Singapore PM's salary stuns White House official

last SG · 2007-04-11T13:08:54+00:00

Wha lau, cham laio, Woei!!! u all against my Uncle on person not fair hor, bully the weaks and mental ones are cowards.

karma-preneur SG

void

unclebutcher SG

if you think about it...in terms of economics...

opportunity cost- if a minister can earn millions as a surgeon or businessman or CEO, and he is very talented, if Singapore govt. doesnt pay him highly, will he become a minister???

granted, there are some who would not earn millions if they work in private sector. but we do need these high salaries to attract the top talent to form the nucleus of the parliament.

also, they will not succumb to bribery with their high salary. do u think they want to risk being kicked out of the gravy train just for a a few hundred thousand extra...which is much less than they are earning now as minster....

what do you think will happen if, say, Dr m/ sby becomes singapore minister???

nonameguy SG

And if he doesn't become a minister, can he earns millions as a surgeon or businessman or CEO? The skillset of these occupations are completely different, because you have the talent to come out with plans to wipe out dengue fever, will that give you the skill to perform demanding operations on a person's brain? Or help you sell more mp3 players than Apple? LSL had a mathematical degree, if he didn't become the PM could he had become a mathematical prof earning millions? Or a CEO?

Plus don't forget that by becoming a politician you are paid not just by cash, but you also get your reward of power and respect.

Originally posted by unclebutcher: also, they will not succumb to bribery with their high salary. do u think they want to risk being kicked out of the gravy train just for a a few hundred thousand extra...which is much less than they are earning now as minster....

what do you think will happen if, say, Dr m/ sby becomes singapore minister???

So, if they raise their wages does that mean that they will not be corrupt? Will not help their family members or friends get out of trouble? Will not give projects to them? Can you ensure that?

One thing though, if increasing the salary of the White House by 5 times will give USA better leaders then the monkeys there right now I would be glad to support that wage increase.

dakkon_blackblade SG

Actually, in some countries such as US or even Thailand (look at Thaksin), they become rich first before they become politicians. So they wouldn't even need the high salaries in the first place. However, in Singapore it seems to be the other way round. Civil service and public office become the route to riches.

Talking about civil service in terms of monetary opportunity costs undermines the intrinsic values of honour and integrity that have underpinned public office since the classical times. Is that the kind of politicians we want to breed? The kind that thinks only in terms of "what is there in it for me?"

Ionlytalknoaction SG

Let's put it in a geographical way.

President BUSH controlled 1 of the most powerful nation in the world who can declare war at any given country or sent aid to any given nation.

MP Lee controlled Singapore, a really tiny island,earned 5 times more than President BUSH. 8 Times paycheck more than Japanese prime minister.

If the Top leader in the world (United States) do not earn so much,
how come our Leader is earning so much from a small nation?

How do our minister approve of such salaries in the first place?

They crowned themselves with money?????? (Just curious to know how, correct me if I am wrong)

The Amercians also tried to draw top talents so does our nation.
We should pay people at a competitive rate and not at an inflated rate.

If our country's leaders or talents serve Singapore just because we offered an outrageous pay rate. I say we are desperate to sell ourselves to talents.

And the so-called talent we got come here because of money, if 1 day, Singapore comes into recession and our country failed to pay them highly. These talents will leave because of money.

(Correct me if I am wrong)

RatFink SG

Originally posted by nonameguy:
[b]
So, if they raise their wages does that mean that they will not be corrupt? Will not help their family members or friends get out of trouble? Will not give projects to them? Can you ensure that?
b]

I love this arguement. Let's pay our politicians an obscene amount of money up front so they don't have to steal it. Why waste time with concepts like a system of checks and balances to make sure they maintain their moral standing? Too difficult, just build corrupition into the system.

Let's use that same logic to rid ourselves of other social problems too.

We will eradicate shoplifting by making it legal for all Singaporeans to take anything they want from any shop. Now there is no more shoplifting cause it's legal.

Give every Singaporean a Honda Civic... now no more car theft. If in the following years we find there are still cases of car theft, then maybe a Honda isn't enough. Let's increase it to a BMW, then a Porsche and so forth... cause these are the cars top CEOs drive.

Even better, lets pay all Singaporeans millions each year... no more crime altogether.

