Not true - different roles in ministries and statutory boards require different levels of security clearance, and being a citizen isn't a requirement for non-sensitive roles. That said, I haven't come across a non-citizen in a ministry, though I could be wrong.

I actually have come across PRs in IMDA, and while I've got no issue with them and accept that they could have been hired for their skills/experience, what did puzzle me is that I work closely with a dept which deals with sensitive areas, and while the PR colleague doesn't have access to secure e-mail, he's actually responsible/aware of quite a bit of the content which goes *into* sensitive material. Even if the PR colleague doesn't get to see the sensitive document, it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out what the work he's doing is going towards.

In this particular example, I also don't see that any special skills are required - the job is largely info-gathering and processing, so not sure why they couldn't get a Sinkie, knowing that it would ultimately touch on sensitive areas.