PM, ministers to get pay rise of between 14% and 33%
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SINGAPORE : The annual salaries of the Prime Minister, ministers and top civil servants will be increased by between 14 percent and 33 percent, with the average pay rise of 25 percent.
For civil servants in general, about two-thirds of them will get between 3 percent and 5 percent pay increases.
Revealing the details in Parliament, Minister-in-Charge of the Civil Service Teo Chee Hean said the adjustments will take effect from this month, with a second revision at year's end.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earned $2.5 million last year; after the revision, he will draw $3.1 million this year.
President SR Nathan will get $3.2 million dollars, this is up from the current $2.5 million while both Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Kwan Yew who earned $2.7 million each last year, will now get paid $3.04 million each.
In his ministerial speech, Mr Teo said competitive wages have helped attract and retain able people in government and the competitive advantage must be maintained.
Describing the Public Service as a progressive employer, Mr Teo said its human resource management practices must keep pace and competitive wages have to be paid, along with the proper development and training to improve and stretch themselves so that they can better contribute to their agencies and ultimately to serve the people of Singapore.
Pointing out that the last major salary revision for the Civil Service was seven years ago, renumeration has since fallen behind their benchmarks which are set out in the White Paper on 'Competitive Salaries for Competent and Honest Government' in 1994.
The benchmarks follow economic and employment market conditions up and down and after calculating the benchmark figure, a check against private sector income earners is made.
Mr Teo said that having taken a comprehensive look at all the schemes, attrition rates and wage levels relative to their respective market comparisons, the decision made was not to have a uniform across-the-board revision, but for adjustments that are made according to the needs of the individual scheme such as to counter attrition or where wages are lagging the market.
In addition, salary structures will be brought more in line with the philosophy of linking pay to performance and only those who have performed beyond the satisfactory level will receive a performance-based payment.
Therefore, the starting salary for a graduate with a Good Honours degree who is appointed to the Management Executive Scheme, will see a 10% rise, the starting salaries of other graduate schemes as well as that of officers who have been appointed recently will also be adjusted according to their market benchmarks.
Officers in the Civil Service such as those in the Education Service, the Corporate Support Scheme and the Operations Support Scheme, will also see a pay adjustment of 3-5% in their annual salaries which will be performance-based.
In addition, civil servants will continue to receive their annual increment and the mid year annual variable payment, and like other Singaporeans, they will enjoy the 1.5% increase in the employer CPF contribution from July this year.
The payments will be made next month, in May.
Mr Teo also highlighted a group of Civil Service schemes which is lagging the market, namely the Management Executive Scheme, the Management Support scheme, the Home Uniformed Services, and the Foreign Service, which collectively account for almost one-third of the officers in the civil service.
Salaries in the Management Executive Scheme, he said, need an upward adjustment of 16% this year and as a first step, there will be a 5-8% adjustment which will be in the form of a performance-based payment of 0.75-1.25 months of salary.
Changes to the Management Support Scheme and Technical Support Scheme, which employ officers with diploma qualifications will also see a revision with a performance-based payment of 0.5 - 1 month, while those in the Home Affairs Uniformed Services, comprising the Police, Prisons, Civil Defence and Narcotics services, where wages are also lagging, adjustments amounting to 10-13% will be carried out and come in the form of a performance-based payment of 0.75 - 1.5 months.
The Singapore Armed Forces and Foreign Service will make similar salary adjustments with Foreign Service officers receiving a market adjustment of 0.75 months.
Turning to the Administrative Service which Mr Teo described as the core of the Public Service, he said such officers are expected to not only carry out their primary jobs well, but to also actively lead, participate and contribute to inter-agency issues and service-wide initiatives.
However, their salaries which were last adjusted in 2000 have fallen behind their benchmarks which are pegged to the SR9 grade and MR4 grade.
The SR9 grade which is the entry level into the Superscale grades of civil servants is benchmarked against the salary of the 15th person, aged 32 years, from 6 professions, namely bankers, lawyers, engineers, accountants, employees of MNCs and local manufacturers. This benchmark which dipped in 2004 - 2005, but has since risen, currently stands at $361,000.
