The Public Service newbie guide

Example: The submission is ready when the decision sought is clearer than the filename FINAL_v12_reallyfinal.docx.

Also heard as: paper, staff paper, submission paper, put up a paper, put up a submission

Context: Paper is the broader working term; not every paper is necessarily a formal submission. State the action or decision sought clearly.

Example: Please clear the figures with Finance before the paper goes up for approval.

Also heard as: clear, cleared, for clearance, For Clearance, Pls, for clearance pls

Context: Agency usage varies, so the approving authority and requested action should be stated explicitly.

Example: Seek a steer before lovingly polishing the wrong option.

Also heard as: seek a steer, get a steer, management steer

Context: The strength of a steer depends on who gives it and the forum’s authority; do not assume it replaces the required clearance or approval.

Example: A first cut may be rough; it may not be a blank page sent at 5.59pm.

Also heard as: first-cut, first cut draft, first-cut response

Context: A first cut is meant to give reviewers something concrete to react to; it should not be treated as near-final.

Official written work submitted for information, consideration, clearance, endorsement or approval, such as a paper, report or proposal.

Example: Please send the sub up once Finance has cleared the numbers.

Also heard as: sub paper

Example: Pls see below — the action is in the last paragraph.

Also heard as: please see, pls refer

Example: Pls follow up with the other team and close the loop once they reply.

Also heard as: please follow up, pls f/u, please action

Example: The working team is aligned, but the proposal still needs formal approval before we proceed.

Also heard as: approve, approved, for approval

Example: Please send the pre-read by Tue so Wed’s meeting can start with the decision, not a tour of the slides.

Also heard as: pre read, preread, pre-reading material

Example: Let’s take this offline before the meeting acquires a second agenda.

Also heard as: discuss offline, offline this, take it offline

Context: Usually means a separate follow-up, not necessarily an in-person or non-digital discussion. State who will continue it and when, or it can become a polite way to bury the issue.

The document defining a committee, workgroup or project’s purpose, scope, membership, authority, deliverables and operating arrangements.

Example: The TOR should say what the workgroup can decide, who sits on it and what it must deliver.

Also heard as: terms of reference

A senior committee that provides direction, resolves escalated issues and oversees a programme, project or workstream.

Example: Take the unresolved scope choice to Steering Comm; the working team has run out of mandate.

Also heard as: SteerCo, Steering Com, Steer Comm, steering committee

Example: Action: Jon to confirm Legal’s view by Fri.

Also heard as: action point, follow-up action, AI

Context: AI is highly ambiguous and should only be used where the meeting context is clear.

Government-style meeting minutes recording the key discussion, decisions and follow-up actions, often drafted by the meeting secretariat.

Example: Please circulate the NOM with the decisions, owners and deadlines while everyone still remembers the meeting.

Also heard as: NOMs, Notes of Meetings, Notes of Meeting, meeting minutes

Example: The statutory board has its own Act and systems, so its leave form may not look like yours.

Also heard as: SB, stat board

Context: A statutory board is normally overseen through a parent ministry, but its powers and governance arrangements come from its constituting legislation.

A public body established by legislation to perform specified functions, with its own legal identity and employment practices.

Example: Check whether the organisation is a ministry or stat board before assuming its HR rules are identical.

Also heard as: statutory board, SB

Context: SB is highly ambiguous and should be interpreted using the agency context.

Example: PS is the ministry’s administrative head, not the Minister’s permanently available secretary.

Also heard as: PS, Perm Sec

Context: A ministry may have more than one Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary, each with a stated portfolio.

Work, outcomes or arrangements that span multiple agencies and are pursued from the perspective of the Government as a whole.

Example: This is a WOG issue: one agency cannot fix the hand-off problem on its own.

Also heard as: whole of government, whole-of-govt

Example: “Please seek CE’s approval” means the head of the statutory board, not the most senior person currently online.

Also heard as: CE, Chief Executive Officer, CEO

Context: The exact title varies by statutory board; some use Chief Executive, Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director.

The most senior civil servant heading a ministry, accountable for its administration, policy support and organisational performance. Reports to the Minister.

Example: The paper is going to PS tomorrow, so make the decision sought obvious on page one.

Also heard as: Perm Sec, PermSec, Permanent Sec, PSes, Perm Secs, Permanent Secretaries

Context: A ministry may have more than one Permanent Secretary or a Second Permanent Secretary, each with a stated portfolio. PS is also highly ambiguous outside this context.

Example: The political office-holder sets political direction; officers still have to turn it into owners, dates and a paper.

Also heard as: POH, political office holder

Context: The office-holder’s authority depends on the appointment and portfolio.

Example: Your RO reviews your work and development; it is not a live reporting dashboard.

Also heard as: RO, direct reporting officer

Context: The formal reporting and countersigning structure varies by agency.

A widely used Civil Service scheme of service covering many policy, administration and management roles.

Example: “She’s an MX officer” usually tells you the scheme of service, not her exact job title.

Also heard as: MX Scheme, MXS, Management Executive

Example: Her next posting is in another agency; the word describes the job placement, not a social-media update.

Also heard as: job posting, posted

A variable civil-service payment calibrated to economic and labour-market conditions, with mid-year and year-end amounts announced separately.

Example: The year-end AVC is announced service-wide; your PB is a different component.

Also heard as: mid-year AVC, year-end AVC, variable bonus

An individual variable payment linked to performance under the applicable public-service compensation framework.

