Minister Mentor Lee described as “absurd” for Singaporeans to
quarrel over the amount the ministers should be
paid. “You know, the cure for all this talk is
really a good dose of incompetent government,” he said.
The total cost to pay ministers and other office holders is now
at S$46 million a
year, which Lee said, amounted to about 0.13 per
cent of the government’s total expenditure.
“We are quarrelling about whether we should pay them S$46
million or S$36 million, or better still S$26 million. So you save
S$20 million and jeopardise an economy of S$210 billion?
What are we
talking about?” said Lee.
The proposed salary increase has attracted debate among
Singaporeans who are against the move.
But Lee told them: “I say you have no sense of proportion; you
don’t know what life is about. And just think, what would your
apartment be worth with a poor government and the economy
down?”
Asked on his salary, Lee, said he earned S$2.7
million a year as Minister Mentor.
“A top lawyer, which I could easily have become, today earns S$4
million. And he doesn’t have to carry this
responsibility. All he’s got to do is advise his client. Win or
lose, that’s the client’s loss or gain.”
On views that the ministers should be willing to make sacrifices
and not to be there for the money, Lee said: “Those are admirable
sentiments, but we live in a real world.”
http://www.ngejay.com/?p=1959
Singapore's GIC losses about $50
billion
http://www.asiaone.com/Business/News/My%2BMoney
These words have been repeatedly quoted by Chinese netizens.
In their eyes, Roh's strong sense of shame is a contrast to the
overwhelming lack
of shame among Chinese corrupted officials and even
in China's society under the impact of
the market economy.
At the same time, many industries and professions in China
are devoid of
self-blame and professional morality. Chinese people have a deep
resentment of this. Every industry and every person
should have a bottom line for what behavior is and is not
acceptable.
Actually, a sense of shame has a long
history in China and has been cherished for
generations. The “four virtues,” namely “courtesy,
justice, honesty and shame,” constitute the principles of being an
upright person.