Thursday, January 12, 2012

Confusion over the recommendation on government ministers' salaries

I am surprised to read this report about the "confusion" over the recommended pay for the government ministers. http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120112-0000108/Ministerial-pay-review-report-misunderstood--Committee

Has our system become so complicated that a keenly anticipated event, like the release of the recommendation of the review committee, could have been mis-reported or mis-understood by the public? 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Minister draws 6 figures salary a month and also collect MP allowance of $15,000 a month. My question: Why paid so much and usually last to know when a crisis happens & most of the time all the work are done by everybody else?

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_754657.html --> Experts say annual rainfall rising, view differs from NEA study

Our Ex-NEA Minister says last year rain only happens once in 50 years. NEA says no increase rain trend detected. Expert says there is a clear more-rain trend.

I rest my case. Minister doesn't knows all, doesn't to the actual investigation, doesn't compile reports, doesn't know what is happening on the ground, doesn't walk around his constituency more than his opposition counterpart, shoot down and critizes everything and anything Oppostion MPs says, ask for understanding from jobless people when economy is down while still drawing 6 figures salary, critize Singaporean complaint too much, support Ministers' high salary since 1994, cannot solve low birth rate, cannot solve high cost of living and collect 8 months GDP bonus without any sense of guilt when older Singaporeans jobs are replaced by foreigners.

$715,000 a year at $59,583 + $15,000 = $74,583 a month is still too much. In 2007, PM push through the pay increase while the opposition objected strongly. PAP MPs took turn to critize & insult the oppositions' outcry of too much. It will be a stupid for PM to ask for another increase for the next 10 years. Even more if LKY comes out start giving Singaporean about the high Ministers Salary Model. This is the outcome for treating the Minibond, Pinnacle and High Notes uncles and aunties like fools while play Santa Claus to Hong Kong investors. Not only the 10,000 investors were unhappy about this kind of treatment by their own government, Fair-Play Singaporeans who are children, relative, friends of investors or total strangers would think the Govt pulled a fast one too far. Again and again petitions were submitted to ESM and PM, nothing materialized with no reply. We were left on our own. With such trust broken, how can I believe Ministers deserve such high Salary? $74,000 a month? I'm still jobless while young foreigners move in next door to my HDB flat and WORKING. Ex MD Heng Siew Kiat went to Ministry of Education, for what? A reward for short changing the 10,000 investors or for carrying out the wishes of all the Ms. What can a newbie do in a new Ministry? Paid $74,000 a month to learn how to run MOE and comes out some ingenious ideas to make our education system the best in the world? Lim Boon Heng has said it takes at least 3 years in the same job to start to contribute. At a $1 million a year, tax payers would be wasting $3 millions on Heng for him to start contributing.

Our system is a joke. Teaching the World how much a Minister should be paid and ended up having to spend so much time on this topic and suffered embrassing cut backs, frequent justification and most of all Minister just cannot much their performance with the salary in the eyes of the GE voters. 500,000 voters are hardcore in oppostion camp. Another 100,000 leaning toward opposition. Next week if PAP gang up and do what they do since 1994 by making fun of opposition MPs, I can only say PAP need another round of awakening in 2016 to bring them down to earth. The right Strategy to do is to show to Sgp that Salary is not important. Service and Sincerity is more important. Else this Ministers' Salary will continue to haunt them for next 5 years......

Lye Khuen Way said...

Not too surprised, as we are somehow in the habit of writing half truths. Mr SH Leong has been regularly writing in to point out and ask ( almost never a reply from the Authority ). In fact he posted a suggestion that even after the proposed Ministerial Salaries revision, some ministers may be getting higher pay ! We were surely confused. The revelation of the outrageous Allowances & various Bonuses up till now were something akin to our version of Wikileaks

yujuan said...

All these hidden total pay for Ministers, frankly, pales in comparison with the billions lost by both GIC and Temasek Holdings.
Precisely, how much of our tax money is lost? We wan to know from the horses' mouths, and not from foreign media and publications. Now we have a situation in Singapore, with the PAP very generous with themselves, and being Santa Clauses overseas by losing our moneys in overseas investments, but very stingy with citizens at home.
It's a joke to be a Singaporean.

Anonymous said...

SAD I HEARD ALOT OF SINGAPOREANS ARE SUFFERING OF HIGH COST HERE WE HAVE A GOVERENMENT ON THE ROLL FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR minister and PART TIME MP most of the work done by civil servants but promotion and money goes to elites like MS SAW who have so many directorship I WILL ONLY SUPPORT IF THE MP DOES FULL TIME AND CUT THE HARDSHIP OF SINGAPOREANS

Anonymous said...

Sign... I wonder what PM will talk about on Monday. It has been 18 years since the salary increase and we have been listening to 18 years of reasons. Outcome? MAS Chairman/SM Goh, MAS Deputy Chairman Lim & ex MD Heng having combined income of at least $5millions a year performed lousily compared to Hong Kong MAS. TKL petitions on behalf of retail investors at Hong Lim Park to SM Goh/PM Lee ignored. On Monday, PM Lee is going to talk about why he and his team deserves to be paid highest in the World. Probably going to tell us frightening scenarios like

1) Reserve need to be protected by good Govt.
2) Millions needed to find good, honest and capable Ministers
3) Europe/US recession so need good people to overcome.

We believe since 1994. Outcome? Congestion, high cost of living, 10,000 retail investors not protected by Govt while Hong Kong Govt did the opposite, Older Singaporean Workers jobless i.e taken by 1.3 millions foreigners, Built Casinos to boost GDP, need a new Salary committee tell Govt that President no need $4 million a year but $1.5 million. Where's the leadership? Where's the "for the people spirit"? Where's the feel on the ground? I think Ministers has no time for real issues as they are preoccupied with justifying their salary every year. Faced it, they are just being paid too much and they cannot bring themselves to disagree with PM.....

Anonymous said...

The vaiable solution is forget about $$$$$. Bend over backwards and win back the trust and confident of the people. If PAP continue to insist of the millions, then LKY is going to be right. PAP hold on powers will errode in next 10 years. My reasoning is if PAP leaders continue to believe in the old system & hang on to the "Money first, Service later" mentality, slowly and surely PAP will lose the confident of the voters. Better to have MPs with heart and Soul for the people then those who keep going back to the Parliament to ask for more $$$ to compensate for their scrifice for working Part-time.

Anonymous said...

Many people are not aware that our minister may receive up 39.5 months pay under the old pay formula.

They all got a shock when were told that our ministers received about 34.5 months pay in 2010 (16 months fixed pay + 14 months performance bonus + 8 months GDP bonus + 1.5 months annual variable bonus).

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