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6/24/2014
Mayors and more mayors
We have how many mayors in this little piece of rock? 5, 6? Do we need so many mayors? We don’t have any mayors before. What can the mayors do that the MPs cannot do? More important is who is paying their salaries?
We are having a bloated political machine, with so many ministers, second ministers, senior ministers of states, ministers of states, parliamentary secretaries, chairman of this and that committee etc etc. Why do we need to have such a big govt and paying so much for it? Can we have a smaller govt and do away with all the excessive political appointments?
Mind you, it is money from the people, paid by the people. I hope this kind of practices will be stopped and not copied by future govts in power. It is so easy to create more and more appointments and pay and pay since it is OPM. The money must come from somewhere. It does not come from their pockets but the people’s pockets.
Political parties must not be given a blank cheque to pay and pay with the people ended up paying for it. The people are not daft and know what is happening. It is ok to create more and more appointments and pay and pay if it is your grandfather’s company and paid by your grandfather..
Kopi Level - Green
Too tio! So many Mayors. Once there was only one Mayor for the city hall. The post was abolished because the Man said small country did not need a mayor.
ReplyDeleteNow the job is so big because country is so big. I think a good number should be 87 mayors, on per constituency, or make every MP a mayor.
ReplyDeletenow you don't kook (dig) the goldmine, when want to dig???
ReplyDeleteBefore get kick out??
Last time HDB estates under HDB branch offices management.
Economy of scales, no need to increase every now and then conservancy fees due to inflation, salaries increases, blah blah blah!!
Under Town Councils to fix the Opposition so that they screw up and all other Government Agencies made things difficult for them.
Extra funds go and play Lehman Bros and Sisters, lose lose also said bo piang, got to capitalize because to keep up with inflation.
Appoint Mayors on our payrolls so that to keep them happy as other Ministers, every three to six months promotions.
All these chiak liao bee Mayors.
Two reasons -
ReplyDelete1. There is a human tendency for empire building. The more people under you, the more important you are and the higher pay you demand.
2. To buy loyalty of followers. The trouble is this group tends to grow and get expensive over time and there is no way around it.
You stand corrected. Ong Eng Guan was the first Mayor before. However, he was elected in the City Council election. The problem is not how many of these are on the gravy train. These un-elected sinecures are the brainchild of you know who. It is a fall-back scheme to neutralise opposition constituencies, using public funds. The elected Presidency is another example of such twisted thinking.
ReplyDeleteRight now, we also have many more stat boards so that we can have more directors, MDs, chairman and presidents.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for this is Kuan Yew scholar policy. You cannot ask the smart scholar to stooge, join civil service, be a dog unless you pay them alot.
You must attract them with $, position and prestige. Everyone on the streets know our civil service is corrupt, working environment bad, full of politiking and bullying.
These shit culture benefit people at the top and they do not want to change. And to attract fresh blood, they need to raise their goodies.
The Kuan Yew scholar system is a very bad idea. If civil service pay at market rate instead of better than market rate, talent will be better spread around. Then we may have our own Bill Gate or Google guys.
In short, Kuan Yew is either stupid, or he want to destroy Singapore.
Unless we put an end to scholar system, we will keep having more generals than foot infantry.
Singapore is definitely over-governed.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, govt is so big now, that it has its own politics, where people form alliances to protect their golden rice-bowls.
Wanna test the theory? Someone suggest that a particular Stat Board gets dismantled and closed down. See the reaction....for e.g. make the suggestion to close down the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, citing that they are "unnecessary baggage" and a drain on the taxpayer-funded public purse. See what happens...you will see "self interest" exploding all over the shop as political animals go into "fight" mode to protect their cushy jobs.
I love "social experiments". They are fun ;-)
Singapore will be fine just being run by mayors.
Freakonomics Radio: "If Mayors Ruled The World?"
You paying their salaries?
ReplyDeletein bigger country the mayor in charge of area the like capital city about twice the size of spore, there are many MPs( ie 73 parliamentary constituencies in london )within the capital city which also under the mayor.
ReplyDeleteHere you have the mayor which is also the mp in same area, mp hongkah also mayor for that area
The Mayor of London's salary is £143,911 per year, which is similar to that of a government Cabinet minister.
ReplyDeleteSo how much are Spore mayors of getting from the tax payers money of our State coffer.
We want transparency and not opacity just like the our cpf, gic .