The second benchmark, the MR4 grade or Staff Grade I, which is the grade at which senior Permanent Secretaries and entry-level ministers are paid, is defined as two-thirds of the median salary among the top 8 earners in banking, law, engineering and accountancy, as well as employees of MNCs and local manufacturers. This benchmark is currently $2.2 million.
Mr Teo said salaries at the MR4 level have stayed at $1.2 million, the same level as in 2001 which means salaries are now at 55% of the benchmark.
However, he said since it is not realistic to close the gap fully in one go due to the large gap, the first step will be to increase the annual salaries for MR4 grades and above, by an average of 25%, this brings the annual salary to $1.6 million.
The revisions will be made through adjustments to both monthly salaries and annual components with monthly salaries for the MR4 grade and above being increased by an average of 15%, with the percentage increase tapering off for the higher grades.
In addition, the restructuring will remove components which are no longer relevant such as a Car Allowance, and will build up performance-linked elements.
Mr Teo said the GDP Bonus will be raised to 3%,with the bonus given only if the economy grows by 5% and payment remaining at zero if the economy grows by 2% or less.
At the same time, the Performance Bonus which will apply to all appointment holders, the Administrative Service, as well as senior officers in all ministries and statutory boards will go up by two months to a norm of 7 months.
As for Administrative Officers salaries' at the Superscale entry grade or SR9, Mr Teo said they have stayed close to the benchmark level, and as such there will not be any adjustment to the monthly salaries at this grade or in the grades below.
However, there will be a performance-based payment of 0.5 to 0.75 month, in line with other civil servants whose schemes are at or close to their benchmarks. This payment, together with the higher GDP bonus paid out this year, will raise annual SR9 salaries by 3% to $384,000 and 36% will be variable depending on how well the economy and the individual performs.
In addition, the allowance for Members of Parliament which is pegged to the Administrative Service SR9 grade will be raised from the current $11,900 to $13,200.
The GDP Bonus will also be extended to MPs, so as to link their annual package to the state of the economy, with MPs getting a one month GDP bonus if the GDP grows at 5%, but if GDP growth is 2% or less, there will be nothing.
All the adjustments will increase the Government's wage bill by about $214 million or 4.7 % for the Civil Service and $10.5 million (or 23%) for political appointment holders .
Mr Teo said the objective of the pay revision is to keep it competitive with private sector salaries.
Singapore's competitive wages have helped to bring in and retain able people in government and the public service.
He said the policy has served the nation well, so it's vital that Singapore maintains this competitive advantage of a clean, effective and efficient public service.
This will ensure a team of good people to develop the vision and execute the plans.
Click for a full copy of the ministerial statement by Mr Teo Chee Hean on civil service salary revisions. -
I feel this is the utimate daylight robbery ever seen....
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Interesting to see what CNN had written under the heading:
Singapore ministers set for million-dollar pay hike
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/05/singapore.salaries.reut/index.html -
did someone say there's no 'corruption' here?
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Just like durai, pay more and more thinking to help the poor, the unfortunate but in the end all goes to few so called talented people salaries. The poor only get so miserable sum of money and to pay back more than they get through GST.
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more like "legitimate daylight robbery"Originally posted by Mid9Sun:I feel this is the utimate daylight robbery ever seen....
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14% - 33% salary increase.....
Might as well blatently ask for a 66.6% increase to match the 66.6% votes plus 666 = luck luck luck
How many people have actually had a 14% salary increase sitting in the same job -
did someone say there's no 'corruption' here?
There's indeed no corruption. Corruption is when everything is done in the dark. Here...it's daylight
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Durai had helped NKF from a charity of a couple of millions to 183 millions of today... No one question him when he manage to raise funds...
Oooppss... it is called the "old NKF" now.. hahaha... actually to me what is the diff... all are just wayang...
What if the "new NKF" did something wrong again?
Shall we called it the "reborn NKF"...???
Anyway... no one will or dare to question the government...
Just imagine Durai with a salary of $25,000 to manage 183 millions... is it too much? it is around 7320 times...