In my opinion... THESE A**HOLES ARE FREAKIN NUTS!!! They should all be locked up in padded cells with permanent straitsjackets WELDED on!

strangeangel SG

Our Ministers get a lot of perks too - they are civil servants too and if i recall correctly civil servants get alot of perks (e.g - medical bills etc.) And yes, unlike Bush, our Ministers are transparent about their pays - but the extent and degree of transparency is still questionable. I believe most Heads of State in general get perks and other freebies which they may consider unimportant to let the public know about, but which may actually be of some importance to the public.

wave24 SG

Why the hell they need so high pay for?? Half of their salary should go
to the lower income workers pay or to the charity to help the needy.
Its not as if the minister hav eat 10kg of rice at one go...At the end of the day,
how tired,hungry or stress they are,they can only eat the same amount or quantity
of rice their stomach can take...??

Talking about charity,did they ever donate b4??
Anyone remembered them doing so..??
OOOh I forgot,after all the donation will go back to their salary!!

richong 3216 SG

Eating rice is peanuts to them - with so much money even if they eat dragon's meat (imported from heaven), sharks fins 1st grade (pau chee), 1st grade birds nest, geo duck, abalone everyday, there will still be a lot of money left.

zix1 SG

they said pay them well to prevent corruption. My question is if they are not paid well does it mean they have the right to corrupt?

sWaiZZy SG

I think that was never the question. Instead we should believe it as a form of deterence. No doubt measures are never foolprrof. But we must take comfort that many of our needs have been taken care of. We always seek to justify and question whats fair, in my opinion equality varies in the eyes of all. Whats more important is the big picture! If the people are sufficiently taken care of, why should we make issue out of what others receive?

In the organisations that my humble country men are, do you believe that you are being paid enough? Why not start at the micro level and resolve issues that affect you more rather than those that have little repercussions to your daily lifestyle?

We say that 2.06 million is allot, that equates to just 0.5c from every Singaporean. I would rather spend my time fruitfully comparing and thinking what more could be done for the people and be happy at the fact that my country is better off than many others! Whats the use of Bush being paid lrdd and ruling the country when he is already considered incompetant in so many quarters? I would rather be happy that my well paid ministers are doing their jobs competantly Smile

spinsugar SG

Originally posted by sWaiZZy:

I think that was never the question. Instead we should believe it as a form of deterence. No doubt measures are never foolprrof. But we must take comfort that many of our needs have been taken care of. We always seek to justify and question whats fair, in my opinion equality varies in the eyes of all. Whats more important is the big picture! If the people are sufficiently taken care of, why should we make issue out of what others receive?

In the organisations that my humble country men are, do you believe that you are being paid enough? Why not start at the micro level and resolve issues that affect you more rather than those that have little repercussions to your daily lifestyle?

We say that 2.06 million is allot, that equates to just 0.5c from every Singaporean. I would rather spend my time fruitfully comparing and thinking what more could be done for the people and be happy at the fact that my country is better off than many others! Whats the use of Bush being paid lrdd and ruling the country when he is already considered incompetant in so many quarters? I would rather be happy that my well paid ministers are doing their jobs competantly

The point is, they're not.

Where else in the world do people get a pay raise when they haven't been showing results for the past few years? And such an exorbitant pay raise at that?

sWaiZZy SG

Well i guess its a debatable issue at the end of the day. Competant or not, but face it. There are so many conspiracy theories on what the Bush government is doing. How they have sub companies that they sit on as boards of directors and stuff. Ie Haliburton and such, do you really think politics is the main game for them? I beg to differ, it truly is and has been quite evident the wars on Afgan and Iraq have reaped significant projects for many US industries, these have been somewhat linked to politicians of high standing in the US. Im just grateful that no such scandals are associated with our leaders. Its not rocket science to figure that money truly is a motivator. If used correctly it can reap the right reusllts. In the past 40 years i believe there are few countries who can boast such marked improvements. That is justification in its own of these pay rises.

Mat Toro SG

The hypocrisy is, US politicians are very very rich. Much richer than our ministers. You either earn your money officially or unofficially. I rather our ministers earn it officially.

