Lim Wee Kiak defends ministerial salaries. (Yahoo!
photo)
UPDATE
Member of Parliament
Lim Wee Kiak of the Nee
Soon group representation constituency has apologised for his
remarks linking ministerial pay with the "dignity" of
politicians.
In a note on his Facebook page on Friday, MP Lim said he would
like to clarify the comments he made to Lianhe Zaobao and
reproduced in LianheWanBao. The comments had been quickly
slammed by netizens.
He had been quoted by the Chinese paper last week as saying, "If
the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and
Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss
policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they
need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals. Hence, a
reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity."
In his Facebook note, the MP said, "I withdraw those remarks and
apologise for making them. Dignity cannot be and must not be
measured purely in monetary terms."
He said he agreed that the example he gave and his comment that
there may be loss of face if the minister's salary is low "is
inappropriate and incorrect".
Noting that ministerial pay is a sensitive issue and one that
many are concerned about, he said he would like to clarify his
comments by making three fundamental points. We have re-posted them
below in full:
1. We need a balanced approach to the question of Ministerial
pay.
2. Personally, I think we should not use pay and perks to
attract capable people to come forward to serve. I agree with PM
that there is a service to country element and an element of
sacrifice expected for the Ministers by the public.
3. On the other hand, we need to take into consideration their
responsibilities and job scope when we remunerate Ministers.
The multi-million dollar pay of ministers was a hot-button issue
in Singapore's recent General Election, which saw the ruling
People's Action Party win 81 out of 87 seats but at a significantly
lower share of the total votes.
Following the results, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong announced
the formation of a committee to review the "basis and level of
political salaries". Any pay changes would take effect from 21 May
this year.
In reaction to MP Lim's earlier remarks on ministerial pay,
Francis Oen posted on Facebook: "Hi Wee Kiat.. Suggest
you clarify your statement. Does it mean that only $ talks?! ...
And if someone earns less, does it mean he cannot have
dignity?"
Winnie Lim tweeted: "So according to
Dr Lim Wee Kiak's theory, our ministers will ignore Obama
because he earns less than all of them."
On his Facebook page, Dr Lim earlier said
that his quote was taken out of context.
"Minister's pay issue is a sensitive one. There must be a
balance. After all, capable individuals who are willing to come
forward to serve should not so because of pay and perks," he
replied to a user's question about his quote.
He added, "On the other hand, they do have families and
dependents and need to consider for retirement, etc."
Read here for more comments from readers
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/reasonable-pay-help-maintain-bit-dignity-084833549.html
