MCYS-MICA rejig: Are agencies safe?

The Singapore government has formed a new ministry splitting up the existing Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Ministry of Communications and Information (MICA).Post the restructure, the MCYS will be named the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and MICA (pictured), the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).While MCYS has said there will be no changes to its agency alignments, MICA says it has yet to decide its agency arrangement.A MCYS, spokesperson told Marketing all advertising or public relations projects would still be subjected to the standard tender procedures for all government bodies."MCYS, like all other government bodies, does not therefore have any permanent or retainer advertising or PR agencies or media buying house. Each agency is appointed on a project basis," he said.A spokesperson for MICA said it had not yet decided what the arrangements would be and that it was premature to speak on these changes for now.According to local media reports, the MCCY will assume MCYS' current role in "strengthening community bonds, promoting volunteerism and philanthropy, engaging youth, and developing the sports," as well as MICA's arts, heritage and national resilience functions.The MSF will focus on building strong families, developing Singapore's social services and looking after those in need of social support.The MCI will oversee the development of infocomm technology, media and design sectors, the national and public libraries, as well as the government's information and public communications policies.While a new ministry implies more government tenders, specific details of the new ministry's marketing and advertising requirements will only be known at a later stage.