Daily Lessons from Life 21 June 2012 - Senior MFA official suspended, investigated for improper claims

"Senior MFA official suspended, investigated for improper claims - AsiaOne Jun 21, 2012

A senior Foreign Affairs official is being investigated for allegedly filing improper claims for expenses racked up during overseas visits.

Mr Lim Cheng Hoe, the Chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was suspended on Tuesday.

A report in The Business Times quoted an MFA spokesman who said Mr Lim made improper claims for reimbursements during some overseas trips. According to The Straits Times, he has not been arrested.

The case has been referred to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).

Mr Michael Tan Keng Siong will be the acting chief of protocol at the ministry.

Mr Lim spent 38 years in the civil service."

I hope that this is NOT true and that Mr Lim is clean as it will be damaging to the clean image of Singapore Civil Servants even though there were recent cases of some of them letting themselves and the Singapore brand down big time.

Lessons for me are:

1. when you are in position of authority, you simply has to raise the standard of behaviors higher than ordinary folks. It is a curse or a responsibility you must bear if you want to be in a public post!;

2. the 'burden' of living out to the clean civil servant must be a motivational force instead of 'oh damn I have to comply with so many resticitions and so much expectation'. It is not a 'burden' but an honour to serve. It is about Commitment (i.e. doing the right things when NO ONE is watching) vs. Compliance (i.e. doing the right things when SOME ONE is watching!);

3. it is heartening that the check-and-balance system on wrong doers in the public service is function fearlessly and effectively with these discoveries of alleged dishonest behaviors. Perhaps an indepth study into why some of these, especially those already convicted, smart people abused their position and the trust placed on them? Greed or simply being careless or arrogant?

Something for all of us to ponder about and reflect on - lack of basic integrity?