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ELECTION ISSUE: Million-dollar Pay but Never-ending Fiasco

(1) World-Infamous Million-Dollar PUBLIC SECTOR Salaries
1.1 Quotable Quote from US President Barack Obama (BBC 11 Jul 09):
“…No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves…”
1.2 A MOST PATHETIC PAP Political U-Turn:
THEN (Straits Times 21 Aug 1989)
“NOW
When it was put to him that people hoped for LEADERS who were willing to make sacrifices and who were not there for the money, he (MM Lee Kuan Yew) replied that these were “admirable sentiments but we live in the real world”. (Straits Times 5 April 2007)
To build a country, you need PASSION. If you just do your sums — plus, minuses, credit, debit — you are a WASHOUT.” — PM Lee Kuan Yew
1.3 HIGH COST of GOVERNMENT in Little Red Dot Singapore :
(a) A BLOATED CABINET comprising an extravagant entourage of one Prime Minister, one Minister Mentor, two Senior Ministers, two Deputy Prime Ministers — followed by 15 Ministers, 10 Ministers-of-State [plus 4 Parliamentary Secretaries, 5 CDC Mayors and 82 PAP MPs]
(b) A BULGING BLOATED BUREAUCRACY with 9 Organs of State, 15 Ministries and 64 Statutory Boards.
NOTE: The high cost of this Top-Heavy Government is paid for NOT from PAP Party Funds but from PUBLIC FUNDS (i.e. the hard-earned monies of Singapore Taxpayer-Voters collected through numerous taxes/dues)
1.4 PAP Government’s World-Infamous Twin Records:
(a) PM Lee Hsien Loong confirmed as “World’s Highest-Paid Politician” by Economist/Financial Times.
(b) All the world’s Top 30 highly-paid politicians are found in SINGAPORE (in PM Lee’s Cabinet, of course!).
1.5 Singapore’s fat-cat ministers getting fatter each year:
[Source: Straits Times reports]
Data on BASIC Annual Pay (i.e. excluding undisclosed bonuses/other perks)
President: $2.6m (2006) $3.2m (2007) $3.9m (2008)
[THIS MUCH for a largely ceremonial post (shaking hands, kissing babies, cutting ribbons, opening Keppel Bay bridge, attending charity functions, hosting state dinners ....) ???]
PM/MM/SM: $2.5m (2006) $3m (2007) $3.8m (2008)
DPM: $2m (2006) $2.5m (2007) $3m (2008)
Minister: $1.2m (2006) $1.6m (2007) $1.9m (2008)
[Current MP Allowance (for a part-time job!) = $13,500 per month]
[PM Basic Pay = $3.8m per year = $320,000 per month = $10,000 per day ]
[Minister Basic Pay = $1.9m per year = $160,000 per month = $5,000 per day ]

1.6 FINAL VERDICT of Singapore Taxpayer-Voters:
We, Singaporeans, Not DAFT!!!
Neither are we uncivilised or barbaric to expect our Politicians/Bureaucrats to work “for free” or to survive on “fresh air and love of the people”.
We will readily support ADEQUATE/REASONABLE remunerations.
BUT these are not just humongous but OBSCENELY-HUMONGOUS salaries, going by both local/international PUBLIC SECTOR standards !!!
How could tiny Singapore’s PM be earning six times the pay of the American President and ten times that of the Japanese PM and the Australian PM ???
[All the latter three Heads of State are governing very BIG countries, with LARGE populations and VERY COMPLEX political/economic/social issues.]
If Singapore’s PM screws up, only Singaporeans will suffer.
But if the American President screws up (and presses the wrong buttons), the whole world (including little red dot Singapore) could go up in nuclear smoke!!!
With such obscenely-humongous PUBLIC SECTOR salaries, how can these PAP politicians ever earn the “respect and moral authority” of Singaporeans to govern this tiny island nation???
1.7 A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
(a) The above-stated mind-boggling SINGLE-DIGIT MILLIONS represent BASIC Annual Pay i.e. excluding mid-year bonus, year-end bonus, Performance Bonus, GDP Bonus, CPF/PENSION, other perks, etc.
TOTAL Annual Pay = (disclosed) BASIC Annual Pay + (undisclosed) bonuses/other perks.
(b) For Comparison — in 2009, the TOTAL Annual Pay packages (as DISCLOSED in published Annual Reports) of various public-listed Temasek-Linked Companies* range from $3m to $11.6m.

[*DBS, SingTel, SGX, Keppel Corp, SembCorp, CapitaLand
In 2007, CapitaLand CEO Liew Mun Leong (a former pen-pushing Civil Servant!) received a whopping Total Annual Pay of $20.5m --- which led to a public outcry.]
(c) Thus, the (undisclosed) TOTAL Annual Pay of our fat-cat Million-dollar Ministers will likely be in the TWO-DIGIT MILLIONS (likely upwards of $15m?).
WHY THE SECRECY???
As if Singapore Taxpayer-Voters who are the very people paying for such huge sums of money HAVE NO RIGHT TO KNOW???
["There is no policy too sensitive to question, and no subject so taboo that you cannot even mention it." --- DPM Lee Hsien Loong (ST 17 Jan 2000)]
["DPM Lee promises a more open Singapore"; "I don't make promises I can't keep: DPM Lee" (ST 7 Jan 2004)]
["We are OPEN and TRANSPARENT...WE CANNOT HIDE what goes on in Singapore" --- MHA Minister Wong Kan Seng (ST 18 May 03)]
["This is a very honest government. We don't try to mislead the people." --- SM Goh Chok Tong (ST 29 Nov 06)]