Example: PB is performance-linked; it is separate from the AVC announced for the wider Civil Service.

Also heard as: performance bonus

Context: PB is highly ambiguous and can also mean Personnel Board.

The Government financial year running from 1 April to 31 March of the following calendar year.

Example: The contract starts in FY2026, so check which year’s budget will carry the spend.

Also heard as: fiscal year, FY2026, FY26, FYs

Context: In Singapore Government usage, FY means financial year. Write the plural as FYs, without an apostrophe.

Formal approval that establishes and authorises a procurement requirement.

Example: Has the AOR been obtained, or are we still at the requirement stage?

The internal authority or governance arrangement responsible for approving specified expenditure or procurement matters within an agency.

Example: Please check the IAA limit before routing this for approval.

Also heard as: internal approval authority

Context: The exact authority, committee or team depends on the agency’s delegation framework.

An internal request to start a purchase, route it for approval and, where applicable, convert it into a purchase order.

Example: The PR is still pending approval, so the purchase has not reached the PO stage.

Context: The exact workflow and terminology vary by agency and procurement system.

The formal order issued to a supplier after the required procurement and expenditure approvals have been obtained.

Example: The quote is accepted, but Procurement is still preparing the PO.

Also heard as: purchase order

Singapore’s government electronic procurement portal for publishing opportunities and conducting procurement transactions.

Example: The ITQ is on GeBIZ, so check the listing for the deadline and submission instructions.

Also heard as: Government e-Business, GeBIZ portal

The government procurement approach for purchases within the prevailing small-value threshold, subject to price-reasonableness requirements.

Example: This falls under the SVP route, but we still need to show the price is reasonable.

Also heard as: Small Value Purchases

A sourcing document inviting suppliers to submit quotations for a government procurement.

Example: We’ll issue an ITQ for the requirement and evaluate the quotations against the stated criteria.

Also heard as: invite to quote, quotation exercise

The Singapore Government's Microsoft Teams environment for workplace messaging, meetings and collaboration.

Example: Set up the inter-agency call on SG-Teams and check access before the meeting starts.

Also heard as: SG Teams

Controls on government-issued devices that monitor or block risky transfers of sensitive data through email, uploads and other channels.

Example: DLP blocked the attachment, so we need to check whether this is an approved sharing route.

Context: This intentionally collides with Digital Learning Platform in the existing dataset.

A support or fulfilment request raised through the relevant service-management process; for example, an SIS SR may be required for whitelisting.

Example: Raise an SR for the access change so it enters the support workflow instead of living in a chat message.

Also heard as: service ticket, request ticket

Context: The exact request system and workflow vary by service and agency.

The Human Resource and Payroll System used by Civil Service officers for HR, payroll, leave, claims and related employee services.

Example: The leave request still needs to go into HRPS; the Teams message was only a heads-up.

Also heard as: Human Resource and Payroll System, HR and Payroll System

The official directory for finding Singapore government organisations, public services and officers' contact details where published.

Example: If you cannot remember who owns the portfolio, check SGDI for the agency and published officer contacts.

Also heard as: Government Directory, Singapore Government Directory Interactive

Example: The IM is where “because policy” should eventually point.

Also heard as: IM, Government Instruction Manual

Context: Instruction Manuals may contain mandatory requirements alongside agency-specific implementation details.

Example: A WOG solution starts when five agencies agree the problem belongs to all of them.

Also heard as: WOG, whole of government

An email or routing label indicating that the recipient is expected to take follow-up action.

Example: FYA: please amend the brief and send it back by 3pm Thu.

Also heard as: for action, for your necessary action

Context: The required action and deadline should still be stated explicitly.

Signals that the recipient is expected to take the action needed, rather than merely note the information.

Example: FYNA: please update the figures and revert by Thu.

Also heard as: for necessary action

The end of the working day, commonly used to state a deadline in email or workplace instructions.

Example: Please send comments by COB Fri — and state the time if colleagues are in different time zones.

Also heard as: Closing of Business, close of business, end of business

Context: Confirm the exact time and time zone when a deadline could be ambiguous.

A status indicating that no additional follow-up is required unless circumstances change.

Example: Legal has confirmed there is nothing further to do, so record this as NFA and close the loop.

Also heard as: no further actions

To retain a matter for monitoring or later consideration without taking immediate action.

Example: KIV this until the policy position is clearer, but put a date on when we’ll look again.

Also heard as: KIV first

Context: KIV should not be used as a substitute for an owner, review date or explicit decision where follow-up is required.

Normal ongoing operations, as distinct from project, crisis, pilot or transformation work.

Example: The pilot is over; ownership now moves into BAU, including support and recurring costs.

Also heard as: business-as-usual, steady state operations

Example: “Can you staff this to Jon by Fri?” usually means do the analysis, coordinate the inputs and put up a recommendation—not just forward the email.

Also heard as: staffing, staff work, staffing an issue, staffing a paper

Context: The exact staff process and document format vary by agency.

Example: Let the working-level teams settle the facts first; escalate only the decision they cannot resolve.

Also heard as: working level, at working level, staff level, staff-level, at staff level

Context: Here, ‘staff level’ means the officers staffing the issue, not employees generally.

Example: Socialise the proposal with the affected agencies before the formal paper lands in their inboxes.

Also heard as: socialise the idea, socialize

Example: Flag the cost overrun early; Steering Comm is the wrong place for its surprise debut.

Also heard as: no-surprises principle