Taking five weeks’ leave from work is not as difficult as one thinks. Most times, when you are at the top, you think you are indispensable. But if you are a good leader who has built up a good team, it is possible to go away for five weeks or even longer.
Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, who took a 5-weeks course in cooking with his family at the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. (Straits Times, Life, Jan 6).
referring to 102 irate
Well said mate, so here we ask, where is the unbias report and questioning to PAP on some of the bread and butter issues that affect the day to day life of Singaporean? Where is the questioning on the authority when “traspass” was used by the police as charges against the 2 protestor.
Hey, everyday we flip the paper, it never fall short of praises to our elites. So, we ask again. Are they that perfect?
As a matter of fact, most people think only people without soul or full of crap work in the Shitty Times. No, we do not want ST to stop or even moderate such storys. As a matter of fact, this kind of story will helps to show intelligent Singaporean how low the ST can stood to polish the boots of our elites.
The so called high readership, is simply because no competition at all. Who are you kidding? Parallel to our PAP, their so called leadership has never been challenged to prove their validility. Who are you kidding irate? I am asking again. Does it surprise us, ST is actually a mirror of our PAP? No, all of us know PAP is ST and ST is PAP.
Dear Mark (#93)
It is not right to say that he must have sacrificed much in his service to the nation
Super seniors in the civil services are paid according to their respective “Superscale” which are calculated and tagged to their equivalent position in the private sector. He is paid. He is not doing it for free.
If you still think what PS Tan did was right.
please read Teo Chee Hean’s comment in parliament today (19 Jan)
Dear RED-man (#97)
Please don’t laugh at him.
A very knowledgeable friend told me this: Compared to Singapore, commercial transvestites in Tokyo are 5 times more expensive. If they are the less complaining type, they can earn even more.
101) RED-man on January 19th, 2009 9.53 am
Hey, everyday we flip the paper, it never fall short of praises to our elites. So, we ask again. Are they that perfect?
Self praise is nothing but a disgrace. and worse of all spending taxpayers money in self advertising the perfectness of themselves to the public who already knew much of their dirty jobs, what a thick skinned they have.
I think this discussion has been dragging, hurting and dividing Singaporeans for too long. Please let us close this episode and move on, especially as Minister Teo Chee Hean has already rapped the perm sec. See the Channel News Asia report reproduced below:
Civil servant rapped over cooking holiday
Posted: 19 January 2009 1754 hrs
SINGAPORE – A senior Singaporean civil servant has been reprimanded for publicising his family’s vacation at a top French cooking school when his country is suffering from a recession, a minister said Monday.
“It struck a discordant note during the current difficult economic circumstances when it is especially important to show solidarity and empathy for Singaporeans who are facing uncertainties and hardship,” Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said in parliament.
The civil servant, Tan Yong Soon, wrote early this month in a local newspaper about his family’s experience learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
He said he attended with his wife and son. Tan, permanent secretary at the ministry of environment and water resources, showed “a lack of sensitivity” and poor judgement, the minister said.
The online community did not pull any punches describing Mr Tan Yong Soon’s article on his family vacation as insensitive. Some even labelled him arrogant.
Mr Tan is believed to have spent at least S$45,000 on his holiday in Paris where his family attended a cooking course.
One blogger said: “This is a top civil servant that has clearly lost touch with the realities in Singapore,” referring to the current recession.
But some Singaporeans Channel NewsAsia spoke to were more sympathetic.
Said one man: “It depends on the individual. Some may be jealous because he’s got his own money he can do whatever he wants.”
“I don’t see any reason why we should criticise what he’s doing because if that is how he wants to spend his money and how he wants to treat his life, that’s how it is,” said a lady.
Another man said: “It’s his prerogative but I think the timing is wrong.”
However one lady added: “I think that the S$45,000 that the whole family used to travel could be put to better use at this time.”
The head of the civil service has already spoken to Tan about the matter, the minister added.
“What the civil servant in question, Mr Tan, does during his vacation leave, this is (a) private decision,” said Teo, who is also minister in charge of the civil service.
“However, I was disappointed with what he wrote in The Straits Times.”
In a statement, Head of the Civil Service Peter Ho said: “He and his colleagues and I feel very bad about this episode because it stands in contrast to the values and ethos of the service and if left unaddressed can undermine the confidence and trust essential for us to do a good job.”
Mr Tan has so far not replied to queries from Channel NewsAsia.
According to the newspaper, a basic cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu costs S$15,500. – AFP/CNA/vm
Hi #107) anonymous,
Do you really think we should close this chapter? Yes Teo Chee Hean did try to close it by alienating himself from the insentitive article and had given a public reprimand to TYS.
We would have allowed it to rest if not for another clown by the name of Charles Chong, happilly whistling about us being envious because we are “lesser mortals”.
This statement alone, shows up the real face of our elite rulers and what they really think about the people they are supposed to govern and care for; while at the same time showing us who they really think they are; mightily higher mortals or immortals even.
Who then is allowing this incident to remain open?
The article smacks of incompetence across the board. The question is whether the buck ended at ST for carrying the article or the civil servant for being insensitive enough to write the article in the first place.
ST has clearly positioned itself as a mouthpiece of the PAP. For the paper to endorse politically motivated accusations without sufficient medical grounds, it has either lost touch with the ground or is just in capable to spinning correctly for the government. The article is ill timed, and clearly aimed at higher society despite the nature of ST being aimed at the every “Joe The Plumber”.
On the other hand, a government servant (an “elite”) having been shielded from public opinion, and having lost touch with the ground, made a decision to write about his travel experience without consideration about the sensitivity of the topic probably did not see it coming.
But the sadder issue is what kinds of lessons could have been learnt from this issue. The response from the minister and clearly from the said civil servant appears to be to withdraw. If the lessons learnt was to shy away from public disclosure, then Singaporeans are just for the worse from this.