, leadership succession, and also leadership renewal. And we effect these plans.

21.          I have spoken before at this event about how we have stepped up efforts to develop our leaders, as well as officers who have the potential to take on leadership roles in the future. This covers all of you in the Administrative Service. This close attention to leadership development includes planning carefully for your deployment. We do so to optimise your contribution and development in your postings, and to enable you to grow your contributions over time.

22.          This attention to leadership development is complemented by our planning for leadership succession. We have succession plans for all Public Service leadership roles, especially the more senior ones. And these plans provide us with a sense of the profile and pipeline of potential successors. If the pipeline for a role is thin, we have to work harder to identify and develop more suitable candidates who can take on the role over time.

23.          Leadership renewal is how we effect our leadership succession plans. We do so to keep our leadership bench dynamic, by injecting on an ongoing basis, fresh ideas, fresh drive and fresh energy to our organisations. It complements our efforts in leadership development and succession planning—to grow the best leaders possible and plan for the best candidates possible to take up leadership roles. It is this focus on renewal that keeps our system of governance fresh, so that we can contribute to maintaining Singapore’s exceptionalism.

24.          What does leadership renewal mean for each of us individually?

25.          It means a few things. Firstly, it means that we are stewards of the leadership role for the time we are appointed to it. We give of our best, to the role and the work. We look after the organisation or the team that we have been entrusted to lead. We inspire our team, in turn, to give of their very best. And we grow that team to become better than they were before.

26.          But the role is not ours to own. The trappings of each leadership role, such as the title and the authority it confers, are only there to help us carry out our responsibility. They do not belong to us personally.

27.          And when the time comes for us to pass on the mantle to our successor, we must do our very best to tee up the transition to ensure it takes place smoothly, and do everything we can to give our successor the best chance of success.

28.          Leadership renewal as an ongoing practice is a reminder that our own contribution to the Public Service, and our contribution to making our system of governance stronger, transcends ourselves. Leadership renewal is a principle and practice of how we operate as One Public Service.

Spirit of Public Service

29.          Let me make one other point about our system of governance which goes beyond our competencies. It goes beyond our work processes, and it goes beyond our policy and operational capability. This is something that is called the spirit of public service. This spirit of public service, what is it? Well, it is the attitude of our public officers, it is our commitment to our purpose, it is our motivation to serve to the best of our ability, and it is that zeal to go the extra mile for Singapore and Singaporeans. All these constitute that spirit which I am referring to. This spirit brings the force of energy and zeal to how we work.

30.          This is intangible, it is hard to measure. The foundation of this spirit, the spirit of service, is our Public Service values.

31.          This spirit is expressed in the deep conviction of all of you and our Public Service colleagues towards delivering excellence and ceaselessly renewing and improving our work, to make our Public Service better, in order to make the future of Singapore better.

32.          This spirit is expressed in how we work collectively as One Public Service, cutting across agency lines, because we know that doing so delivers far better outcomes for our country and people.

33.          It is a generous spirit. It is this spirit which spurs us to make sacrifices, to persevere and to strive to deliver the best for Singapore. It is the spirit that spurs us, when something is worth doing for Singapore, to do it very well.

34.          Ultimately, this spirit distinguishes us as a Public Service. And it is this spirit that moves me personally to rise above fatigue, doubt and frustration that I encounter, to stay the course to deliver what I am duty bound to do.

35.          And my point to you is that you see this spirit alive in our Service, exemplified by our leaders but also exemplified by colleagues across the agencies. As Administrative Officers, you must be exemplars of this spirit of service – always putting Service above self and being driven by the zeal to serve Singapore and Singaporeans. 

Conclusion

36.          The world has changed drastically over the past few months. But other significant changes have been afoot for some time now, including geopolitical contestation, climate change, and war, amongst others. They all make for a more troubled, fragmented and dangerous world, which we will have to work with Singaporeans to navigate.

37.          We have to always be prepared for new shocks and disruptions, and at a higher cadence than before. Prior to 2 April this year, the world had not experienced such sweeping tariffs since the 1930s. Singapore is a young nation, so we do not have the institutional memory of the impact of the tariffs in the era of the 1930s. But what is important is that we will have to navigate the shocks of this era, as a sovereign nation, and mitigate its impact on our economy and society.

38.          We do so by strengthening our resilience, as a system, so that we can organise ourselves quickly, respond nimbly, and recover strongly from any shock. And we sustain and strengthen our system of governance by effecting leadership renewal, enabling each successive generation of leaders to succeed and keep Singapore thriving.

39.           All of you in the Administrative Service play a critical role in this endeavour. May this year of SG60 remind us of the responsibility we have to secure Singapore’s continued security and success. May it also renew in each of us this spirit of Public Service that will spur us to always work hard, and always work together, in service to Singapore and Singaporeans.    

40.          Thank you.