Was it a stat board or a ministry? Pardon me, but stat boards got more autonomy and hence "easier" to enter stat board in that sense. Though, certain stat boards such as EDB, IE Singapore, Spring, and A*STAR etc only hire 2nd upper and above. This still holds during my employment with from one of the agencies I've listed.

But at the end of the day, classification of degree itself holds little meaning as some FCH and 2nd Upper may not deliver good work as compared to lower class graduates, and vice versa. It's all about work performance thereafter, though you may be shackled by CEP for the first few years as it's based on your academic credential.