When will all these Government Atrocity going to stop?
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Seriously; HOW MUCH is ENOUGH? And how MUCH HIGHER COST of living can Singaporeans take, how much tighter can people tighten their belts while the government keeps beefing up their pay & living it up out of our sight??
I think the FAP is pushing the envelop too far, and can result in a similar Myanmar Unrest....
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Singapore boosts pay for officials... again
Asian Sentinel
18 Dec 07
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=942&Itemid=31
The world's highest-paid public servants get a second round of pay increases with the New Year
Singaporean ministers and civil servants, already by far the highest-paid public servants in the world, are scheduled to receive a second round of pay raises starting Jan. 1 ranging from 4 percent to 21 percent. The increase will drive Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's salary to S$3.7 million, or US$2.53 million, more than six times that of US President George W. Bush.
The government kicked off furious public discussion in April, when the Singapore Public Service Division announced pay rises that gave Lee a 25.5 percent increase, to S$3.1 million. In response to the furor, Lee at the time announced he would donate his pay raise to charity and hold his current level of pay for five years.
The Singapore government has long taken the stance that public officials should receive pay commensurate with the top of the country's business elite, both to attract top talent and to forestall any temptation towards corruption. On a conventional level, the latter has worked. There have been almost no scandals attached to Singaporean ministers for decades.
At the very top of the salary pyramid is Singapore President S R Nathan, whose salary will rise to S$3.8 million (US$2.6 million). The Public Service Division's revised salary package gives starting-grade ministers a salary of S$1.94 million (US$1.32 million). Rank-and-file ministers and the republic's top civil servants will receive salary increases of 4 percent. Allowances for Members of Parliament are also set to increase, to S$225,000 a year, a 4 percent jump.
One angry Singapore blogger posted salaries for other international politicians. In addition to Bush, US Vice President Richard Cheney receives US$202,900 annually, cabinet secretaries range from US$157,000 to 186,600. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown receives the equivalent of US$170,556 and his cabinet ministers receive the equivalent of US$146,299. Newly elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Australia receives US$137,060, the Deputy Prime Minister get US$111,439 and the treasurer is paid US$102,682.
The Singaporean Minister in charge of the Civil Service, Teo Chee Hean told reporters last week that the increases are in keeping with April's announcement.
"Public sector salaries move up and down with the market. In this tight labor market, private sector salaries have moved up significantly, as the benchmark figures show. The service needs to follow promptly in order to attract and retain good people," said Teo.
He added that actual pay is tied to individual performance and the performance of the economy. Some 50 percent of public servants' annual salaries at senior levels are performance based.
At that, the public services department said, the current round of salary increases only bring wages for level-four ministers to 77 percent of private sector benchmarks to which they are pegged. The benchmark, the department said, is set at two-thirds of the median pay for the top eight earners in the fields of banking, law, engineering and accounting and top executives with multinationals and local manufacturers.
At age 55, serving Singaporean ministers may collect both their salaries and their full pensions if they have held office for a minimum of eight years under a complex formula for determining the amount, capped at two thirds of the highest annual salary of any public office held by the individual. Lee Hsien Loong, in answer to questions in Parliament in 2004, said eight cabinet ministers currently receive both salaries. -
With all the harp about the raising of the withdrawal age for the state-orchaestrated scam (better known as CPF) and the annuities, it's indeed uniquely Singapore that no questions are raised as to why the age eligible for pensions for the fascists isn't raised (as if their present remuneration isn't obscene enough)...
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Oh simply because they are special... and since when have they ever answered to any public queries - truthfully & directly without beating around the farking bush?Originally posted by walesa:With all the harp about the raising of the withdrawal age for the state-orchaestrated scam (better known as CPF) and the annuities, it's indeed uniquely Singapore that no questions are raised as to why the age eligible for pensions for the fascists isn't raised (as if their present remuneration isn't obscene enough)... -
Why are the rich allowed pensions but not the poor?
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Although I'm impressed by LHL holding off his pay for 5 years, it seems like 5 years is a carefully calculated time period.
