Ministers Set For Pay Cut
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SINGAPORE, Jan 20 - The annual salaries of Singapore's ministers and senior civil servants are expected to fall by 12 to 20 percent this year in line with the shrinking economy, local media reported on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also minister in charge of the civil service, told Parliament on Monday that senior permanent secretaries and entry-grade ministers will likely receive S$1.54 million , which is a drop of 20 percent from last year.Younger officers in the elite Administrative Service -- typically top performers in their early to mid-30s -- will receive S$351,000 or about 12 percent less, Teo added.
"As the salaries are linked to economic performance, the 2009 salaries may be subject to further adjustments given the volatility of the economy," he said.
Singapore pegs ministers and senior civil servants pay to top earners in the private sector, saying it needs to pay well to retain talent in the government service.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year received an estimated S$3.76 million, about five times the annual salary of outgoing U.S. President George W Bush.
Singapore, which became the first Asian economy to slip into recession last year, has forecast the economy could shrink by up to 2 percent this year.
It is considering dipping into its reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars for the first time to tackle the slump, officials were quoted as saying on Monday.
The government could draw on the central bank's foreign reserves that totalled $174.2 billion in December, or its two secretive sovereign funds GIC and Temasek that had at least a combined $230 billion in assets in reported figures last year.
Source: Yahoo! News
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Meh, people are still going to complain it's too small a cut.
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What? We need high salaries to prevent corruption.
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Originally posted by charlize:
What? We need high salaries to prevent corruption.
ya lor. so they said.so i believed.
actually many did not need to commit corruption IF they were paid millions.
i think only lah.
i wonder how much bao biao paid to protect? if they paid .... how? will they .....?
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my point also is
i do not support cutting their salaries.
for the same reason they told us.
i concerned lor.
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hmm.. cut salary.. but.. will it increase by about 50% the next "salary adjustment" ?
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Originally posted by charlize:
What? We need high salaries to prevent corruption.
What would you think of a friend if you ask him to watch your house, and he turns around and says 'please give me $1000 so I won't steal your things'?
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Originally posted by the Bear:
hmm.. cut salary.. but.. will it increase by about 50% the next "salary adjustment" ?
Shhh.
Not so loud.
Some people still don't know how things work.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Shhh.
Not so loud.
Some people still don't know how things work.
oh yah.. cannot pichar lobang -
Originally posted by webben:
What would you think of a friend if you ask him to watch your house, and he turns around and says 'please give me $1000 so I won't steal your things'?
I will point him to another house and say that's my house.
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$1.54 million is so pathetic, should pay our Minister $4 million so that they won't succumb to corruption and they can be more capable in their job.
I think everybody needs to pay their worker more so that they can be better in their job.
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I am quite scared of them using the reserves to "help" Singaporean in the 2009 budget.
When the economy recovers, they are going to make good those reserves + interest forgone.
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
$1.54 million is so pathetic, should pay our Minister $4 million so that they won't succumb to corruption and they can be more capable in their job.
I think everybody needs to pay their worker more so that they can be better in their job.
$1.54 million divided by 365 days (assuming working nonstop for 365 days a year) works out to $4,219 a day.
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
I am quite scared of them using the reserves to "help" Singaporean in the 2009 budget.
When the economy recovers, they are going to make good those reserves + interest forgone.
You think reserves are to help singaporeans cope during this downturn?
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Was on the road just now and overheard on the radio that they are going to put in more money into Singaporean's medisave.
I was thinking, when Singaporeans are finding it hard to get money to buy food, they give you money so you can buy medicine.
All these medisave, you may or may not get to use it in the distant future.
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
Was on the road just now and overheard on the radio that they are going to put in more money into Singaporean's medisave.
I was thinking, when Singaporeans are finding it hard to get money to buy food, they give you money so you can buy medicine.
All these medisave, you may or may not get to use it in the distant future.
Majority of medisave money cannot be touched.
Unless you die first.
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they should have taken a cut a long time ago.
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Originally posted by charlize:
$1.54 million divided by 365 days (assuming working nonstop for 365 days a year) works out to $4,219 a day.
Too little!How can these poor top tier civil servants and Ministers afford their jetsetter lifestyle?
We need to pay more money so that we can attract talents like Mr. Tan.
Overheard on the radio chat just now, listeners are complaining, "Why are we paying them so much money? Are they really worth the money? They don't even have a sense of propriety or EQ."
I was thinking, maybe if we pay them even more money, they can be better at their job.
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Originally posted by dragg:
they should have taken a cut a long time ago.
$1.54 million is still alot of money.
Compared to a worker earning $1,500 / month having a 10% wage cut.
But who am I to know, I have no sense of numbers and proportions (according to Lau Lee).
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
Too little!How can these poor top tier civil servants and Ministers afford their jetsetter lifestyle?
We need to pay more money so that we can attract talents like Mr. Tan.
Overheard on the radio chat just now, listeners are complaining, "Why are we paying them so much money? Are they really worth the money? They don't even have a sense of propriety or EQ."
I was thinking, maybe if we pay them even more money, they can be better at their job.
4K a day to check emails, reply to some of them, make a few phone calls, read the newspapers to keep updated on news, maybe surf internet to guage public sentiment.
Like that not enough?
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Originally posted by charlize:
4K a day to check emails, reply to some of them, make a few phone calls, read the newspapers to keep updated on news, maybe surf internet to guage public sentiment.
Like that not enough?
You forgot about golf sessions to entertain other Ministers, civil servants and foreign dignitaries.
It's a life threatening sport, imagine while out on the greens and you get hit on the head by a golf ball.
I wonder why nobody mentioned that Goh had master tailors from Ermenegildo Zegna specially flown in from Italy to custom make his suits. I wonder if that's a perk that comes from office. I betcha any unpronounceable Italian sounding brand is going to be expensive.
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Originally posted by charlize:
4K a day to check emails, reply to some of them, make a few phone calls, read the newspapers to keep updated on news, maybe surf internet to guage public sentiment.
Like that not enough?
And to do analysis of whether a jail breaker is still in Sg or had fled! -
Originally posted by pearlie27:
And to do analysis of whether a jail breaker is still in Sg or had fled!After so many months of analysis, it has been determined that MS is hiding either in singapore or outside singapore.
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Originally posted by charlize:
After so many months of analysis, it has been determined that MS is hiding either in singapore or outside singapore.
All the sample space + complement also included.
Surely 100% correct.
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that is not enough, Pay and Pay ministers should go for 40% to 50% pay cut.