A student living in Hougang asked if he could pay less
tax since the area does not enjoy as much upgrading.
(Yahoo! …
Since this story was first posted, reaction has been swift with
over 1,500 Facebook shares and 150 comments. The majority were
highly critical of PM Lee's stand.
The highest-rated comment came from Yahoo! user Chia,
who posted, "Upgrading is not delivered solely based on policies.
It is driven by money from the reserves. The money comes from the
people and not from PAP."
He added that, "It (upgrading) is a national building
programme. A nation does not belong to any party but the
people."
Another Yahoo! user, Davido, said, "I can't believe the
PM said that, my only respect left for him is that he is candid
enough to admit not all wards are treated equally."
User VKH was also appalled at the PM's comments.
He wrote, "I thought that as PM, he was there to represent ALL
the people, without favour or preference. He is not the PM of just
those he voted for, but for each and every Singapore citizen,
including those who did not vote for him or his party... How can
the PM say that if you vote for PAP, you get nice chocolate cake
and coffee, but if you vote for other party you only get water and
biscuit?"
The furious reaction comes a day after fourth-year engineering
student Seah Yin Hwa asked PM Lee why
residents living in Hougang SMC are penalised for picking "a
'Teochew nang' (dialect for Teochew person) who doesn't wear a
white uniform"
When asked by PM Lee on how he was penalised, the 25-year-old
Seah said, "When it comes to upgrading, what is being told to us is
that we don't have the funds to actually go ahead with lift
upgrading, as well as shelters to the bus stops. When I look across
the road to Aljunied GRC, they have everything, " reported The
Straits Times.
Paraphrasing the question posed, PM Lee said that what Mr Seah
meant is why opposition wards are not treated at least as good, or
maybe even better than the PAP wards.
PM Lee's reply was, "The answer is that there has to be a
distinction. Because the PAP wards supported the Government and the
policies which delivered these good things."
He said that while basic goods such roads, transportation,
housing, healthcare and defence apply to Singaporeans, the extras — which come down to the
upgrading programmes — is a national programme.
"Between the people who voted and supported the programme and
the government, and the people who didn't, I think if we went and
put yours before the PAP constituencies, it would be an injustice,"
PM Lee told the 1,200 students who were attending a
Ministerial Forum
organised by the
National University of
Singapore (NUS) Students' Political Association. .
In response to PM Lee, Seah cheekily asked if he could pay less
tax and maybe "take one or two years off my NS?", which drew
laughter and applause from the audience.
But PM Lee said that this is not possible because the SAF,
defence, taxes and all the facilities which have been provided, are
enjoyed by every Singaporean.
Rounding off his reply, PM Lee said, "But you can do something
about it, you know. You don't have to keep voting for people not in
white-on-white."
PM Lee explains ministerial salaries
The contentious issue of
ministerial salaries was
also discussed at the forum after a
Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) accountancy student brought it up, comparing the
salaries of leaders from Singapore and the United
States.
"The US president is actually paid less
than a Cabinet minister in Singapore. I'm sure we agree his job is
a lot tougher than our Cabinet ministers," said the student.
In his response, PM Lee said that US
President
Barack Obama may be
earning less than a Singaporean minister, but the American system
is not without its flaws.
For example, he highlighted that the US had different ways of
rewarding its presidents and that the low salary of the president
had suppressed salaries down the line.
Explaining his first point, PM Lee said that former US presidents are involved in money-spinning book
and lecture tours after they step down.
"Retired US presidents go on book tours, they write books, they
are paid US$10 million (S$13 million) advance, they get somebody to
help them write a tome and they make a lecture tour…Every lecture
(by former president) Bill Clinton: US$100,000 to US$200,000 for
half an hour.
"That's the system. I think that's not a good system for us. We
don't want ministers to retire and go on lecture tours."
Touching on his second point, PM Lee said the low salary of US
presidents adversely impacted the rest of the civil
service down the line.
"Because the president's pay being set at a level which is not
quite right, all the rest of the civil service and government pay
in the US system has to take dressing from there and come down…and
come down," he said.
PM Lee stressed that Singapore's ministerial pay structure was
one that works.
But when asked if salaries should still be pegged to the private
sector given the many candidates taken from the civil service and
unions, he replied, "The reason I can get good people from the
Government and the unions is that I have a pay system which is
working properly.
"People do not enter politics to get rich but neither will they
enter politics and as a result, they and their family will become
poor."
He added, "It is something which is not easy to accept
emotionally but is the right thing for Singapore. If you want the
system to work for the long term, you must be honest about it. What
do I pay for? I pay for the importance of the job and how difficult
it is to do."
