Challenge - October 2007

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World•Singapore

As Singapore faces stiffer competition from regional neighbours and beyond, what does our government have up its sleeve to keep us at the front of the pack? Head of Civil Service, Peter Ho, shares his thoughts on this new growth strategy that the Civil Service is embarking on.

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Engaging ASEAN

As nations in the ASEAN framework work towards better integration to counterweight the economic clout of emerging regional giants, China and India; the job of engaging ASEAN doesn't only fall on MFA's shoulders, but should be part of each ministry's core work as well.

No Outright Noes

"#@&*%!" Verbal abuse is just one of the nasty things that frontline staff have to deal with as part of their jobs. Six Public Service Officers share with us some of the strategies they employ to deal with difficult customers.

Portal Panacea for Red Tape

Queue no more! Find out what some agencies are doing to cut red tape and shorten application processes in this story.

World•Public Service It's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when we spend most days "firefighting", that's why it's good to be reminded from time to time how our different portfolios fit together to achieve whole of government objectives.	I Say Readers share their views on whether Singapore's Public Sector is mired in bureaucracy.

Short Takes URA helps take some of the pain away from house-hunting with their new data service and Home Buyers' Guide. Read about this and other agency news in Short Takes.	Towards Greater Integration What does assuming the chairmanship for ASEAN mean for Singapore? And what's the relevance of ASEAN for us Public Service officers? 2nd Permanent Secretary for MFA, Mr Bilahari Kausikan, answers these questions and more.

Green SMS Who would have thought that the ubiquitous SMS which costs us 5¢ per sent message can actually help save the environment and money to boot? That's exactly what St. Andrew's Junior College is doing. Read on to find out more.	The MOP Report Our Member of Public files the latest report on customer service at the agencies.

Portals the Way to Go Jimmy Yap dreams of the day where most services have been migrated to the Internet, so that he (and the rest of us) can forego the tedious process of standing in line.	The Golden Years Hear from 2 generations of public officers why it's always better to start your retirement planning earlier rather than later!

Catch of the Day Looking for an atmospheric place to bring a date for dinner? Or are you tired of bringing your kids to the usual foodcourts and hawker centres for a meal? Check out these cheap and cheerful eateries where you can dine amidst lush greenery or by the crashing waves without burning a hole on your pocket.	Classifier at Work Watching movies all day might be a dream job for most, but a classifier with the Board of Film Censors shares with us that a lot more thought & work goes into classifying films than most might expect.

CLARIFICATION

The Subordinate Courts has issued the following clarification with regard to the article PS21: A Reality Check (Challenge September 2007):

The inter-agency case management system is in the pipeline, and not in full swing, as indicated;
The backlog issue was resolved in the 1990s. A general "previously" is too sweeping an expression;
The Subordinate Courts did not lower SSS targets; rather, more appropriate targets were set.