Civil servants must be close to the ground: Tharman

SINGAPORE'S public service needs to look at issues through the eyes of ordinary citizens to formulate policies, said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, on Tuesday.

"We must be close to the ground, listening to feedback, sensing the deeper concerns that often underlie that feedback, and spotting the gaps in policy delivery that should not be there," said Mr Tharman, who was speaking at the Public Service Leadership Dinner.

And as citizens' needs change in an evolving environment, he urged government agencies to collaborate, and to engage the community, the private sector, and other civil society stakeholders. This would help to build broad ownership in the country over Singapore's future, he said.