Speech by Mr Leo Yip on the Annual Public Service Leadership Ceremony 2025

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong,
Minister Chan Chun Sing,
Chairman and Members of the Public Service Commission,
Colleagues and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.            An excellent afternoon to all of you and thanks very a lot for being right here.

2.             Let me begin with some phrases of appreciation and commendation. Firstly, I thank the 19 Public Service Leaders who’ve retired or are relinquishing their appointments this 12 months. You will see their names later, however I need to commend and thank every of them for his or her contributions and devoted service.

3.            I want to specifically thank 4 of my colleagues who had stepped down as Permanent Secretaries earlier this 12 months – Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Mrs Ow Foong Pheng, Ms Tan Ching Yee, and Mr Jeffrey Siow. I labored carefully with every of them through the years, and I actually worth very a lot their camaraderie. And I, on your entire behalf, thank them for his or her important contributions, their management and many years of devoted service.

4.            I additionally congratulate the 20 officers who’ve been appointed as Public Service Leaders, and the 111 officers appointed to the Public Service Leadership Programme (PSLP). I welcome them on board this management journey.

SG60: Leadership Reflections

5.            Every 12 months, at this gathering, we reaffirm our dedication as leaders of the Public Service. This 12 months is very important as a result of we have fun 60 years of our nation’s independence – 60 years since our inconceivable starting as a nation.

6.            Our Public Service has performed an essential position on this inconceivable success story. This contains every one in all you, as leaders within the Public Service.

            a.    I thank every one in all you in your exhausting work, and management throughout the service.

7.            In this SG60 12 months, it’s well timed for us to mirror on the general public service management we have to contribute to the subsequent chapter of nation-building.

8.            Our governance system has certainly been the cornerstone of Singapore’s exceptionalism.

            a.    But because the world modifications, and as our personal society evolves, we should proceed to strengthen this governance system to maintain Singapore’s exceptionalism.

9.            We are navigating an period of nice change, nice uncertainty, and excessive volatility. Global financial shifts, the relentless tempo of digital transformation, and local weather change are simply a few of the challenges that outline our occasions.

10.         For Singapore to stay distinctive, we should preserve the steadiness between continuity and alter – persevering with what has labored properly, while being open to effecting change to reply to new circumstances.

11.         This afternoon, I need to spotlight two areas the place we should drive important change as public service leaders, and likewise two areas the place we should maintain continuity.

Our International Work

12.         One space of change is our work to safeguard Singapore’s place on this planet and shield our pursuits internationally.

13.         The worldwide panorama has turn out to be extra fragmented, risky, and harmful, with heightened geopolitical tensions.

            a.    Today, the language of diplomacy coexists with the language of battle, with phrases like “war” showing fairly often within the international lexicon.  

14.         The idea of “geo-economics” has additionally gained prominence in recent times, as international locations use financial instruments to safe strategic industries and obtain not simply financial however geopolitical targets.

a.    So we have now transited from an period of globalisation and free commerce, to at least one characterised by fragmentation, protectionism and industrial coverage.

15.         At the identical time, we’re seeing extra advanced international challenges in areas like cybersecurity, local weather change, and synthetic intelligence.

            a.    These are issues of the worldwide commons that demand collective motion.

            b.    Yet, at a time when cross-border collaboration is extra essential than ever, some international locations are selecting to show inward.

16.         How then would our work change to raised safe Singapore’s pursuits on the worldwide entrance? I simply need to checklist 4. There are many others, however these 4 offer you a flavour of the modifications we have to steer within the years to come back:

            a.    We might want to work extra carefully with different like-minded international locations for mutual profit and establish new areas of collaboration.  

            b.    We might want to work with different international locations to form worldwide norms and guidelines to handle rising threats like cybersecurity, and deal with existential challenges equivalent to local weather change.

            c.    We additionally must refresh our insurance policies to safe essential provide chains for Singapore. Let us not overlook one of many classes from the Covid-19 pandemic.

            d.    We can even must strengthen our measures to stop overseas interference and coercion, and be certain that these measures stay match for objective because the threats evolve.

17.         Much of this work would require new capabilities and new methods of organising ourselves, in order that we will work coherently as One Public Service.

