Ministers' Pay

AS A MATTER of transparency and public interest, cabinet ministers are duty-bound to declare their incomes and assets. The Singapore Democrats have been calling, and do so again here, for the Government to make public such information. Unfortunately the demands have met with silence that a cemetery would be proud of.

In 1994, ministerial salaries were amended. They were calculated based on a formula that pegged with the ministers’ pay to the highest paid professions in the country.

This means that no matter how badly the economy performs and the wage level of the general population sinks, the ministers will be paid the highest salaries in the island as long as the richest few in the country continue to make their big bucks. This, of course, tempts our political leaders into concentrating on taking care of the richest of the rich instead of ensuring that the welfare of the masses are well looked after.

Such is already the trend as the Government relentlessly drums into our heads that the widening income disparity is inevitable because of this thing called global economy. This will enable the ministers to say that it is no fault of theirs that their salaries are so obscenely high while the rest of us (people they are elected to look after) scramble for the crumbs that fall off their table.

And there is nothing inevitable about the widening chasm between the rich and the poor. This is just the rich man's excuse to tell the working people that they are going to get richer and greedier, and the rest of us are going to have to accept the fact that we will have to work harder and become poorer.

Such reasoning has resulted in PAP ministers being the highest paid politicians in the world with the Prime Minister being paid three times more than the president of the United States while the Singaporeans continue to see their incomes being pulverised. Bankruptcies multiply and the increase in the number of homeless continue unabated. Social and family problems such as divorces, mental breakdowns, and suicides skyrocket as a result.

This trend must not be allowed to continue and the only people that can stop this is Singaporeans themselves. Below is a comparison of salaries of Singapore's ministers with those of their counterparts in other countries:

Annual salaries of heads of government:

Singapore Prime Minister US$2.7 million (S$3.76 million)
United States of America President: US$200,000
United Kingdom Prime Minister: US$170,556
Australia Prime Minister: US$137,060

Annual salaries of ministers:

Singapore Minister: US$1.5 million
UK Minister: US$146,299
US Cabinet Secretary: US$157,000

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WannaBeFair - Wanna Be fair

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:23 pm

speak the truth -

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:08 pm

hey wannabefair why do you talk as if we own the government a living.

talk about fairness huh!?are you trying to imply that ST is very fair and just in their publications. you're obviously ignorant then.

Yes there's no perfect system in this world and i do agree. No one is perfect for that matter but the thing is, it is not about achieving perfection but rather being able to achieve a balance. Success without democracy is meaningless, well not to the government but for us the citizens at the very least.

yes the government has done alot of good for us but isn't that their responsibility and duty,after all they get paid so much.

Go out of your shell and look around you'll be surprised at how many people there are out there
who are living in impoverished conditions.

noname - Why the need to give them such obscenely high pay?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:54 pm

Why do our ministers need to have that kind of obscenely high salaries? Their 1 month pay is enough for most of us to spend for a good few years. This is so heart-breaking to learn the big money they earn each month when so many of their countrymen are struggling very hard to let ends meet. I always believe in the nature of balance (i.e. what you gain now will be lose eventually) and have faith in God that these greedy elites will have their judgement day when call upon one day. The time will come.

Patriot -

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:18 am

Irene Puah -

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 2:32 am

In reality, our Prime Minister has about the same political standing as the mayor of any major city. We should compare our PM´s salary to that of the mayor of New York or of London.

Anonymous -

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 9:50 am

1. Singapore Prime Minister US$2.7 million (S$3.76 million)

Is that all? Can't be.

What about adding all the non-salary slip items?

In any case what's a lousy USD3 mils to someone from a family that thinks so highly of itself, holds itself in such stratospherically lofty-heights regard that they ought to be earning more than the people they manage, being the "best and the brightest" of the land?

So if Banker earns USD7 mils a year, fo example, you can expect them to make more. Far more.

What about his/their other inmcome-generating engines, like properties, shares, etc, especially overseas?

Why don't the Fortunes of this world list politicians at all? or by that reckoning, this very "exceptional" family holds far more assets than all the Gateses and Mittals of this planet put together.

I mean, being at the helm of an economy that does so well year in, year out, year after year.

And my god, for forty long years too!

You should have a way to know or at least to find out, don't you? Please get your NGO, civil society friends - the better-connected ones who have access to Luxembourg, th caymans, etc.

