Singapore's Ministerial Pay
Was talking to a friend today about ministerial pay etc and surfed around for some numbers to get some perspective on it.
Came across an article written by/for the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). The full article is here .
Think i'll have to make several things clear before i jump into this. Firstly, i'm not a rabid/blind government backer. Secondly, i'm not completely knowledgeable about ministerial pay here or overseas. My opinions are based on what little i have seen on this. Where i'm wrong about stuff or totally blind to other issues, please point them out to me. Lastly, what i am saying here is MY OPINION. This isn't meant to force people who have contrary views to think otherwise. However, if it persuades you to, well and good. Why am i "attacking" the aforementioned article, cos i think it sounds ludicrous and is hardly persuasive.
My views in bold
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"In relative terms, less then 20% of Singaporeans here have take home salaries exceeding SGD100,000/- A YEAR.
In stark contrast, BASIC SALARY FOR A MINISTER STARTS AT SGD1,166,844 A YEAR,OR JUST UNDER SGD100,000 A MONTH.
What these ministers earns in just ONE MONTH exceeds the ANNUAL TAKE HOME
salary of 80% of Singapore's income earning population. Lets not even begin to compare annual packages which will exceed SGD1 million easily."
So what if a minister's pay is so much greater than the average? Why not start ranting about CEOs of big corps? They get paid a whole lot more don't they? Oh wait, they oversee corporations with 10s of thousands of jobs and billions in assets! Whereas our ministers are only responsible for the welfare of 3 million odd people. Pay them the minimum wage! Their job is way easy and doesn't take much skill.
If anything, i think ministerial remuneration should be commensurate with their abilities and what they can really get in the private sector. You cut their pay to peanuts and you'll have a bunch of monkeys running our country, something we all don't need.
"A 29-yr-old executive who requested to remain anonymous admitted sheepishly: "The numbers (ministerial salaries) are a national embarrassment really, because it reflects the underlying materialistic value systems of Singapore Ministers."
Righto, i say everyone is materialistic and that's the way it is. Greed is good and all that. If getting the best person for the job means paying them a whole lot, then so be it! Say you cut 50% of the current ministerial payroll amount...great you might say. But let's say because of that low pay, the 2nd, 3rd, 10th best person for the position doesn't want the job and only the 500th best person for it takes it. This results in policies that damages our economy to the tune of X billion dollars. Woohoo!! yay, we saved a few million bucks!
Or do you want them to be paid so little that they are susceptible to bribery? Or for that matter, filter huge pay cuts down to lower level civil servants who are normally under less scrutiny so they can have reason to take cash under the table?
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The SDP article make some sense though. Having people determine their own pay is just...well...strange. Hopefully some other more independent mechanism can be come up with. Though i reckon the practicalities for it will just make it plain messy.
The Straits Times should also be putting up all the information. Sure, some people might take it the wrong way: "Wah! They are paid so much!" but dealing with wrong perceptions through omission is not the way. Explain it all properly i reckon.
OK....flame away! :))
Came across an article written by/for the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). The full article is here .
Think i'll have to make several things clear before i jump into this. Firstly, i'm not a rabid/blind government backer. Secondly, i'm not completely knowledgeable about ministerial pay here or overseas. My opinions are based on what little i have seen on this. Where i'm wrong about stuff or totally blind to other issues, please point them out to me. Lastly, what i am saying here is MY OPINION. This isn't meant to force people who have contrary views to think otherwise. However, if it persuades you to, well and good. Why am i "attacking" the aforementioned article, cos i think it sounds ludicrous and is hardly persuasive.
My views in bold
----------------------------------------------------------------
"In relative terms, less then 20% of Singaporeans here have take home salaries exceeding SGD100,000/- A YEAR.
In stark contrast, BASIC SALARY FOR A MINISTER STARTS AT SGD1,166,844 A YEAR,OR JUST UNDER SGD100,000 A MONTH.
What these ministers earns in just ONE MONTH exceeds the ANNUAL TAKE HOME
salary of 80% of Singapore's income earning population. Lets not even begin to compare annual packages which will exceed SGD1 million easily."
So what if a minister's pay is so much greater than the average? Why not start ranting about CEOs of big corps? They get paid a whole lot more don't they? Oh wait, they oversee corporations with 10s of thousands of jobs and billions in assets! Whereas our ministers are only responsible for the welfare of 3 million odd people. Pay them the minimum wage! Their job is way easy and doesn't take much skill.
If anything, i think ministerial remuneration should be commensurate with their abilities and what they can really get in the private sector. You cut their pay to peanuts and you'll have a bunch of monkeys running our country, something we all don't need.
"A 29-yr-old executive who requested to remain anonymous admitted sheepishly: "The numbers (ministerial salaries) are a national embarrassment really, because it reflects the underlying materialistic value systems of Singapore Ministers."
Righto, i say everyone is materialistic and that's the way it is. Greed is good and all that. If getting the best person for the job means paying them a whole lot, then so be it! Say you cut 50% of the current ministerial payroll amount...great you might say. But let's say because of that low pay, the 2nd, 3rd, 10th best person for the position doesn't want the job and only the 500th best person for it takes it. This results in policies that damages our economy to the tune of X billion dollars. Woohoo!! yay, we saved a few million bucks!
Or do you want them to be paid so little that they are susceptible to bribery? Or for that matter, filter huge pay cuts down to lower level civil servants who are normally under less scrutiny so they can have reason to take cash under the table?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The SDP article make some sense though. Having people determine their own pay is just...well...strange. Hopefully some other more independent mechanism can be come up with. Though i reckon the practicalities for it will just make it plain messy.
The Straits Times should also be putting up all the information. Sure, some people might take it the wrong way: "Wah! They are paid so much!" but dealing with wrong perceptions through omission is not the way. Explain it all properly i reckon.
OK....flame away! :))
posted by cokecat at 2:49 pm
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