18.         Today, each Ministry—not simply the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), not simply the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI)—has international-facing work. MFA has strengthened its personal strategic planning capabilities up to now couple of years, whereas different ministries have additionally developed new worldwide coverage capabilities.

19.         Developing our folks can be essential to doing this new work properly. We are systematically figuring out and growing officers for this kind of worldwide work throughout completely different coverage domains and Ministries, and availing these officers with alternatives to realize abroad expertise.

20.         As leaders, we should ourselves additionally develop the competencies to steer such work.

            a.    This begins with recognising which elements of worldwide work we have to higher perceive, figuring out what worldwide networks we have to construct, and making the hassle to shut these gaps. 

Mastering Technology

21.         The second space of change is on mastering expertise.

22.         Technological progress, pushed by developments in computing energy, software program, information, and now AI, is accelerating at an unprecedented tempo. Never earlier than, within the historical past of mankind, has expertise superior at this velocity. To harness this transformation, we should hold innovating.

23.         DPM Gan spoke concerning the significance of being open to utilizing AI in our work. This is a salient subject, so let me add a perspective concerning the change that we should drive, as public service leaders.

24.         As leaders, we should not solely perceive the expertise however grasp how it’s deployed in our organisations. And I stress the phrase ‘master’. This means we should search to mainstream AI and digitalisation into our core work processes — what we do each day in our organisations, to rework how we work, and reap important productiveness good points.

25.         Technology technique isn’t just the accountability of expertise groups — it’s a management crucial. This is as a result of expertise right now can rework how our organisations function. And change administration and organisational transformation is the accountability of management. Countries, governments, and corporations who do that properly will acquire a aggressive edge.

26.         As DPM Gan outlined earlier, lots of our Ministries and businesses are already utilizing these applied sciences, notably AI, to enhance ops processes and repair supply.

27.         But extra will be carried out. As leaders, we must always lead by instance and combine AI into our personal each day work.

28.         This begins with utilizing the suite of AI instruments which are already out there to us right now throughout the Public Service, and the total vary of capabilities that they provide.

            a.    For occasion, we will create AI assistants on Pair and AIBots to assist us with quite a lot of work duties –summarising prolonged reviews, drafting speeches and so forth.

            b.    I just lately learnt that a few of my colleagues have even created an AIBot that they’re coaching to write down speeches that sound like me! Very imaginatively, they’ve named this AIBot, LeoLM.

29.         Over the previous 12 months, the Permanent Secretaries and Senior Public Service Leaders have undergone digital coaching on matters equivalent to modernising digital techniques, cybersecurity and information.

            a.    In reality, my Perm Sec colleagues and I’ve attended eight of such coaching classes. Each session is about two hours. That is an funding of effort and time.

            b.    These classes assist us to remain on prime of the expertise, in order that we will make higher selections in driving digital technique, constructing capabilities, and effecting change via digital and AI applied sciences.

30.         In reality, simply this morning, the Perm Secs accomplished a coaching session on AI.

            a.    We noticed how AI brokers had been capable of generate a slide deck distilling all media and public sentiments related to a specific Ministry, arising from the President’s Address on the opening of Parliament.  

            b.    This was carried out by the AI agent in just some minutes, with a single immediate.

            c.    Of course, far more human work could be wanted to refine such a deck of slides, however this draft produced by the AI agent was already a superb begin. If left to our personal human effort, a few of us won’t have gone previous the primary slide of the deck!

            d.    Just think about how a lot time every of us would save, if we will grasp AI and learn to successfully immediate it to assist our work.  And I stress, each day.

31.         Earlier this 12 months, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) rolled out a refreshed digital management programme for Directors, which covers matters on product growth, resilience, and cybersecurity.

32.         We will progressively equip each public officer with what I name “DDA” expertise – digital, information, and AI – so that each one officers may have the proficiency to make use of these instruments to do their work higher.   

33.         Let me now transfer rapidly to continuity, the second a part of the duality of managing continuity and alter.

Working as One Public Service

34.         Even as our working context continues to vary, there are some issues that can stay fixed..

35.         Our means to work successfully as One Public Service, slightly than as a gaggle of disparate Ministries, is a key power.

            a.    This alignment permits coherent and co-ordinated motion throughout your entire service.

            b.    This alignment can be much more essential, given the challenges and alternatives that we now face.

