In November last year, I had the chance to give a talk to about 40 top executives from China Life at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. China Life is one of the biggest insurers in China and the Asia-Pacific region. The said executives were here for a 1-week programme to learn the Singapore’s way of management. On the said day, the focus was on HR and talent managements. I was invited to share on the topic of talent management in Singapore and the SAF. The main challenge was that I had to conduct the whole conversation in Mandarin, which I did and the talk was well-received. The below is a synopsis of the talk.
Mr Yeo See Peng. I started by introducing myself. I was then the Senior Director of Operations at Tower Transit Singapore. My main role was to ensure that the bus services are run both reliably and efficiently on a 20/7, 365 basis. Before that , I had spent 5 years at SBS Transit serving first as the SVP for Bus Support Division, and then as the SVP for Customer Experience cum Operations Division. I had also spent 4 years in the taxi industry–first as the SVP for Fleet Services at ComfortDelGro Taxi, and then as the Executive Director/CEO of Swan Taxis in Perth. Before joining the private sector, I spent about 30 years in MINDEF/Singapore Armed Forces, achieving the rank of BG before I left service. Additionally, I have the following academic qualifications
- Oxford University– Bachelor and Master of Arts
- Marine Corps University– Master in Military Studies
- Harvard University– Master of Public Administration
Singapore’s National Talent Strategy. In the late 1960s after Singapore had gained independence, and after the withdrawal of the British presence in Singapore, the then PM Lee Kuan Yew had decided to recruit and groom our own talents at the national level. His strategy was to recruit the young and best into both the armed forces/military and civil/admin service, send them to the best overseas universities (initially in the UK, and then the US) for further education. When these scholars returned, they would be exposed to great leadership and technocratic demands in the military and/or admin service to groom their leadership and experience at the national level.
Transition to Public Service & GLC Roles. After these talents had matured in the military and/or admin service after 20-30 years, they could then leave the scheme and transit to other public service and/or in the Government Linked Companies (GLC). The public service included Politics (usually the People’s Action Party), Government Agencies like the Land Transport Agency, and GLCs like Singapore Airline and Singapore Telecoms. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s aim was to ensure that the polity of Singapore is never short of talents and leaders at the national level. This national talent strategy is very much in place in the modern-day Singapore.
Recruitment of Young Military Talents. Today, the Singapore Armed Forces/Police Force continue to recruit the young and best to join them under their various scholarship and training awards as follows:
- President Scholarship (SAF/SPF)
- Singapore Armed/Police Forces Overseas Scholarship
- SAF Merit Scholarship
- Overseas Training Awards (graduating/non-graduating)
- Academic Training Awards (overseas/local)
These scholarship/training awards are only given to those youngsters who could qualify to be an officer in the military. In mid-career, selected talents could also be given a Postgraduate Study Award to upgrade themselves, if found suitable.
Leadership Assessment & Progression. All top military talents have to sign a 6-year bond and 10-year contract with the military for a start. Besides full admin payments and allowances, these talents also get their rank pays from Day 1. The respective Ministry will also monitor and support the scholars closely once the scholarship is given. During university summer vacations, the scholars also have to return to their uniform formation for attachments. Upon graduation, they will return to their formation to take up junior leadership positions. These talents will then be assessed by both their line commander, and their assigned Mentor, who is outside the formation. They also have to join a Wrangler Project Group to do a group project, which has nothing to do with their primary job duties (these are assessed too). At the end of each work year, the talents will be given a performance grade as well as a Currently Assessed Potential (CEP). The combination of both will determine their progression in the military.
Military Career Path & Career Transition.
Military Career Path. During their military career, each talent has a career plan. They will do a combination of commander, staff and/or instructor positions as they mature in the military. Most of them will also spend sometime at the Ministry to expose them to the highest level of policy works. By the end of a 25-30 years career (including the university studies), the talent should reach either a Colonel or Brigadier General rank at the age of about 45 years old. Then, he/she will be ready to transit into their Second Career in Singapore.
Career Transition. Every talent has a unique transition plan. It depends on the time, space, luck, and their actual talents and interests. As mentioned, they could join politics, admin service, GLCs or even the private sector. Consistently, they would become leaders in their chosen second careers in the polity of Singapore– which is in line with the original vision of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Examples of National Talents with a Military Background
BG (Ret) Lee Hsien Loong. Senior Minister in Singapore. 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024. Retired from the SAF as a BG, last appointment held— Head, Joint Ops and Plans Directorate.
MG (Ret) Ng Chee Khern. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower. Retired from the SAF as a MG, last appointment held– Chief of Airforce.
LG (Ret) Desmond Kwek. CEO, Temasek Trust. Retired from the SAF as a LG, last appointment held— Chief of Defence Force.
Conclusion. There are 3 key take-aways from this talk, as follows:
- Singapore and the SAF have a unique Talent Management system, and it has proven to be effective for the last 60 years.
- The military has been used to recruit, groom and develop top talents in Singapore, and the latter in turn return to the Singaporean society to lead the nation in various sectors.
- For this talent management system to be successful, it has to start when the talents are young, manage them properly all the way to the second/third career so that this will serve as a positive examples to attract future talents to join the system, in order to make it sustainable.
Comments
4 responses
Wah, it’s not easy to present in mandarin !
Tks for your comment, Dean.
This is super impressive, your educational background, experience in management, military history and conducting a speech in Mandarin 👏👍
Tks much for your kind comments, Rene