3 lousy mils ain't gonna sustain them too for a quarter, let alone four quarters, 365 days.

So I hink better cease harping on their slaries. Focus instead on their nest eggs they've built up over the past four decades.

The truth, when out, will likely put their family friends, the Soehartos, to shame, heehee.

Anonymous -

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 9:56 am

Irene Puah - Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:32 am

In reality, our Prime Minister has about the same political standing as the mayor of any major city. We should compare our PM´s salary to that of the mayor of New York or of London.

========================================

No, sorry, Irene, we are NOT London or NY, not even close.

Maybe a borough or a county, yes, but certainly not anything like Wall Street or the City.

You have no idea what pressure mayors of these places go through EVERY SINGLE DAY while in office.

By comparison, Singapore is a breeze - nocivil strife, not even demos. No natural calamities.

Best of all, a cowed populace!

And one (very annoying) election every FIVE years - imagine how much you can screw (milk) the people for in ONE, much less five B)

genxavier -

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:54 am

Salary of New York mayor (2005): $195,000 USD.

Current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, a self-made billionaire, is accepting a renumeration of $1.00 USD annually for his service.

BIG BLINDING INSIGHT: Bloomberg made his fortune BEFORE he became a mayor of NY, not DURING

Anonymous -

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 9:35 pm

Quote:

ah Low - Gurkas fight among them, hahahaha...! Sun, 22 Jun 2008 1:03 am

They live in the new HDB flats at mt venon.

Do you guys ever wonder these HDB flats are rented out to these mercenaries or just free accommodation for them???

You SIA~~~~~O ah, lu - HDB.

Looking at just the facade, even a layman can make out the superior quality of the kinds of building materials that go into building - so much sturdier-looking, at very least the color combination picked for them is so much more (professionally) pleasing to the eye. Even that alone is enough.

They DEFINITELY live better than your average HDB Joe and jane.

There's a neighborhood STATIONERY SHOP whose business almost solely come from these people:
PHOTOCOPYING - which they do by the tons (don't know for what also since they are who they are - mountain people);
PHOTO PRINTING - which they do by the tons. They have absolute voracious appetite for picture-taking - dunno if it's because the had less chances back home or nepal ran out of celluloid before they ventured here . or is it the good life?
Evey Gurkha who brings negatives to do printouts always collect photos of laughin, happy family albums (how many Singaporean families can actually smile these days, let alone take pics on a regular basis?). Even have nothing better to do on their off-days than to drop in every now and then to 'chase' after printouts even though this shop woks super-fast (mostly for their benefits; if you're local, the assistants don't even bother to ask what you need when you trudge in).
Any wonder why this shop's owner is laughing all the way to his bankS (plural, please note), laughs to himself sometimes, one notices.

Ditto LAI LAI COFFEESHOP.
It even used to 'RESERVE' tables for them FROM AS EARLY AS 5PM! In anticipation of waves of Gurkhas coming to gorge on their tzuchar - they order fried rice BY THE POT (you say margins good on easy-to-wjhip-up fried rice or not)!
And CRABS too - they live on mountains, never see seafood before mah, anyway what's $40-50 a plate to them, never mind the lousy taste, if they are seafood connoiseurs at all. that is.
That even if there were no available tables to seat Singaporeans, the lady owner and her workers would never let you occupy the reserved-for-Gurkha tables, because you can't outspend these voracious eaters, voracious eaters' voracious wives (see that 'spare tyre' round EVERY SINGLE FEMALE GURKHA's WAIST, EVEN TEENAGERS :lol: ? Well fed mah, hoh jiak, hoh koon mah), voracious eaters' voracious children, sometimes even visiting Grandpa and grandma (yes, they even apply for them to come visit, to come share fruits of their freeloading days and freeloading ways - AT OUR EXPENSE, no less).

HDB woh, you siao ah! inside got tennis court - your HDB has? Which has? Even executive flats, maisonettes, EVEN ECs pun tidak ada lah, you sotong.

And rumor has it - which I don't really believe although it's been spreading like wildfire - that on their side of mount vernon, where there are 5-6 existing less-than-30 year-old flats of mixed room types, that these 5-6 blocks of HDB flats (along with their hundreds of occupants, naturally) are going TO BE DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY for erection of MORE HOUSING for these people :shock: !!!!!!

