Ministerial Salary Review

[Strparent]

ksi, :salute:


TQ, I share the same thoughts - you manage to put them down in words clearly and concisely :celebrate:

Nobody is asking the ministers to go lower to 10k p.m. After the proposed cuts, our leaders are still the most well-paid in the world.
The point was it was considered OBSCENELY too high for public service office holders, especially when many Singaporeans are earning 2k-3k since the 90s. ( many, not all - just a note )

If GY or RL or any politician feel that the trade-off ( as indicated ) is worthwhile, then you know what ? With that kind of mindset, they are probably not the best candidates for THESE SORT of positions in the government.

And again, nobody is being asked to do for purely noble cause and low pay. The remuneration must be attractive and accorded to the duties , hence this Ministerial Review Committee's proposal.

However, I agree with 3Boys on the sting being muted and the swiftness of acceptance by the government is a respectable and committed move that can only draw admirations and respect.

but your comment of instead of fighting a rearguard action ? :scratchhead:
Do you mean like 'having to spend time to fix the opposition' ? :evil:

Please bear in mind, I think the previous pay structure was worked out by the government and has been in force for quite some time. Does Merkl or Obama set his/her and his adminstration's own salaries ? Do they decide and it goes through a parliament discussion comprising of 95% of their own team members ? This Committee Review was a good move, and was a few years late.

However, let's not take away anything from the excellent job the early batch of government has done for all of us. But in the hope to continue, perhaps the search for new leaders has shifted the focus and priorities of the candidates in monetary terms a bit too excessively. Not all high flyers can govern a country where the responsibilities are much more different - welfare, moral, compassion of citizens involved as opposed to bottomline and growth only.

Let's move on. More good years

3Boys:

HVR:

I share your view but sadly there are some people who think ministers' pay should be very much lower still. How low can we go? 10K per month? Who honestly think George Yeo and Raymond Lim are now earning less than they used to do previously? Even their current pay is 50% lower I am sure they would think the trade off -more privacy, less public scrutiny, etc - is worthwhile.

My point is we cannot attract the right person to serve just by saying 'come on, you are the one, it's a noble call and pay should not really matter'. It just wont work.

Therein lies the politics of envy and hypocrisy. It is the unfortunate reality, but this reduction in pay will draw the bulk of the sting of criticism, and hopefully put the government back on the front foot and back to governing, instead of fighting a rearguard action. Quite masterful politicking from the PM, if I may say so. But it comes from the heart, I believe, he was already giving away a chunk of his salary to charity anyway.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7ZJz0dxBJ4][/youtube][/quote]

[Mdm Koh]

I fully support the pay cut. I think that some of our political leaders have become very pampered. :skeptical: I read the article on Grace Fu's Facebook comments and was quite surprised. In all his years as PM, SM and MM, I don't recall Lee Kuan Yew ever lamenting that he had not enough time to spare for his family. Neither did he complain that his family might have to experience a \"drastic change in their standard of living\" with his career switch from high-flying lawyer to PM of a fledgling country.


As expected, Grace Fu later said that she was \"misunderstood\". If maintaining her family's luxurious standard of living matters more to her than Singaporeans, it honestly wouldn't be so bad for us if she goes back to PSA. Sorry to be blunt. Political leaders ought to be made of sterner stuff.

[corneyAmber]

:hi5: strparent, we all know for a fact that the starting baseline was way too obscene(that is a right word! thanks!)...now it just becomes more reasonable and if we continue to enjoy our stay here, any steps taken by them in conjunction with our constructive feedback, micro or macro, shows that we are making commendable progress in partnership with our leaders to make this place more home.

[verykiasu2010]

ksi:

:hi5: strparent, we all know for a fact that the starting baseline was way too obscene(that is a right word! thanks!)...now it just becomes more reasonable and if we continue to enjoy our stay here, any steps taken by them in conjunction with our constructive feedback, micro or macro, shows that we are making commendable progress in partnership with our leaders to make this place more home.

and we don't need obscene pay to give constructive feedback, Gerald Ee and his team does not need obscene pay make a workable salary structure

[laughingcat]

Ksi, exactly the words of my sediments. :salute:


Today MPs paid too high and too pampered and hence cannot \"feel\" for the commoners. When comments were being brough up for months and years all turned to deaf ears and worse remarkly labelled as \"singaporean only knows how to complain\" or worse \"freak accident only happens once in a blue moon\". This kind of comments are unwarranted. Instead of investigating it, they are all too quick to brush it off.

If no quick action are enforced, i am not surprised we will be like Thailand recent flooding incident. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_750775.html

So i am all for it.......those who can't perform, out you go.

[raysusan]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdOWk1h6xBA][/youtube]

[concern2]

Chenonceau:

Funz:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]You expect them to be bottom earners?

Gosh, lack of sleep is making me misread earners as cleaners.

Whoa! That means... ok... I can't say it. But it is still better than this...
http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2011/10/seen-on-facebook-not-quite-sure-what-kind-of-cleaning-service-this-is.html[/quote] :rotflmao: You gals crack me up!

[3Boys]

ksi:

So my take is if we find very capable people and they reject the role because the wages have been revised downwards, then better not have them on board because running a country is not a money-making job, it requires some special spirit. If we find a less capable one but with the special spirit booster to drive him/her to do things in the best interest of the country, we are still better off. And we are talking about equitable wages, not low wages here. Of course there are still netizens who are quipping about the wages not low enough, I will ignore this group for now.

I guess we have to agree to disagree on this point. I find this concept of 'special spirit to serve' nebulous and subjective. Are we looking for a truly altruistic person who deems all else unimportant EXCEPT service to the nation? How many of those exist? How sure can we be of his motives, that although he not be driven by money, can he be in it for fame then, lust for power, some warped sense of righteousness? One man's spirit is another's poison. Many of the dictators and despots of the last century had one form or another of 'vision' for their nation. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, take your pick, I don't think one could doubt their 'passion' for the job, and I'm sure they didn't 'do it for the money'.

Give me a strong competent technocrat and pay him CEO salaries in my view, far more transparent and less potential for harm. This is my very far right view, a minority.

BUT, I do accept that the current pay cut, given the circumstances and the big picture, is the correct thing to do. It will provide the moral authority for the g'ment to lead, take the edge off and defuse the sharper criticisms, and still provide a decent living wage for office holders. People get emotional about such things, I accept, and that's why this needs to be done.

[3Boys]

raysusan:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdOWk1h6xBA][/youtube]

So, do you believe Hu Jintao leads a lifestyle of one who earns $11,000? Or do special privileges accrue?

[3Boys]

Mdm Koh:

I fully support the pay cut. I think that some of our political leaders have become very pampered. :skeptical: I read the article on Grace Fu's Facebook comments and was quite surprised. In all his years as PM, SM and MM, I don't recall Lee Kuan Yew ever lamenting that he had not enough time to spare for his family. Neither did he complain that his family might have to experience a \"drastic change in their standard of living\" with his career switch from high-flying lawyer to PM of a fledgling country.


As expected, Grace Fu later said that she was \"misunderstood\". If maintaining her family's luxurious standard of living matters more to her than Singaporeans, it honestly wouldn't be so bad for us if she goes back to PSA. Sorry to be blunt. Political leaders ought to be made of sterner stuff.

To which I quote again; \"We judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions\"

Yes, we expect super-humans. In LKY's time, the population were the same as him, stoic, willing to sacrifice, ascetic almost at times.

Whither those same people today? Pay too low lah, cannot work weekend lah, cannot give maid a day off lah......

Grace Fu and the rest are from the same complaining netizen stock that pervade internet forums.