• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

What happens when politics becomes a stepping stone to riches?

by onlinecitizen
13/07/2018
in Opinion, Politics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0

Millionaire ministers

by Augustine Low

Singapore stands alone on the global stage as a country which rewards its politicians and top civil servants so handsomely that it becomes a stepping stone to riches.

If money could buy passion and commitment and proficiency, wouldn’t every country on earth follow the Singapore model?

The hard truth is that money alone cannot be a substitute for that genuine call to service and to do greater good for the country, which comes naturally only to some.

One of Switzerland’s top civil servants, the Attorney-General leading investigations into 1MDB, is an example of someone who eschews greed for that higher calling.

Mr Michael Lauber, who met Malaysia’s new Attorney-General, Tommy Thomas recently, said he was impressed: “What we need is good governance, the right people who can resist greed. When I met my counterpart, I saw his will – he is also very down to earth, it’s a very, very good start.”

After seven years on the job, the Swiss Attorney-General said he was still full of energy, and has modest means and aspirations: “I have a small apartment in Zurich where I live, I have no car, no bicycle, not even a boat. All I have is what you see on me, that’s it.”

He is a man with a passion and a purpose, and motivated for selfless reasons.

The danger of turning politics from a calling into a multi-million dollar profession (like what has happened in Singapore) is that we could end up attracting people without the passion to serve.

Do you get the sense that the cries of Singaporeans are increasingly not being heard?

For instance, no matter what the people say about the proposed GST hike, it looks like it’s going ahead for sure. So much for the pledge to listen with humility and respect. They have already reiterated time and again the need for a hike, brushing aside all arguments against it.

Even the most facetious reasons are being given, like the fact that the GST hike needs to be supported so that “our elderly population can be well taken care of.”

That call, by the way, came from the wife of the Prime Minister, whose own salary at Temasek is kept tightly under wraps.

Do you get the sense that they are in an ivory tower, with no inkling of the real needs and struggles of the people?

When Minister Chan Chun Sing starts giving his usual motherhood spin this week in Parliament about cost of living being a “multi-dimensional issue,” and amounting to a gap between people’s aspirations and their ability to fulfil them, you know that either he just doesn’t get it or he tries to turn something simple into something incomprehensible.

The bottom line is, something is just not right when politics is no more seen as a calling but as just an extravagantly paid profession.

The most pitiful part is that in our country, we just do not know anymore whether the men and women are doing it for the right reasons.


Former head of the Civil Service, Mr Ngiam Tong Dow said in an interview,

In the early days, Lim Kim San and Goh Keng Swee worked night and day, and they were truly dedicated. I don’t know whether Lee Kuan Yew will agree but it started going downhill when we started to raise ministers’ salaries, not even pegging them to the national salary but aligning them with the top ten.

When you raise ministers’ salaries to the point that they’re earning millions of dollar, every minister – no matter how much he wants to turn up and tell Hsien Loong off or whatever – will hesitate when he thinks of his million-dollar salary. Even if he wants to do it, his wife will stop him.

Lim Kim San used to tell me, “Ngiam, if you want to leave your job, make sure you have enough walkaway money.”

When the salary is so high, which minister dares to leave, unless they decide to become the opposition party? As a result, the entire political arena has become a civil service, and I don’t see anyone speaking up anymore.

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

AFP

India’s Modi hits back at opposition after Adani furore

08/02/2023
Pritam Singh’s speech on HDB affordability and accessibility
Politics

Pritam Singh’s speech on HDB affordability and accessibility

08/02/2023
Taiwan 34th Lantern Festival celebration signifies return to pre-pandemic normalcy
Arts & Culture

Taiwan 34th Lantern Festival celebration signifies return to pre-pandemic normalcy

08/02/2023
Six dead and eight injured in accident at Genting Highlands
Malaysia

Six dead and eight injured in accident at Genting Highlands

08/02/2023
Labour

Close to 70% of working Singaporeans above age of 65 earns less than S$2,500 a month

08/02/2023
Minister K Shanmugam appears to lack understanding of case where judge found bodycam footage debunked police officers’ sworn affidavits
Politics

Police investigations into conduct of WP’s Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap still ongoing: K Shanmugam

08/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

India’s Modi hits back at opposition after Adani furore

08/02/2023
Pritam Singh’s speech on HDB affordability and accessibility

Pritam Singh’s speech on HDB affordability and accessibility

08/02/2023
Taiwan 34th Lantern Festival celebration signifies return to pre-pandemic normalcy

Taiwan 34th Lantern Festival celebration signifies return to pre-pandemic normalcy

08/02/2023
Six dead and eight injured in accident at Genting Highlands

Six dead and eight injured in accident at Genting Highlands

08/02/2023

Close to 70% of working Singaporeans above age of 65 earns less than S$2,500 a month

08/02/2023
Minister K Shanmugam appears to lack understanding of case where judge found bodycam footage debunked police officers’ sworn affidavits

Police investigations into conduct of WP’s Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap still ongoing: K Shanmugam

08/02/2023
Malaysia’s seven-time Asean Para Games champion seen selling tissues at Bukit Bintang

Malaysia’s seven-time Asean Para Games champion seen selling tissues at Bukit Bintang

08/02/2023
53-year-old Singaporean worker dies after glass doors topple on him, fourth workplace fatality in 2023

53-year-old Singaporean worker dies after glass doors topple on him, fourth workplace fatality in 2023

08/02/2023

Trending posts

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
113

...

No response from Josephine Teo on whether Mediacorp has been instructed to stop coverage of SMT circulation scandal

No response from Josephine Teo over alleged blackout of coverage by Mediacorp over SMT circulation scandal

by Terry Xu
06/02/2023
13

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
4

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
48

...

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
5

...

July 2018
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Jun   Aug »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz