Singapore Democrats
The Singapore Democrats will release its alternative report on Ministerial Salaries in November 2011. Entitled, “Ethical Salaries for a Public Service Centred Government”, the report is prepared by SDP’s Policy Studies Group and proposes concrete adjustments to the system of Ministerial Pay.
A Government-appointed committee led by Mr Gerard Ee is due to publish its review of the Ministers’ salaries by the year’s end.
SDP’s recommendations will be based on contemporary international best practices drawn from various first-world countries and territories, such as Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as taking into account other formulas proposed by Singaporeans.
Dr James Gomez, who heads SDP’s Policy Study Subcommittee said, “We feel that it will be helpful for public discussion to release an alternative report to the one by the Government appointed committee as this will stimulate debate and provide different perspectives to the issue.”
The call for a reduction of the Ministerial pay comes on the heels of data showing that Singapore has the widest income inequality among advanced economies.
Part of the reason for the huge salaries that Ministers enjoy is that they are given generous bonuses that amount to millions of dollars annually.
With the world’s population growing increasingly angry with the wide income gap between the rich and the poor, it is appropriate that Singaporeans pay even closer attention to high salaries of our cabinet ministers.
The SDP has consistently called for a reduction in ministerial wages over the years. This policy paper takes our work further by proposing concrete adjustments to the system of Ministerial Pay in Singapore.