If true, can you imagine where these households - Singaporeans going to move to - but the issue is this: this is not some national development for the larger good of all Singapore, or that the blocks of flats are judged to be sitting on poor soil or that they had been poorly erected giving rise to danger to continue as abodes for these fellow countrymen and women of ours or that Warren Buffet was coming to acquire the land for 100x their market value or anything like that, BUT TO TELL SINGAPOREANS TO VANISH SO AS TO MAKE SPACE FOR MORE INCOMING HORDES OF GURKHAS, if true, IS SOMETHING TO BE ACCEPTED, agree?

And you ant an indication of their good life here? Just see how often their wives give birth. Once a year, like clockwise. Not kidding! One gets born and another pops out a year or less later - efficiency, puts many Singapore charbor to shame, heehee.

So Singapore doesn't really have a baby problem per se.

If we fear we aren't gonna have enough young fighting-fit men to defend this batu-in-the-laut, then we already have 'ready'soldiers-to-be! In the form of gurkhas' kids!

And what better than have the fearless warrior with the fearsome reputation as The Perfect Singapore Defender!

Such a Dream Fighting machine, no :D ?

So we can let our bookish, original Singaporean boys go to university or finish their poly in peace while the mountain Singaporeans can do what they do best - fight (brawling is their pastime, right? Since before and after the arival of Buddhism in Nepal.)

This may sound like a wonderful thing - but it is not. It is a very sad tale - Story of the Disadvantaged Singaporean, almost exclusively the ONLY citizenship you acquire (or are born with) to get bullied by th very people you elect
- if you get the chance to elect at all, that is.

This is a place where state coffers mean otherwise - forget that Save for A Rainy Day; rainy days have come and gone before; rainy days are here again but don't you even think about them coming to your rescue; FAT HOPE!

I mean, they would rather spend any amounts on any anything. yes, anything but for YOU, AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN.

Rescue U? Rescue U-BS better ah - at least Tony and gang get to finally employ that oft-practised-but-never-had-chance-to-show swagger - whih we call The Big Swinging Dick over in Wall Street - now when they saunter into the hallowed halls of Banque de Union La Suisse, yes, yes?

Oh, not to forget the other big-prestige names on The Street :silly:

Eh, Singaporeans, clap, applaud lah - we're doing al these for Singapore, for you, U(BS) know.

They'd much do all these THAN TO SPEND LESS THAN A FEW MILLIONS TO FIT OUT SINGAPORE'S WINDOWS WITH STAINLESS STEEL RIVETS @ less than a hundred per household, less han a dollar per rivet - WHICH, MAY ONE & ALL BE RE-RE-REMINDED, THEY SAY ARE A POTENTIL AND POTENT DANGER VIS-A-VIS ALUMINUM ONES!

Recall?

Sometimes one wonders what these inherent dangers are? Danger to whom, more specifically - because one suspects it's THEIR SKULLS they were really worried about
- "Alamak, got to go do my constituency walkabout (Display Swagger Time again), see peh sian ah, some more see peh wee hiam ah, these HDB windows with the aluminum rivets OUR OWN ORIGINAL HDB STRUCTURAL ENGINEER TEAM put in place (to cut costs, cut corners, save money???) may fall out anytime and land on my precious brainy head ah, or even just ruin our Le Salon $500 haircut, HOW???
Never mind, formulate policy to force high-rise dwellers change their rivets!
Heehe, see, me so smart, save money for the State, no need to spend unnecessary millions to fit out or these pigeon-hole people, hahaha.
Maybe can get the money redirected to MY ministry's budget next FY, heeheeheeheehee :evil: "

Oh, by the way, Hougang Tiochiu Dee won't be interested how Gurkhas are living better than Singaporeans - issue had been highlighted to himwell before the last GE for him to score points but he didn't so much as batt an eyelid - so he won't be The Messiah to The Cause.

As far as he's concerned, The Cause had been lost long time ago - anyhow, His Own Cause has been attained so don't go and bother the good (Opposition) member again, ye hear? Thanks.

Anonymous -

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 4:27 am

Quote:

Go out of your shell and look around you'll be surprised at how many people there are out there
who are living in impoverished conditions.

Please, please, please. Be fair to wannabefair, please.

