A question of motivation
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Have ministers undermined their moral authority by giving
themselves such large pay increases?
This was the line of questioning advanced by at least three
MPs.
Nominated Member of Parliament, Associate Professor Kalyani Mehta,
said the Cabinet would be the "target of envy" among Singaporeans,
especially the lower-income group, who were struggling to make ends
meet.
"The management of envy is a very difficult task. If the envy rises
year after year, the social compact could collapse," she said in an
impassioned speech on the second day of debate on the pay increases
for ministers and civil servants.
Responding, Mr Teo Chee Hean, the Minister-in-charge of the Civil
Service, stressed that the Government has not lost its grip by
revising salaries. "What is most important is the motivations of
the person and his willingness to devote the time to serve. If a
person is motivated by money, then even a low salary has its
dangers," he said in a wide-ranging speech to address concerns
raised by MPs, after Monday's announcement that salaries of
ministers and civil servants would go up by between 3 and 33 per
cent an increase that will cost the Government $214
million.
Other MPs, such as Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Mr
Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), were more critical of the
timing of this pay revision, coming less than three months before
the 2 percentage-point increase in the Goods and Services Tax,
which kicks in on July 1.
Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) was worried that the pay
increases for ministers and top civil servants had undermined
support for Workfare and GST offset packages. "I don't think we
have been sensitive to the feelings of many people. Many people
have asked me: Did we increase GST to pay for this increase in
salaries? While that is clearly not the case, it is most
unfortunate that a support package so carefully crafted in good
faith to help our lower income families should be seen as such
light," he said.
Responding, Mr Teo said it was crucial that any salary adjustments
be done "in good times". "We have had no major adjustments since
2001. We've already waited six years. Economic recovery has been
going on for the last three years. We've not raised salaries as
quickly as we should have. If we wait too long and fall too far
behind, it will be difficult to revise salaries and in the long
term, this will be detrimental to Singaporeans," he added.
Over the past two days, several MPs also called for an independent
panel to be set up to review the private sector benchmark for
ministers' salaries. In a pointed speech, Ms Denise Phua (Jalan
Besar GRC) compared the situation of ministers deciding their own
pay increases to CEOs in the private sector using their power to
influence the board of directors to write them higher paycheques.
Other MPs like Mr Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC) and Madam Ho Geok Choo
(West Coast GRC) suggested doing away with the benchmark and
setting up a remuneration committee, a practice adopted by many
large companies in the private sector.
Mr Teo, however, pointed out that even with such an independent
body, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet would have to step in at
the end of the day to decide whether to implement its
suggestions.
"You can't escape from that responsibility," he said. "What happens
if the (proposed) number is too high? Do you just go along and say
that this was an independent panel that decided it? I don't think
you can escape the same difficulties we face today," he said. -
/sh
