Mayors are over-glamorised positions and wasteful positions
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The government's and GLCs seem to be getting more and more prosperous with rising wages and higher bonuses.
Many of them are performing mundane bill or tax collection jobs and do not answer to poor performance are getting higher and higher wages and bonuses year after year while the average citizens are hardly getting their july bonuses or 13th month.
Yet there continue to be given promotions and higher positions whenever services are corporatized with CEOs or GM positions created to no end when actually they are doing only mundane duties or iron rice bowl jobs and even if they are deficits or losses due to inefficiencies their funds would be topped up by taxes or higher fees from the taxpayers.
For example, the mayors are supposed to be set up as municipal or local government but are they vested with relevant legislative powers to look after such duties.
Have these mayors succeeded in creating jobs or economy of scale in maintenance or upgrading of estates like the mayors of taipei has done.
If there is no clear objectives in the mayor set-up with Singapore being too small a country to require mayors then MPs should fulfill such duties and the high costs of mayors avoided or saved for medicare or some other benefits of the people.
It does not look like Mayors will have the scale in a small country to help the people or contribute to the overall governance. They are only glamourised positions for co-option and depolitization of the people.
So scrap the mayor posts as HDB or Town council could easily carry out such mundane duties of managing common property like the council members of Management Corporations who are not even paid a cent.
Some voluntary Management Corporation's council are doing even better than the Mayors as in recent bad times they have succeeded in reducing maintenance contributions and increasing their levels of services. -
2 words: Pork Barrelling
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Taiwan's mayors seem to have the power of the MP.
But what do Singapore's mayors do? What's the difference between MP and Mayor? And all those CDC thingy? -
What is the function of a 'Mayor' ?
According to Wikipedia -'A Mayor' is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer.
Why should a city-state such as Singapore have two tiers of political management ?
In many systems, the mayor is an elected politician who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of municipalities. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated
This can be seen in the many statements from the POWER OF ONE in which it can be seen as a clear attempt to strengthen its grip on political control:
'Politics is for Politicians',
'if Singaporeans have a desire to control their future, let it be for Singaporeans to decide on the neighborhood which they live in, and let the government govern'
The introduction of 'Mayors' into the Singapore Political Scene was intended to differentiate 'National Politics' from Neighborhood Politics'.
This has been done with the objective of distracting Singaporeans from the larger NATIONAL ISSUES that has heavier political weights if poorly managed.
The City of London' covers a territory bigger than Singapore, and has a population count of approximately 7.5 MILLION people in the urban city limits, and if the larger London suburbs are included into the metropolitan area, the total population of London will be 12.4 MILLION.
It seems that UK Citizens are getting more value for their taxes paid, when the combined salaries paid to the UK Prime Minister and the Mayor of London do not even come anywhere close to half of the amount paid to the Singapore PM.
Yet, in their respective areas of responsiblities, each of them govern their respective territories and population sizes larger than Singapore.
Still, after receiving a hefty MILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL SALARY, the Singapore PM will need to have six Ministers without Portfolio to assist him in his PM's Office, PLUS several Mayors to help him managed this island of 4.5 MILLION Singaporeans.
This surely is a waste of public funds by adding another tier of over glorified and high salary position; when the management of the neighborhood - its development and maintenance - are largely the responsiblities of the various Town Councils supported by the various Miinistries, Public Statutory Boards and Government Linked Companies.
Members of Parliament are supposed to be responsible for their constituency, and are already paid a state stipend to perform their duties.
Why should the Member of Parliament receive another payout for his role as Mayor ? -
Yeah, I'd like to know what mayors in Singapore do.
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cut ribbons, be GOH at CDC events..........
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I could train a monkey to do so..Originally posted by FireIce:cut ribbons, be GOH at CDC events..........
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and only pay them REAL PEANUTS & BANANAS....Originally posted by LazerLordz:I could train a monkey to do so.. 
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our mayors aren't?
btw, you see a lot of padding... you see Ministers of State, Senior Ministers of State, whatever the hell else...
like i said.. two words: Pork Barrelling
Originally posted by LazerLordz:I could train a monkey to do so.. -
Don't we have like a Minister for Defence and Minister of State for Defence?Originally posted by the Bear:our mayors aren't?
btw, you see a lot of padding... you see Ministers of State, Senior Ministers of State, whatever the hell else...
like i said.. two words: Pork Barrelling
What's the difference? -
now.. isn't that the 2% raise in GST question?
Originally posted by charlize:Don't we have like a Minister for Defence and Minister of State for Defence?
What's the difference? -
the jokers overhired and now got problem in placement, so it's creating all sorts of posts to justify all these ppl's existence. so much talent in abundance, so must keep them
in a nation stt like sgp where it's so small and have a manageable 4m ppl, all these mayors and what else are all redundant posts. they keep splitting hairs and it's a sin to keep doing what they did. -
I doubt that. I dont think they are meant to depolitize or co-opt the people. You think so? Why? I think they are like a kind of grass-root or lower level 'mayors' or perhaps 'district mayors' something like that. County level or district level officials.Originally posted by robertteh:It does not look like Mayors will have the scale in a small country to help the people or contribute to the overall governance. They are only glamourised positions for co-option and depolitization of the people.
Redundant or not, I dont have any comment. I dont know much. I think the government will not create those positions if they are redundant. -
The wording.Originally posted by charlize:Don't we have like a Minister for Defence and Minister of State for Defence?
What's the difference?