Durai is a talent too... a top lawyer... maybe he should join PXP in the first place... and not NKF.. correction... the old NKF...
Then he would be a multi-millionaires... -
At the end of the day, we still get 'Instant Noodle' solutions and policies...
wtf man...
CBL... -
Hey, don't forget there is another upward revision at the end of the year.Originally posted by elindra:14% - 33% salary increase.....
Might as well blatently ask for a 66.6% increase to match the 66.6% votes plus 666 = luck luck luck
How many people have actually had a 14% salary increase sitting in the same job
Before you can even finish counting this increment, another one comes along just like that.
Finally, the people at the top can afford the mee siam with hum. . -
its legealized...Originally posted by countdracula:did someone say there's no 'corruption' here? -
Yeah..
the worst kind of corruption are the "legalized" ones... -
Add up the increment will hit the 66.6% levelOriginally posted by charlize:Hey, don't forget there is another upward revision at the end of the year.
Before you can even finish counting this increment, another one comes along just like that.
Finally, the people at the top can afford the mee siam with hum. .
Ya man and their hum is wrapped in gold leaves -
Its their goal to hit 100% pay incrementOriginally posted by charlize:Hey, don't forget there is another upward revision at the end of the year.
Before you can even finish counting this increment, another one comes along just like that.
Finally, the people at the top can afford the mee siam with hum. .
by hook or by crook or by both hook and crook. -
It's too much.
Increase in pay must have increase in productivity... they can increase if they can cut the no. of MP by half. -
What?Originally posted by gerrykoh:It's too much.
Increase in pay must have increase in productivity... they can increase if they can cut the no. of MP by half.
And deprive some of the MPs of hip hop lessons?
No way. -
Originally posted by Black Aces:
Do you now agree that TT Durai's pay is peanuts?
Interesting to see what CNN had written under the heading:
Singapore ministers set for million-dollar pay hike -
3 million a year!!!!
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Wait till they bench mark against the highest paid CEO in the world.Originally posted by dragg:3 million a year!!!!
MM will tell us its just a couple of billions here and there, us non-elites low life have no sense of proportion at all. And we are at the risk of losing a couple of millions when we don't pay couple of billions to our ministers to ensure top talents otherwise our mothers will become maid in a foreign country. -
why the hell do they raise Old Lee and Nathan's pay as well?Originally posted by mistyblue:Wait till they bench mark against the highest paid CEO in the world.
MM will tell us its just a couple of billions here and there, us non-elites low life have no sense of proportion at all. And we are at the risk of losing a couple of millions when we don't pay couple of billions to our ministers to ensure top talents otherwise our mothers will become maid in a foreign country.
Will any company still want to headhunt these 2 old men as their CEO? -
witness wrote:
I support what you have said - our ministers' salary benchmarking to the top earners in the private sector has gone wrong resulting in our ministers already being paid the world's highest pays which are now being claimed as still not enough.
From the global perspective, it seems extremely odd that one of the smallest countries of the world should have the highest paid government in the world. This is in fact a clear indicator that something is seriously wrong with the benchmarking formula as it exists now.
Someone (Low Thia Kiang, I think) suggested that perhaps our minister's salaries should be benchmarked to the incomes of the poorest Singaporeans. Another suggestion was for the benchmark to be associated with the median income of all Singaporeans. The final income of our ministers would then be a multiple of these incomes.
Both suggestions seem to be more reasonable than the present formula which seems to assert that ministers should enjoy high salaries by the mere virtue of their office, even as the poor get poorer. Where is the link to performance when the lot of so many people are not improved?
This is because this kind of benchmarking is itself is fallacious being skewed in such a way as to take in the successful and fortunate CEOs but the failures among them are simply excluded from the benchmarks.
The fact is that not all the best CEOs with the kind of ability assumed by the benchmark are taking their million-dollar salaries consistently but they are the changing lot. For every one who is successful they are always those despite the similar abilities and background are not doing well. Not everyone is like Jackson Tai or Wee Cho Yaw, and Jackson Tai cannot always guarantee that he will remain in such category over the sustained period.
To earn the type of multi-million salaries, many of them have seen failures and these are not reported or included in the benchmark.