Singapore Mayors are equivalent to MOS or SMOS, it is assumed they are deriving the equivalent salary from their office.A minister of state can also be a mayor .Whether they paid additional salary , you have to ask the PM.Last time when Tang Guan Seng and Ng Pock Too lost in the GE, they were made political secretaries. MIWs
Deletecant be unemployed , malu lah.
Lots of TITLES(READ APPOINTMENTS) ARE CREATED TO REWARD RULERS WITH HUGE MONETARY RETURNS(READ REMUNERATIONS/WAGES/SALARIES). THIS MOVE WILL GET THE RULERS TO STAY TOGETHER AND KEEP THEM IN THE PACK. THE REWARD IS SIMPLY TOO IRRESISTABLE AND WITH THE PROTECTION OF POWER, WHY NOT?
ReplyDeleteQUESTION IS, WILL THESE RULERS BE AROUND WHEN THE COUNTRY IS IN TROUBLE? ARE THEIR KINS ALSO LIVING HERE AND NOT HOLDING GREEN CARDS OR EVEN CITIZENSHIPS OF OTHER LANDS?
ARE THEY NOT OWNING OVERSEA ASSETS?
BEWARE THAT NO NATION REMAINS PROSPEROUS OR TROUBLE FREE. NOT EVEN NATURALLY ENDOWED AND RICH COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD ARE FREE FROM DISASTERS, NATURAL OR MAN-MADE. SINGAPORE CANNOT ESCAPE FROM THE LATTER.
Many years of taxpayers money were paid as salaries to the so called ministers without portfolio, senior ministers and what have you,in Prime minister officer leading up to 2011 GE . They were paid multiple millions of dollars not in rupiahs but S$.
ReplyDeleteTHIS WAS ON TOP OF A FULL CABINET TEAM.
Basically there are many extras in the PMO before 2011 GE. The Ministry of Finance which is holding back our cpf cash after more than 30 years of control cannot be described as very good in managing the State coffer as far as paying millions to these extras is concerned.
ReplyDeleteRecently the owner of Zouk said he will close unless he gets a long lease. This is unlikely as that area down by the river is being rezoned for more residential development.
ReplyDeleteSo, if the parliament is dissolved, every member SACKED, parliament house could then be converted for private use -- like the new location of Zouk.
As I've argued before, Singapore doesn't need a parliament or such a big government. All it needs is a mayor and his staff which in total need not occupy more than 2 or 3 floors of a modern office building.
New York City has a mayor - Bill d'Blasio, and his staff. NYC -- pop just below 8.5 million -- runs like clockwork (most of the time) and has a smoking economy of well over 1 trillion over-printed United States dollars.
Fucking Singapore, you better get in the race, if you want to show NYC how Singapore does it, without big govt, with just a mayor and staff. Plus a banging open economy of course...
Eventually SG BEATS NYC, because Singapore die-die must be *NUMBER ONE*!
don't be surprise when they come out with kings and queens, princes and princess, dukes, duchess, counts, lords and whatever they could think of in the future.
ReplyDeleteThere are just too many high ranking (and of cos highly paid) civil servants, ministers, mayors etc. They should cut gov spending on such things and hence we do not need 6.9m people to support such a heavy public administrative costs all beared by taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteThere are many cities, towns and villages much bigger than Sg, some with larger population, administer by a few staff at State Level. Matilah has cited NYC as an example.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Sin needs such an out of proportion Cabinet? So as to keep members of the Pack on the Payroll with their World Record Remunerations.
Damn easy money getting pays tagged to a title with minimal duty and no responsibility.
Ctizens are enslaved to slog for the Privileged Class in any Fascist Regime.
remember the mother of all jiatleowbee, the previous president still holds the record of the world highest paid Head of State. After two terms, tens of millions of salaries paid just like that, for a symbolic role just for one person. Yet the finance minister simply dun want to return our cpf at 55 and keep increasing the minimum sums, money that legally belongs to us
ReplyDeleteAt one point his was paid 4.2 million sg dollars, one time increment of $500,000/- ! He was very lucky, that they tagged the salary to prvate secotor, since he was Head of State he got higher pay thant the Head of Government or the PM. His pay was ludicrously high.
ReplyDeleteAnd what did he do except shaked hands, attended banquets and smiled for the cameras.
ReplyDeleteCan there be easier money?
Maybe, a more presentable one should have been chosen instead of those slow moving zombie likes.
>>519
ReplyDeleteWhen people voted for pigs, they will get pigs styled treatment. Blame the 60% lah. They never seem to learn.
What does a mayor do in Singapore?
ReplyDelete