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LEARNING TO CONNECT VIA COMMUNICATION

MITA’s Public Relations Academy takes on the task of reshaping government communications for the new millenium

More than 200 top civil servants, government communicators, policy makers, media representatives and PR consultancy representatives will come together on 28 June 02 at the Raffles Convention Centre at a conference to discuss best practices in public communication. The conference, entitled, "Beyond Communication: A conference on the strategic role of communication in Government" marks the official launch of The Public Relations Academy, and is the first-ever PR conference in Singapore dedicated solely to PR and communication in the public sector.

The PR Academy, an initiative of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, was established with the specific objective of enhancing the PR and communication skills of all public service officers, with special attention on policy makers and PR practitioners. Its courses cover the whole range of PR skills - from the art of writing for the media and drawing up information strategies to communicating in simple English and handling media interviews well.

The conference will give participants the opportunity to hear from the master speechwriter, Mr Michael Waldman, who is credited with writing many of the memorable speeches that former President Clinton delivered during his presidential term. Mr Ong Keng Yong, Press Secretary to Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, will provide the Singapore perspective, while the Head of Civil Service, Mr Lim Siong Guan will outline the role of communication in public policy formulation.

Post 911 has re-inforced the critical role that communication plays in reaching out to the people and in helping governments to explain their leadership role and actions during these times. This will be another area that conference speakers will explore.

As the conference is bringing together experts from UK , the US and in Asia , PR Academy hopes that the participants will be able to have a birds' eye view of communication issues round the world and learn from each other's experiences.

The programme for the conference is attached.

Issued by: Public Relations Academy

Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts

Date : 26 Jun 02