We would like to assure Ms Lee and readers that the Government is mindful of the need to be prudent with the use of our resources.

The Civil Service is not an iron rice bowl. We have an appraisal system which links rewards to performance. Work review is done every six months. Annually, officers are assessed and ranked within their department and across the organisation, according to performance.

The Civil Service year-end payment has three components - 13th-month payment or the Annual Wage Supplement, which is a feature common to both the public and private sectors; the Annual Variable Component, which varies from year to year, depending on Singapore's economic performance, and the new Growth Bonus, which will be paid only in times of exceptional economic growth and is differentiated by individual performance.