A new Public Relations Academy has been set up by the Government.
It is meant to train top civil servants to be more media savvy, and to be better prepared to deal with the public, especially during crises like an airplane crash or a terrorist attack. Understanding what people want to know in a crises, and how to communicate more effectively with the media. That is what the PR Academy hopes to train top civil servants, as well as information officers, to do.
Ong Keng Yong, Deputy Secretary (Special Duties) at the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Arts, said: "There is a recognition in the top leadership and high-ranks of the civil service to have a body to address the way in which we communicate and send messages across."
Over the years, the Civil Service College and the Institute of Public Administration and Management have had general public communications courses for civil servants. But the PR Academy aims to go one step further - to bring more focused programmes to help civil servants at all levels be more media and public savvy. Run by MITA, the academy will also customise training for individual ministries.
Veni Pasupathi, Managing Director of PR Academy, said: "Members of the public don't just want policies stated to them, they want clear explanations, rationale given to them - so the information needs and the way we interact with them has changed, that's why it's important to relook at the way we communicate and see if we can make improvements." Eventually even MPs and Ministers may go for training at the academy.