Dignified pay

Sophia Tsang

There is much discussion regarding ministerial pay. Dr Lim Wee Kiak’s comments have now gone viral. This shows how much the populace of Singapore care about this issue.

For a start, not many bought the “pay millions to ensure no corruption” argument. To me, a man who requires million dollar salary to keep from corruption is like a man who needs a harem to keep from
lust. Trust me, there is no satisfying such a man. I also have enough faith in the integrity of my leaders that they will not be such.

Then there is the issue of speaking rights. Whether it was a tongue-in-cheek comment, or a quote out of context, the underlying suggestion in Dr Lim’s remarks is that more money, more talk. If this were true, I have suddenly become the most undignified person in my family, for even my youngest is earning some money since she is on internship, and I have no income whatsoever. Jokes aside, when our retired MM Lee called himself a “kept man”, earning much less than his late wife, did he lose his authority or the respect of Singaporeans? Speaking rights is based on much more than income – think Mother Teresa.

Just as a summary of my own thoughts on this issue – it will bring shame to a wealthy nation like Singapore if we paid our parliamentarians so little that they can only manage hawker centre meals. Just like our country can now hold her head high, we do not expect our leaders to hang their heads low, because they cannot make ends meet. But this task I am confident Mr Gerard Ee will address fairly and I await his report.

Finally I do want to mention a lack of dignity. A man feels that he has no dignity when his wages do not give him enough to cover the basic needs for himself and his dependents. We are talking enough to keep bellies warm and basic living quarters. That too disgraces our country. When I read about the million dollar payouts to CEOs, which yardstick was used to calculate our ministerial salaries, I am angered.

Some companies can pay their directors and CEOs astronomical bonuses, but how much of these were the result of the blood and sweat of the staff at the bottom of the hierarchy, who barely earn enough to keep body and soul together? Spare them a thought even as we enjoy the prosperity of our nation.

—————

Clear national direction needed

Jeremy Chen /

Singapore seems to have been, for the past decade, floundering with no well defined direction. Granted, there have been some great new initiatives such as NParks’ work in building a greener and more pleasant environment, as well as forays into large scale event management (with mixed results), but it appears that the only truly concerted movement has been increasing the population, as seen in extensions of the rail network to and relatively rapid building of housing in the northeast.

Most lists of Singapore’s major achievements do not contain anything post-2000. This leads to the question of whether our leadership thinks we are “there” and only minor incremental moves are necessary. I would most certainly disagree with that proposition, pointing to clear quality of life issues that are widespread.

As a national direction, I would propose something familiar. As a statement of objectives, it reads: to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. (Nostalgically: 建设公正平等的民主社会,并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步.) That definitely sounds good and agreeable to most, though it need not be the direction for our nation as articulated by the government, but there are compelling historical reasons for it.

We need a direction to tag to and it should be clearly articulated. It will serve as a set of principles and objectives to verify all legislation and initiatives against. Conversely, such a direction may be used to design and formulate legislation and initiatives.

With apologies for the abstract, this call for an articulated direction is basically an appeal for a statement of mission, vision and values, on which strategic thrusts and the crafting of initiatives may be based. We need this, or, like corporate entities without one, be destined to flounder and envying the increasing success of others with clarity of purpose and alignment to that purpose.

I propose that the formulation of a clear direction be done in Parliament. The pledge could be the basis of one. It should be borne in mind that goals like “ensuring security” and “promoting growth” are of a strategic nature (supporting the mission and vision, respecting the values). Lets do this right and get Singapore on the road to success. Is any MP up to the task of raising a motion on this matter?

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

投资金钱游戏被卷走数千亿人民币 逾百中国人马国求助

陷金钱游戏陷阱,逾百名中国人昨午聚集在驻马来西亚中国领事馆外,哭求当局伸出援手,介入调查,帮助他们讨回数千亿人民币资金。 据悉,这批示威者来自中国各省份,他们投资了将近5000亿人民币(约965亿新元)到马国一名华裔男子所运营的马来西亚恩比爱集团(MBI International)金钱游戏公司中。但是在该公司崩盘后,受害者感到难以接受,有者甚至选择轻生。 以下是示威情况(视频取自《东方新闻网》): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&v=bFNHx4r0vDc 受害者们随后在社交媒体上社群组,号召大家自费到马国进行诉求,期盼通过群体力量来引起相关单位的注意,并伸出援手帮助讨回资金。 会面失败求助大使馆 这批人士自周一起,分成13个小组,陆续抵达马来西亚,然后他们去到总部坐落在槟城的金钱游戏公司,希望能够和负责人见面。 遗憾的是,他们并没有成功见到负责人,还被公司保安人员驱赶,甚至有人已经遭到刑事恐吓。 为了确保人身安全,他们唯有租车到吉隆坡的中国驻马大使馆外进行示威,却再次被执法人员以安全为由驱赶。他们只有移师到中国驻马领事馆外部,进行和平示威。 这批人士于上午开始聚集,至到中午时分,人数已激增至百人以上。过程中,有的示威者激动地嚎啕大哭,向媒体讲述被骗过程,也有人举着横幅,高喊“还我们血汗钱!”、“张XX骗子”、“张XX还钱”,“我们要见中国驻马大使!”。 他们表示,在中国还有很多人深受其害,有者资金甚至还是从亲戚和其他管道筹借的。…

时隔一月又沦陷! 双溪登加增57冠病病例

上月21日,当局宣布双溪登加客工宿舍(Sungei Tengah Lodge)是无冠病,孰不知一个月后竟再度“沦陷”,出现新感染群,共新增57冠病19病例! 双溪登加客工宿舍也是本地最大的客工专用宿舍,脱离感染群名单时,累计病例2203例。 根据卫生部文告,截至本月22日中午12时,本地新增50冠病19确诊,有两例社区病例,五例入境病例。 社区病例都是本地公民, ,两人分别是年龄56岁和63岁的新加坡籍女子,其中一人在出现症状后,还曾到宏茂桥的工艺教育中区学院工作。 入境病例方面,一名新加坡公民在本月10日从伊朗返国。另两人是29岁印度籍女子和44岁荷兰籍女子,持家属准证,在本月10日分别从印度和荷兰抵境。 还有一名学生证持有者,本月8日从印度抵境;以及一名40岁菲律宾籍工作准证持有者,本月9日从菲律宾抵新。他们都有遵守居家通知并接受检测。 目前,本地仍有1万3700名客工在隔离。 本地累计确诊增至5万6266例。当局仍在收集病例详情并将在今晚公布细节。  

MPA: Progress made in containing and cleaning up the oil spillage

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has announced that it…