The Public Service newbie guide

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

Also heard as: sub paper

A label indicating that the recipient is being informed and is not ordinarily being asked to take action or make a decision.

Also heard as: for information, for your information, FYI

A short email or note instruction directing the recipient to read an attached, linked or quoted item.

Also heard as: please see, pls refer

A short instruction asking the recipient to handle the next step and report back when needed.

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

A review confirming that material is suitable to move forward; clearance does not always constitute final authority to implement.

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.

A decision by the person or body holding the relevant authority to agree to a plan, request, commitment or expenditure.

Also heard as: approve, approved, for approval

A paper, deck or other material sent in advance so participants can review it before the discussion or decision.

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

A group formed to develop recommendations or deliver a defined piece of work, often reporting to a committee or sponsor.

Also heard as: Work Group, workgroup, working group

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

Also heard as: terms of reference

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

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

A specific follow-up task with an owner and, ideally, a due date arising from a discussion, decision or direction.

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.

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

The agenda item near the end of a meeting for matters not listed as substantive items earlier in the agenda.

An agenda item near the end of a meeting for raising matters that were not covered under the earlier items.

Also heard as: Any Other Matters, any other matter

Context: Used similarly to AOB, meaning Any Other Business; the preferred label varies by organisation.

The wider Singapore Public Service, comprising officers working in ministries and statutory boards.

Also heard as: Singapore Public Service, SPS

The part of the Public Service made up of officers employed in ministries; statutory boards are legally distinct employers.

Also heard as: Singapore Civil Service

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

Also heard as: statutory board, SB

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

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

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

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

Also heard as: Perm Sec, PermSec, Permanent Sec

Context: PS is highly ambiguous and also commonly means Public Service.

A management appointment commonly responsible for a team or portfolio, often reporting to a Deputy Director or Director.

Also heard as: Asst Dir

Context: AD is highly ambiguous, including Active Directory in technology contexts.

A management appointment commonly leading a branch, team or substantial portfolio under a Director.

Also heard as: Dep Dir

Context: DD has many other meanings and appointment structures vary by agency.

The HR framework covering a category of public officers, including appointment, grades, progression and related employment arrangements.

Also heard as: service scheme, scheme

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

Also heard as: MX Scheme, MXS, Management Executive

An officer’s placement into a job, which may be within the same agency or part of a structured move across agencies or sectors.

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.

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.

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.

Also heard as: fiscal year, FY2026, FY26

Formal approval that establishes and authorises a procurement requirement.

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

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.

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.

Also heard as: purchase order

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

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.

Also heard as: Small Value Purchases

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

Also heard as: invite to quote, quotation exercise

A government account used by public officers to access supported government technology services, generally based on the officer's official government email identity.

Also heard as: WOG account, government ID

GovTech's newer cloud-based work-laptop environment, intended to replace non-SE GSIB over time.

Also heard as: Comet laptop, Comet device

Microsoft's cloud productivity and collaboration suite, including services such as Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive.

Also heard as: Microsoft365, Office 365, O365

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

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.

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

An Outlook or Exchange group address used to send one email to multiple recipients.

Also heard as: mailing list, distribution group, contact group, email list

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

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.

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

A shared cloud platform used by participating statutory boards for human-resource, finance and payroll services.

Also heard as: Workday platform, Workday system

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

Also heard as: Government Directory, Singapore Government Directory Interactive

Signals that information is being shared for awareness and does not, by itself, request action.

Also heard as: for information, for your info

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

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.

Also heard as: for necessary action

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

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.

Also heard as: no further actions

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

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.

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

To analyse an issue, coordinate inputs, recommend a course of action, prepare the submission or brief, and help translate the eventual decision into execution.

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

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

Discussion or resolution among the officers doing the detailed work, usually before escalation to principals or a formal forum.

Also heard as: working level, at working level

To discuss an emerging proposal informally with relevant stakeholders so concerns can be understood and surprises reduced before formal staffing.

Also heard as: socialise the idea, socialize

A working norm that material issues, risks or disagreements should be surfaced early rather than first appearing at a formal forum.

Also heard as: no-surprises principle