(2) NEVER-ENDING PAP Fiasco after Fiasco
Listed below are JUST A FEW more recent incidents taken from A LONG LIST!
[name of Minister-in-charge stated in square brackets]
(a) DISGUSTING ENOUGH – Fiascos involving the hard-earned monies of the People:
– 2002 IDA “Honest Mistake” Fiasco resulting in non-recovery by statutory board IDA of an erroneous over-payment to SingTel of $388 million of public funds
[Ex-Minister David Lim]
– 2002 LTA Proposed $500 million Office Building Fiasco
[Ex-Minister Yeo Cheow Tong]
– 2003 HDB Overly-Generous $220 million Retrenchment Payout Fiasco, with no 25-year cap
[$2m Minister Mah Bow Tan]
– 2005 URA $400,000 Spending Fiasco to “re-brand” Marina Bay as…..Marina Bay!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!
[$2m Minister Mah Bow Tan]
– 2006 Temasek Holdings S$6.5 BILLION Shin Corp Monumental Blunder (just one of the countless never-ending Temasek Monumental Financial Fiascos !!!)
[ $3.8m PM/Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong ]
– 2010 SLA /IPOS $12 million Massive Fraud Fiasco
[$2m Law Minister K Shanmugum/$2mFinance Minister Tharman Shamugaratnam]
– 2010 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES $400 million Spending Fiasco
[$2m Minister Vivian Balakrishnan]
– 2010 ORCHARD ROAD “Freak Flood” Fiasco
[$2m Minister Yaacob Ibrahim]
(b) EVEN MORE DISGUSTING – Fiascos affecting the precious health/lives of the People:
– 2003 MINDEF “Dunking Death” of 19-year old NSman (eldest son)
[$3m DPM Teo Chee Hean]
– 2005 MINDEF ”Drowning Death” of 24-year old Regular (only son)
[$3m DPM Teo Chee Hean]
Note: To die during wartime defending Singapore is heroic bravery.
But to die during peacetime training is SENSELESS STUPIDITY!!!
During the preceding 10 years (1994 – 2003) — 37 training deaths / over 3,000 NSmen injured.
Similar figures not disclosed for first 20 years of NS (most likely higher!)
– Jun 2007 MCYS 17-year old Triathlete Sudden Death Fiasco (no medical personnel, no ambulance, no CPR, no defibrillator, NO NOTHING !!!)
[$2m Minister Vivian Balakrishnan]
– Nov 2007 (barely 5 months later!) MCYS Five Dragon Boat Paddlers Drowning Fiasco (paddlers were not wearing life-jackets; age range 20 to 31)
[$2m Minister Vivian Balakrishnan]
Note: Winning at all costs — even at the cost of the lives of participants???
THIS is not SPORTS — but SHEER STUPIDITY!!!
– 2005 NEA Major Dengue Epidemic Fiasco (14,210 infected, with 25 deaths, including a 10-year old student )
[$2m Minister Yaacob Ibrahim]
– 2004 MOE Vietnam School Trip Fiasco (when Vietnam was having a major Bird Flu outbreak!)
[$2m Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam]
– 2008 MAS SELAMAT GREAT ESCAPE MONUMENTAL BLUNDER (1st SECURITY FIASCO)
[$3m DPM Wong Kan Seng]
– 2010 MRT DEPOT BREAK-IN VANDALISM INCIDENT (2nd SECURITY FIASCO)
[$3m DPM Wong Kan Seng]
(3) MM Lee Kuan Yew defending “Top Pay for Top Talent”:
“You want to quarrel about $20 million over a $4 trillion economy? I say, RUBBISH!” (ST 23.4.07)
“The cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government.” (ST 5.4.07)
“If Singapore gets a “dumb government”, the country is done for.
That is why Singapore needed an extraordinary government, filled with top talent…
If Singapore ever loses this kind of government of capability and integrity, it will just sink into nothingness……” (ST 23.4.07)
“Our women will become maids in other countries — foreign workers.” (TODAY 5.4.07)
(4) PM Lee Hsien Loong defending “Top Pay for Top Talent”:
[BBC Interview on 18 Mar 2009]
BBC Interviewer:
“Finally Prime Minister, I read that you’re apparently the HIGHEST-PAID HEAD OF GOVERNMENT IN THE WORLD. Your salary is about four, five times what President Obama gets.
ARE YOU WORTH ALL THAT MONEY?”
PM Lee Hsien Loong (Laughs):
“I’m not comparing myself and I don’t look at these rankings.
We go on a system which is OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT.
What is the job worth, what is the quality of person whom you want. You need the best people for the job and these are jobs where you make decisions which are worth billions of dollars.
And you cannot do that if you’re pretending and you just say, well, we’re all in it for the love of king and country.
We wanted to be HONEST, we want people not to come in for the money but at the same time, their sacrifice cannot be too great.
And at times like these, you want the BEST POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT you can have.”
See Leong Kit
* The writer is a 62-year old Singaporean who had completed full-time National Service