I READ with disbelief that Mr Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, had been censured by his bosses ('Perm sec's article showed lack of sensitivity', Tuesday) for writing in The Straits Times about his cooking holiday at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris ('Cooking up the holiday spirit', Jan 3).

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Rachel, are you really that blur? You really think people are criticising the activity the PS chose to do? You don't know what the fuss is all about, then you shouldn't even write this letter!

Precisely, we should pursue even higher value than "expensive culture". Providing a shcolarship for deserving aspiring financially disadvantaged would be really inspiring for generations to come.
Public service is a unique profession, it comes with a different set of rules.
In the US, even CEOs are all toning down, as many as 50 private jets are now for sale. AIG splashed a couple of hundred thousand it used to be OK, but now they are also a public institution.
Holiday trips could mean visiting the disadvantaged and the poor. Now that financial well being is no longer an issue, perhaps it's time to explore 'higher things'

I believe that the number of singaporeans who comdemn the perm sec is as much as (if not greater than) the number of singaporeans who condone him.

yet ST decides to publish 7 letters (including 5 online ones) defending Mr Tan, and choosing to publish none that criticises him.

oh i see, so this is one classic case whereby we fully understand why many people choose to label the ST as State's Times.

With reference to the Staits Times..oops ...I mean the Straits Times..you have said it already.
On the subject of Mr Tan..well its his money , so its none of anyones business.

He was rapped for writing to the press and bragging about it and not for taking personal leave or spending his own money. Infact, I thought civil were specifically told not to deal with the press and only through the public affairs department. So what he did was a stupid thing.

It may be his money but it came from taxes paid by the people.

He can still do what he wants with it but he should have been more discrete and sensitive to the local situation. What he did don't sit well with govt's efforts and messages and how less fortunate people might feel at this time.

He may not agree, but the publicity he drew to himself and his 'hobby' makes many people really wonder and question the bloated salaries of our civil servants. Notwithstanding that it is his own money, are civil servants like him worth the salaries paid for their services? His sense of judgement and sensitivity so vital in his context as a very senior civil servant is called into questions.

He spent $45,000 and wrote 2-pages.

PM Lee donated $500,000 should write 4-pages.

Hi Rachel,

I was just thinking the same thing.. how cool it is for an MP to have a non traditional holiday and spend time with his family cooking!

I love cooking too, wish I could do the same..

I don't know much about this MP but I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt since he's so cool in planning this not-so-normal family escapade.

He probably doesn't get to spend a lot of time with his wife and kid and taking 3-5 weeks to spend time with them doing something special def isn't something I wanna chide him for.

He is not an MP but a P.Sec reporting to the minister.