How could you, you heartless speak the truth, do such a heartless thing as to tell and expect a bed-bound, totally paralysed invalid like wannabefair to go take a walk round the island to see what's really happening??? Your real name must be Boh Leong Sim, hahaha

Besides being bed-bound all-year-long
- and it's been 40 over years wannabefair's been in this state, ever since PAPsmear campaign people came to power -
on a dengue mosquito-invested torn and tattered mattress that wannabefair's septuarian mother picked up from the dump on her cardboard-collecting rounds, our dear wannabefair's BLIND too, you know
- the post we all see here was the work of a council worker who's been coming round to see (see only) what's happening to wannabefair's household, see if there are any dead persons so the tiny one-roomer could be repossessed and rented out to other wannabefairs.

So sad, you know, wannabefair's story - can all of you help? Spread the word around, tell ST and TV - collectively known as STV, or Sexually Transmitted Virulents - to go do a story so that good, kindhearted Singaporeans (including that daughter-in-law who always donates a microscopic fraction of her clan's wealth each year to charities to ease their guilt) can come and fill up wannabefair's one-roomer with at least $400k a la family of man who jumped onto MRT tracks.

Thank you, one & all.

And yes, shame on you, speak the truth, for asking and expecting wannabefair to do the impossible.

Redeem yourself, go write a check out for $328,000 and pass it to me on onward transmission to wannabefair's granny to ease your guilt like what good daughter-in-law does every year.

Be quick.

speak the truth -

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 9:16 am

Hey Patriot well sorry for my supposed ignorance but seriously do you actually know what goes on behind closed doors? well i'm certainly not delusional but one thing's for sure, you seem to want to defend the ministers more than the impoverished. If there's anyone that is ignorant, it is YOU.

Yes our ministers do not get the perks but how can you(i'm assuming that you are a Singaporean) know all the perks that ministers from other countries get and what our ministers do not?unless you know most of the ministers personally and chat with them over coffee about the perks working with the government.

and oh yes anonymous you sure do know so much about wannabefair and if there's redemption to be made shouldn't you walk the talk and lead by example. why should i donate such a big sum when i myself do not even know if i have enough for the years to come?

Paul - a non Singaporean's vue

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 4:13 pm

Well what does any Singaporean know about what goes on in the government or finance here , its a very very opaque society and government , no statistics or figures can be proved either way.
I would agree one thing the PM and ministers in Singapore have the same status as a mayor and council of medium size city elsewhere ,and are considered very arrogant in other countries.Also ask a lot of the worlds population where is Singapore and what is it , no one knows .
Singapore was ahead in a number of spheres many many years ago , now even China , South Korea and a few others progress more , and adapt more to the changing society . When people talk of South East Asia , all they know is dictatorships , authoritarian regimes , and the biggest rich/poor divide on the planet.
Singapore had so many things going for it , but find it a very polluting , energy , and raw material consumming society , not an example to be followed in todays world.

Anonymous -

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 5:44 pm

Quote:

speak the truth - Mon, 23 Jun 2008 5:16 pm

and oh yes anonymous you sure do know so much about wannabefair and if there's redemption to be made shouldn't you walk the talk and lead by example. why should i donate such a big sum when i myself do not even know if i have enough for the years to come?

Because wannabefair, by what he/she has written, provides a snapshot of what the majority of you folks are: invalids, which is as good as being bed-ridden, bed-bound and bedded (screwed)-for-all-you-are-worth-and-yet-still-unaware.

Excuse the language but you get the picture.

As for the walk-the-talk, suffice to say I walk the talk and have made, over the years, various amounts for and to The Cause - figures which are inappropriate to reveal, please understand. You will be contactd shortly to see proof.

I surmise with your plight of not having the kinds of sums mentioned. But the absolute figure, in your case, isn't significant.

What's of paramount importance is how far you are able to.

Have you read or know the parable of the old widow who gave to the temple all she had on her save one and was sneered at by the richer who had gathered and gave much, much more than her in absolute terms but that represented nothing in their overall holdings?

You will be contacted shortly to be presented a copy of the Holy Book so you may read further.

May God bless you, child - though not with $200,000, begrudge not, be at peace.

Amen.

speak the truth -

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 9:47 pm

Thanks for that insightful reply but I'm more than happy with my own religion. Good that you practice what you preach and admire that. Well i suppose it's not about the amount but rather the intentions.

Thanks too for showing a great amount of empathy and compassion for others. God Bless You too and may more of your type of people exist in Singapore and the world at large.

Amen

Anonymous -

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 2:50 pm

Could I add a comment without putting my name email etc?

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