The Ministerial Salary Review Committee is still hustling together to hammer out a fair salary for the ministers and the President. It must be fair to incumbents and fair in the eyes of the people. What the Committee must not forget is that their recommendations would affect the dignity of our ministers and President when they get to meet their foreign counterparts. And the last thing they want to do is to diminish their dignity.
There is also another important consideration that they must not take it lightly. Our ministerial salary is a world record that is unbeatable by any country. Please make sure that this record is not broken or compromise.
One way to go about it is to declare everything up front, be it $5m or $10m. The recommendation must not be something like $1m plus one or more variable components that cannot be disclosed and protected under the Official Secrecy Act. This will rob us of the world record and also undermine the dignity of our ministers and President.
I hope the Committee knows what is good for Singapore, the ministers and the President and also the people. They must protect the dignity of the ministers and President at all costs, and also our world record of the at least 30 top paying politicians in the world.
If super high salaries of ministers, prime ministers and presidents are equated with dignity, then our President and politicians surely represent the epitome of super dignity as no politician, including presidents and prime ministers, in the world earn more than Singapore's. Now isn't that super?
ReplyDeleteHaha I like your piece. But if it hopes to induce even the slighest twinge of guilt to those concerned, don't forget we are talking about very thick skins here (maybe the thickest in the world?).
ReplyDeleteThis is like housing prices. After being paid so much, bringing it down is kind of funny feeling.
ReplyDeleteWhat dignity?
ReplyDeleteYou mean Obama, Wen, Cameron and others because of their low salaries compared to our ministers, have no dignity meh?
Maybe our ministers are of one kind that goes around asking counterparts how much is their salary before they talk. Low salary, no talk!
Question:
ReplyDeleteHow much is too much?
Answer:
When you are afraid of telling the world exactly how much.
“If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister’s ideas and proposals, hence a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity.”
ReplyDeleteCut salary never mind...they'll make up by "special adviser" posting
ReplyDeleteOops, forgot about this loophole. Some one must tell Gerard Ee to take this into account for his salary review.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to commit robbery make sure the robbery is legalised. If you want to indulge in corruption make sure it is legalised too. The difference is that illegal robbery and corruption is black . The law will catch up with you and you will see yourself in prison. However, legalised robbery and corruption is white and has the full backing of the law and the authority. So it is safe and you can stride the streets with pomp, swagger and arrogance and sneer at the daft people around . However, fortunes wax and wane. So whether the robbery and corruption is legal or illegal, you will have to pay a price eventually. It is only a matter of time. It can be sooner or later.
ReplyDeletesouthernglory1
If you want to rob, make sure that your robbery is legalised. If you want to involve yourself in corruption, make sure it is legalised corruption. The difference is that illegal robbery and corruption is black and it is against the law. Sooner or later the law will catch up with you and you will see yourself in prison. Legalised robbery and corruption is white and it has the full backing of the law and the government and so people will assume you are clean and honest and therefore you can walk openly with pomp and arrogance and sneer at the daft people. However, fortunes wax and wane and so whether the robbery and corruption is legal or illegal you will have to pay a price eventually. It is only a matter of time
ReplyDelete