is it true that some depts in govtech (e.g. ogp) don't have to follow im8?

There is no "some" to speak of. It is only OGP that don't have to follow IM8, or for the matter, all the other IMs

is there a rationale for this and why isn't this made more transparent? can other agencies apply to not follow IM as well?

lol u find someone with the right surname then come talk lor. ill buy the popcorn

your last drawn lower than 7k ?

if anyone kena pay cut before by govtech ?
such as your last draw is 12-14k x 12mth but they cannot match so they jiaowei say they pay u 10k x 15mth like that ?

Got base pay cut, but total comp was definitely good enough(at least 30%) so that was fine with me.

Official reason: they are sandbox team that tries new practices and propagate to rest of gov

Actual reason: they have the right D

so what new practices were propagated to the rest of gov after 3 years of existence?

I have 15 YOE and GovTech recruiter approached me for an Agile PM role.
I said agile was new to me as I was a newly minted CSM in 2020.
He says "its ok - the WOG is moving towards agile! But we need your to take an online test.. If the results are good we will hire you as a perm but if not good we might only offer you a contract role. Benefits wise no difference"
So I took the test and I failed (LOL) got ghosted for like 2 weeks which I thought ok la maybe they not keen and that was when GovTech called me back to say "Ok - we like to offer your but it will be on contract." Also, Salary wise we cannot match your expected but will be happy to match your current.

No prize to guessing what I told the recruiter

you hire under recruiter or govtech? probably recruiter eat up your portion!