The last GE was in 2006, so the next one will be around 2011~2012. He announces in 2007 he's holding it off for 5 years. Exactly 5 years later, the next GE would have been completed. In addition, the news that the pay has returned to him will most likely not be covered by the news, and the amount of money will then silently start creditting to his bank account -
when?
when all of us stopped voting for them. simple as that..
still i see many fools ard. -
ho seh liao
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I think the article is misleading by lumping ministers together with rank and file public officers...
Unlike top level ministers, junior public officers may just gross between $30k - $50k a year. Not talking about superscale heads of departments and perm secs, but just normal rank and file public officers.
They are subject to the same rise in costs of living in SG and it is not unusual to see their private sector counterparts surpass them in salary by more than 50% on good years due to generous bonus payouts (i.e. banks, mnc).
Even in a relatively "good" year like this year, their bonus was capped at abt 3 mths. Compare this to a 6 mth bonus payout in the mnc and they start to feel the pinch.
As for "iron ricebowl", they are also subject to dismissal or asked to leave if their are not measuring up and increasingly, their pay is tied to performance. -
Hehehe...........
This means that all our Cabinet Ministers are capable of standing in for Prime Minister of England, President of USA and Prime Minister of Japan many times over. -
I'm sure to our ministers, a job in Singapore pays better than a job in England, USA or JapanOriginally posted by maurizio13:Hehehe...........
This means that all our Cabinet Ministers are capable of standing in for Prime Minister of England, President of USA and Prime Minister of Japan many times over. -
To describe their salaries as highest in the world is now out of date - they should be highest in the universe.
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LHL pay increased by only 25.5% in April only mah?
I thought most of the ministers had their pay checks increased by almost 100%? hmm is my memory failing me?
wow S$3.7millions per year. cool. Seriously, who do he think he is? Certainly he does not deserve such high pay.
I agreed that ordinary public servants deserved pay rise due to the inflation. But certainly not the ministers. They dare to increase their pays twice a year.
God damn it. It's unbelievable and unprecedented. -
I think inflationary effect and gst and risen cost of living may have been eased for public sector employees of the largest employer given the pay hike and good bonus. I am however not sure if this applies to the private sector sg'reans.Originally posted by HyperFocal:Seriously; HOW MUCH is ENOUGH? And how MUCH HIGHER COST of living can Singaporeans take, how much tighter can people tighten their belts while the government keeps beefing up their pay & living it up out of our sight??
I think the FAP is pushing the envelop too far, and can result in a similar Myanmar Unrest....
I hope the benefits given to public sector sg'reans should also be distributed to private sector sg'reans given that the economy is supported by all sgreans.
And am i right to say that all public sector employees are given pay hikes regardless of performance? -
please use the correct words and not overuse words like "atrocities"
no one was tortured and murdered...
if you want to use "gravy train" and "pork barrelling" go ahead...
please do not cheapen real atrocities in the world -
..well, people here are being murdered systematically financially, & as well in terms of livelihoods by a job market plundered by PRCs...Originally posted by the Bear:please use the correct words and not overuse words like "atrocities"
no one was tortured and murdered...
if you want to use "gravy train" and "pork barrelling" go ahead...
please do not cheapen real atrocities in the world
...tortured by trigger-happy increases of all sorts of living costs.... increasing their own salaries and keeps telling people they will live beyond 85 and hence need not draw on their CPF, when in actual fact majority of locals are already diagnosed with Diabetes, High Blood, High Cholestrol, etc...
...these are not ATROCITIES???? -
If you want to teach English, I suggest you go become a English teacher.Originally posted by the Bear:please use the correct words and not overuse words like "atrocities"
no one was tortured and murdered...
if you want to use "gravy train" and "pork barrelling" go ahead...
please do not cheapen real atrocities in the world -
please use the correct words and not overuse words like "atrocities" Mad
I agree with this point of view.
no one was tortured and murdered...
if you want to use "gravy train" and "pork barrelling" go ahead...
please do not cheapen real atrocities in the world
In political writing, using proper terms is important, unless you are a propagandist.
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language,"
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm -
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:
You're telling me that NO political writing is driven by propaganda? Please
I agree with this point of view.
In political writing, using proper terms is important, unless you are a propagandist.
[b]George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language,"
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm[/b] And Bear is just nitpicking because he/she has nothing to say in support of the powers that be