36.         I simply cite one instance that underscores this, and that is information sharing throughout our businesses.

37.         We can now harness information to do all kinds of issues — enhance coverage making, ops processes, and repair supply. We have developed a Government Data Architecture to facilitate information sharing throughout our businesses. The expertise is there, the structure is there. But we’ll solely have the ability to harness the total potential of information for our work, if we expect and work and share information as One Public Service. We have made progress alongside this entrance however we will do higher.

38.         Agencies that personal information should not solely preserve it for their very own use but in addition make it accessible to different businesses. This requires a sure mindset and requires a sure set of duties

            a.    This means constructing their IT techniques in a manner that permits information to be simply extracted, correctly managed and readily  shared. It additionally means they’ve to enhance the standard of the info for information consuming businesses, and offering well timed updates on information modifications.

            b.    Data consuming businesses, in flip, should safeguard and use the shared information with utmost accountability.

39.         And all of us as leaders should set the tone for this to occur. As information dependencies develop throughout businesses, one company counting on one other company for his or her information, we should lead our businesses to make sure that information is successfully shared and safeguarded — not simply inside our businesses, however throughout your entire Public Service.  

Leading our People

40.         Another facet of continuity is the significance of management in positively impacting our folks. Leadership is basically relational – individuals are led by different folks, not by synthetic techniques, nevertheless clever these techniques could also be. I depart you with three factors on public service management so that you can mirror upon.   

41.         First, public service management is about having the braveness to do what’s tough. As our working atmosphere evolves, all of us as leaders might want to drive change inside our organisations. That is a given.

            a.    Leading change will be unsettling — it disrupts our consolation zone and creates anxiousness.

            b.    It is our position, as leaders, to information our folks via uncertainty of change, earn their belief, and persuade them that the highway  of change is the correct one.

            c.    Leadership is subsequently about forging bonds, inspiring motion, and galvanising hearts and minds.

42.         Second, public service management is about objective.

            a.    Even as our work, insurance policies, programmes, and capabilities change, the aim of our work won’t change.

            b.    Public service management is about expressing and exemplifying this enduring objective: the aim of serving Singapore and Singaporeans, enhancing lives, and making Singapore higher.

43.         And lastly, a public service chief’s coronary heart should all the time be in the correct place – with their folks, and for his or her folks, slightly than for themselves.

            a.    As the saying goes, “People don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

            b.    People give of their greatest after they consider within the objective, and know that their chief genuinely cares, for them and the work that they do. 

44.         Let me finish off by sharing a couple of precepts from a management ebook which I got here throughout a few years in the past, that proceed to resonate strongly with me via the years: 

45.         A pacesetter is one:

Who takes just a little better share of the blame, and just a little smaller share of the credit score;

Who leads himself efficiently, earlier than trying to steer others;

Who works for the nice of others—in our case, the general public good— and never for private acquire;

Who conjures up and motivates, slightly than intimidates; and

Who by no means locations himself above others, besides in carrying duties.

46.         Let us attempt to all the time be such a pacesetter.

Conclusion

47.         In conclusion,

48.         Singapore is dealing with winds of change which are stronger than earlier than, but in addition new waves of alternative which are greater than earlier than – alternatives from the expansion of Asia, the promise of expertise, and the innovation and enterprise of our fellow Singaporeans. These are alternatives for a brighter future for Singapore and Singaporeans.

49.         At the identical time, the complexity and cross-cutting nature of the work of our Public Service has grown. So has the complexity of management and exercising management in our Public Service.

50.         To rise to this problem, we should lead new work, grasp new applied sciences, and organise our work and businesses to be match for objective for the altering occasions.

51.         As leaders, we should additionally decide to steady development and growth. What we ask of individuals, we should do ourselves. We should hold asking ourselves how we will enhance, and take deliberate steps to turn out to be the very best model of a pacesetter that we will be.

52.         Above all, we should lead with readability and conviction — in order that we will articulate objective to our folks, encourage them, and embody the values we need to see in these we lead.

53.         We owe this to the folks we serve, to the groups we lead, and to the Public Service that we’re proud to be part of.

54.         Thank you.