Many of the high-earner CEOs in the benchmark categories have gone bust, and some have turned to driving taxis or becoming hawkers but ministers are being assumed as if they are the unfailing CEOs who would go on and on to earn multi-million rewards.
Thus the current benchmarking has been exposed as public deception with no objective basis which cannot hold water if subjected to scrutiny.
So, this kind of benchmarking is based on assumptions that the ministers are the individuals listed who know no failures and will always remain successful.
It is a "Head I win tail you lose" deception whereby ministers are assuming that they are unfailing as the benchmarked CEOs represent.
Furthermore, ministers are only wage earners and based on wage earners there will be no apple-to-apple comparison with the CEOs who are runnijng their own businesses and rewarding themselves with the highest pays tolerated by IRAS.
The whole debate in parliament looks like MM Lee is finally being exposed as adopting a benchmarking which is deceptive and calculated to give their ministers what they don't deserve.
When Low Thia Kiang asked the simple question whether by paying the ministers highest salaries in the world could they outperform ministers of Finland, Denmark or Switzerland paid lower salaries, MM Lee was tongue tied and unable to reply in substance.
He could only brush it off by saying without basis that Singapore is better governed than these countries forgeting that the onus is on him to prove his benchmark is indeed water-tight.
He condemns the ministers in these countries as mediocre instead and failing to transform their respective economies.
If this sort of news are to be circulated it will really make us the laughing stock of the whole world.
He could only been seen as trying his last ditch attempt at justifying his benchmark as truthful when clearly it is deceptive and ridiculously unreal.
Can he honestly say the economies of Denmark or Finland are less transformed than that of Singapore?
What has he transformed when 80% of our middle and lower-income earners are suffering from dropping wages and struggling with their mortgage debts over the past 20 years or so due to top-down incompetence in restruciturng the economy to the value-adding knowledge-based model talked about for years.
Owing to his system of taxing and cost recovering all costs against the citizens the domestic sector of the economy has stagnated due to high operating costs. It is only at the slightest recovery of the world recovery, the situation is getting better of late but now MM Lee is claiming success when it is far from it.
If MM Lee indeed has transformed the economy as claimed, we would not have so many middle income earners today begging government to lower fees and charges and asking for jobs, as seen for the period 1997-2004.
Have these ordinary citizens' lives got better due to the so-called transformation which he claims as his achievement over the Danes or Swiss.
Who are we to envy? Next to the benchmark perhaps, MM Lee is going to assume that he is more capable than Li Ka Shing and should receive as much as Li Ka Shing.
This benchmark hence is deceptive as it is only comparing with the successful among CEOs not reflecting true situation as CEOs many of whom have been suffering dropping wages like ordinary workers despite their talents.
The best benchmark which will be objective and fair to all including retention of talents in the public sector is to equate ministers' salaries to a multiple of mean incomes of the lower-income earners or median income earners.
The current benchmarking is flawed and totally unrepresentative of the real wage earner situation in the economy. I has assumed that the benchmarked CEOs would be totally unfailing and there is no dropping of wages or performances among them and only the successful are to be compared with.
Are our ministers' abilities equal to these private sector's bosses and entrepreneurs many of whom receiving the highest pays mentioend might have suffered losses or bankruptcies in downturns or recessions but these facts are conveniently ignored by the benchmarkers who have a conflict of interest in preparing their such a benchmark.
The fact is the intention may be well but the method is wrong or deceptive being calculated only to reward the ministers themselves without proper basis. -
my pay is low i will corrupt my work , no motivation
u think i can get a pay rise ? -
Your boss will tell you to go.Originally posted by valentinoo:my pay is low i will corrupt my work , no motivation
u think i can get a pay rise ?
Yes, just go.
Don't even bother turning off your computer. -
Now that we have the most expensive government in the world, we the layman or the non-ellite should now all go to our MPs and civil servant to ask them to solve all opur problems. From now onwards, NO MPs should tell us to rely less of the government. The government MUST do all the things for the people. You are our highly paid SLAVE now !!!
Let us make them our SLAVE !!!