ErikYoung UN SG

Yew's World - Harry Lee Kuan Yew Loong
So tell me Harry how many people have you killed in your life time
Well Mr Young not quite as many as Mr Shinawatra had killed but definitely thousands
All of them 100% quite definitely guilty were they Harry
Well Mr Young they must have been because we executed them
What even the poor uneducated Thai mother of two children who was deeply religious?
Why did you ban Jehovas Witnesses from Singapore Harry?
Well Mr Young I don't like witnesses

ErikYoung UN SG

Yew's World - Harry Lee Kuan Yew Loong
You see Harry I found out about some of your dealings with the Burmese Drugs Barons
Well Mr Young they told me they were Chemists
God Dammit Harry how many times have I told you Chemist is the Burmese word for drugs dealer
Oh sorry Mr Young I forgot I was so influenced by the amount of money that could be made
So you forgot they're drugs dealers
I told you Mr Young "we're not corrupt we just have our own way of doings things"
A bit like how you Harry concealed the financial statements of Singapore's national corporation Temasek Holdings PTE Ltd from the Singapore people for 30 years
Yes that's right Mr Young
So what about the Shinawatra deal Harry ? Well they are Chinese Thais so they can't be corrupt they are like our family Chinese
I see Harry so that was a clean ethical and moral deal was it ?
Well Mr Young it was'nt corrupt we just have our own way of doing things
Do you really Harry?

ErikYoung UN SG

Harry Lee Kuan Yew and Long ...In the last 10 years of Temasek Holdings PTE Ltd investing into Thailand what have they done to help erase corruption ?
If you don't like corruption Harry why do you do business with corrupt leaders like The Shinawatra's and The Burmese Government
Well Mr Young "We're not corrupt we just have our own way of doing things"
What Harry ? You mean like trading with Burmese drugs barons
Well Mr Young there not drugs barons they are Chemists
Oh for God's bloody sake Harry I told you before the Burmese word for drugs dealers is Chemist.... are you deaf as well as blind ?

So why did your delegates from Singapore have to go to Burma to see your potential business partners there Harry?
Well Mr Young if the Burmese had come to Singapore they'd have been executed

Well Mr Young we do have freedom of speech in Singapore..... you're allowed to say whatever you beleive as long as you don't upset us
I see Harry Lee Kuan Yew Loong rather like making your financial statements transparent by concealing the accounts of a national company for 30 years
But that's my company Mr Young because I made Singapore... Temasek Holdings PTE Ltd is an anagram of our family name..... We're not corrupt we just have our own way of doing things"
What Harry like doing things with The Burmese Government and The Shinawatra's?

ErikYoung UN SG

The organised crime unit called The Royal Thai Police are responsible for thousands of problems... others call murder... in Thailand

Yew's World - Harry Lee Kuan Yew and Loong
And now Mr Singapore Lee Kuan Yew has locked the forum because he doesn't like people getting angry with him because he killed/murdered a young poor and uneducated Thai mother of two children who was fitted up by a Nigerian
Well Mr Young it doesn't matter she was only a Thai, they weren't children they were Thais
I see Harry so if they're not Chinese Singaporean like you they are a sub-human race are they ?
That's right Mr Young that's exactly why it doesn't matter that I had the Thai mother killed even if it was a mistake everyone will forget about it after a while so what's the problem
That's what the Yew's encouraged their new commrades the Shinawatra's to do... slaughter anyone that was a problem.....
That's right Mr Young how did you know
Because Harry I've been investigating your family and finding out just how cruel the Yew family can be.... very very inhumane and cruel
Harry I've got a chain saw and I'm going to use it to cut a tree down... do you understand me Harry?
Did you know Harry I used to own the 12th largest Internet Domain Name Registrar Corporation in the world
Did you Mr Young
Yes I did Harry.... there are lots of people controlling the Internet and I know some of the big chiefs who don't like poor uneducated mothers being executed

ErikYoung UN SG

Yew's World - I'm Dying..... for a cup of tea
So Mr Lee Kuan Yew why was it a secret for thirty years ?
Well Mr Young by making it secret I couldn't tell anyone anything and wouldn't have to lie and be corrupted and then have to say ...they made me do it
Thanks Lee now I understand, very smart, a bit like not admitting anything.....Where's that nice girl that served us tea last week Mr Young? That wasn't tea Harry that was one of my mixes.....the girl don't you remember...they executed her last week for being a drugs dealer It alrights to call you Harry isn't it Lee just the way things are maybe Harry is better for now..... Harry whats that scratch on the bonnet of your Mercedes? oh its alright Harry its not a scratch its a line of cocaine don't panic I'll get rid of it for you. Harry... you look a bit lonely don't worry I know how to make tea.

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