6/26/2018

The indignity of being overpaid in million dollar salaries

There was a time when earning a million dollar salary was something to be proud of. Oops, actually it is still something to be proud of anytime and anywhere if one can earn such money as salary. And it is also right to say that dignity comes with such a salary.  But a high salary is not necessarily equated with dignity. Donald Trump, the President of USA gets a US$1 salary a year as a token. Is his dignity diminished or lesser than those who earned more then him? Nay. Xi Jinping, the President of PRC earns less than $30,000 a year. Anyone earning more than him would dare to claim that he has bigger dignity than Xi or Trump? Nay.

Dignity is not the money you are earning, but the value or worth of the person, what is he contributing, able to contribute to country, organisation or society. The indignity part comes when one is earning ridiculous salary and contributing nothing.  

The million dollar, oops, multi million dollar salaries of Singapore's politicians is becoming a joke and the talk in town. No one has anything good to say about this indiscretionary abuse of public money to pay such humongous salary that it is becoming so glaringly clear that it is not right. People who are being paid in the millions but are seen to be contributing nothing or contributing foolishly with silly ideas would never have the dignity associated with the million dollar salary. What they have is indignity and disdain. Instead of the awe and respect they should be receiving, people would be shaking their heads in disbelief when they appeared. And many smug and unceremoniously remarks would be uttered at the indignity of such million dollar salary recipients. They have become walking exhibits of ridiculous and pompous duds. There is no dignity.

Below are a few of the remarks copied from comments in the TRE in an article posted by Phillip Ang on ministerial salary. This is what some people are saying and ridiculing the ministers for the million dollar salary that no longer makes sense and deemed inappropriate and senseless. What dignity can one talk about when the reverse is the reality? I could have copied more of the unsavoury and spicy comments about the indignity of being paid multi million dollar salary when one is undeserving.


oxygen:

FOR A LONG LONG TIME IMMEMORIAL, Ministerial pay was a SCAM – benchmarked to top private sector earners. The top private sector earners are a ROTATING POOL including businessmen or CEO’s of privately-owned business who have built their family business for decades.
IT IS A SURE-WIN BET of no risks and WORST STILL NO PERFORMANCE relevance. In private sector, if no performance, your family business KAPUT.
So how can ministerial pay be benchmarked to private sector earnings of any descript? It is RIDICULOUS TO ABSURDITY.


John Richards:

And I don’t understand why our multi-millionaire Ministers need to be paid hefty and ridiculous bonuses. Bonuses should be scrapped for Ministers. It’s merely a way to enrich themselves while leaving us clueless as to how much they are actually paid per year.

 tremendous:

If we count the total package as is always done in hr, it will not be just $1.1m. It’s not just the ministers but also board chairmen and perm secs. What exactly are their contributions or failed performances for the amounts they make ? Being a leader in the team that cannot solve transport woes ? Being the chairman of a losing sovereign fund ? Or being a board director who failed in oversight of corruption ?


LIONS:


even in PRIVATE SECTOR, a guy running a big bank such as JP MORGAN would logically be paid much more than a bloke running a smallish outfit by and large.
are the PAP folks telling us and the whole world that RUNNING SG is manifolds harder than for the POTUS to run THE MIGHTY USA or that IT IS EASIER for xi jin ping to govern CHINA?
perhaps the PM should compare his pay to that of the PM of PAPUA NEW GUINEA???

22 comments:

Anonymous said...


Of course they have to be paid millions!

They are the best-EST talents in SG.

Difficlt to find them! Difficult to find them!

So pay them! Millions are nothing!

Anyway, 70% OK-ed in the last GE.

So must have NO problem with millions!

No point kpkb and kpkb! What for? Waste time!

Everyone "boh-chup" cheng-hu. Everyone busy 3Ms!

What can you do?

Titiana Ann Xavier said...

In the corporate world, CEOs are headhunted. They are talented people with great business acumen. They earn their keeps not through cronyism or nepotism. The PAP hired "yes men" who are mercenaries and they are paid millions for their blind allegiance rather than ability. Such people cannot win respect. The kind of dignity that CEOs possess is beyond the reach of PM Lee and his motley crew of millionaires.

Anonymous said...

If talking about it here is kpkb, why are you here for?

Anonymous said...

