THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION IN SINGAPORE : A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF (A) ITS EVOLUTION AND (B) ITS RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURES VIS-A-VIS THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONS IN CEYLON, INDIA AND MALAYSIA

Abstract

This study of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in Singapore describes its evolution and its recruitment and selection procedures; and compares those two aspects with those of the PSCs in Ceylon, India and Malaysia. This dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter I introduces the institution of the PSC and deals with its origins, raison d'être and functions. The PSC is the adapted version of the United Kingdom Civil Service Commnission (CSC) in the former British colonies and was established to keep politics out of the civil service and to accelerate the pace of localisation in a hitherto expatriate-dominated bureaucracy. The PSC is responsible, inter alia, for the appointment, promotion, transfer and disciplinary control of public servants. Chapter II discusses the evolution of the PSCs in Ceylon, India and Malaysia in terms of their origins, membership, status, jurisdiction and functions; and indicates their major similarities and differences in these respects. Chapter III describes the evolution of the PSC in Singapore according to the same five aspects used in Chapter II and ascertains the extent to which it is similar or dissimilar from the PSCs in Ceylon, India and Malaysia in these respects. The conclusion in this chapter is that there are more similarities than differences when the evolution of tho PSC in Singapore is compared with that of its counterparts in Ceylon, India and Malaysia. Chapter IV describes and compares the recruitment and selection procedures of the PSC in Singapore with those of its counterparts in Ceylon, India and Malaysia with the aim of determining the degree of similarity between the former and the latter. As far as recruitment is concerned, the PSCs in Ceylon and Malaysia depend wholly on advertisements while in India and Singapore, the PSCs supplement advertisements with visits to potential sources of labour supply such as the universities. In selecting candidates to the civil service, the PSCs in Malaysia and Singapore use interviews only while the PSCs in Ceylon and India combine both competitive examinations and interviews. Chapter V summarizes the major points made in the other four chapters and makes two recommendations regarding the PSC in Singapore. First, the PSC in Singapore should improve its public relations programme, and guide-lines for doing so are provided. Second, the present method of selection by interview to the Administrative Service in Singapore needs to be modified.