If you earn millions because people think you deserve it, that is dignity.

If you own-self praise own-self, and own-self pay own-self millions, that is not dignity.

Respect for earning millions is bestowed by others, not what you yourself think you should deserve.

Anonymous said...

A monopoly job is an easy job. A political monopoly job is one of the easiest: 1. Plentiful of citizen money. With reserves n surpluses likely exceeding $1 trillion. Money is never an issue. Anytime can also hike tariffs n taxes. N pay themselves very very well.
2. When come to policies, way majority will alway agree n vote yes. No effective disagreement. Whip is a strong cane. All become yes-men especially when able to receive millions to say yes.
3. Bloated department of deputies, secretaries n plush offices to support.
4. Civil servants, media also must kow-tow.
A totally non-competitive job yet paid millions year-in, year-out.
One cunning old man really loves his family n party and at the end at the expense of the people.
Indded a master in creating a monopoly n mind control. Voters need to wake up.

Anonymous said...

Its in the cycle of human nature when a monopoly exists long enough, it will be ineffective, bloated, lazy, fat, feel entitled n self-justified n self-glorified.

Anonymous said...

Non competitive jobs deserve low renumeration.

Anonymous said...

Who to blame? those people gave the blank cheque!

Anonymous said...

Astronomical salaries with hidden bonuses are an affront & disgrace to public service n serving the people.

Anonymous said...

Monopoly leads to incompetence.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

What has made even friends get mad with me is my opinion that Singapore should double or triple its minister's salaries.

Why? Because in Singapore we like to over-value ourselves...oh come on, it's a proud part of our culture. Every Singaporean fancies themselves better than everyone else, and therefore is entitled to earn more, and even more than that!

So in accordance with our culture, it is reasonable to assume that our parliament is stocked with individuals who over-estimate their self-worth, and their ability to create value in their minds is certainly worth at least twice if not three times more than the embarrassingly PALTRY SUM they shamefully have to accept now.

Pay them more lah. They are Singaporean. They don't work for peanuts, like those backward Malaysians.

Anonymous said...

if only money can buy time.
i no need take taxi.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 1137:

Dude, time is money. But... time is limited, due to just ONE annoying characteristic of being a living human---mortality.

Therefore, you should definitely buy time when you have money....you buy other people's time, so you can allocate your share of limited time to other more "profitable" enterprises. For e.g.: don't drive, get a driver. Don't drive if you can fly instead. Don't cook get a chef. Don't wash and clean, hire domestic help...and the best one: don't work. Instead own the assets which generate revenue!

Unfortunately you still have to sleep...so you can MINUS 8 hrs per day right away...making time even more limited.

Here's the dilemma...if you spend all your time trying to make more money so you can get more time...you will fuck yourself up. But don't worry...everybody has done the same. Ambition is overrated. 😂

Anonymous said...

Hi 908am

Here oso to have fun kpkb and kpkb.

Can kpkb better than cannot kpkb, although useless.

So please continue to kpkb kpkb and kpkb.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

You can spend all your time making money.
You can spend all your love making time.
Courtesy: Eagles, Take it to the limit. The 2 extremes of vanity n love.

Anonymous said...

Datin Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Creator of 1MDB, the ousted ex-PM Najib Razak, is now being implicated by the Wall Street Journal as one of the two Master-Minds behind 1MDB. The other one is Jho Low. Do you believe do?

SSO said...

The people deserve the government they elected.

It is like a marriage. You choose your own life-time partner. Whether your marriage turns out happy and blissful or not, you have already chosen. So if you are not happy, then you go for a divorce. You have to act. You just cannot sit down and keep complaining but do nothing.

People's Action Party fears only People's Action Proactively.

Virgo49 said...

Anon 9.38

Sinkieland also got One Mastermind in the DOWN Fall of Sinkieland's Reserves.

Billion or trillion S$$$$$$ questions.

Anonymous said...

To one Singaporean

30% voted for the opposition, so please do not taint the whole population with the same brush.

You can tell the 70% not to whine, but the 30% have every right to complain. They do not deserve the Government they did not vote for!

Anonymous said...

To most people it is indignity for Ministers and civil servants to be paid millions dollars salaries. But to them receiving such windfall it is indignity if they are not paid millions. Their moral compass is not standard but unique as in Uniquely Singapore?