Lets refresh our minds with this,
The announcement came after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last month that government ministers should be earning much more than their $1.2 million Singapore dollars (US$790,000; EUR590,000) salaries to bring them in line with a standard domestic benchmark. His remarks caused much public debate about ministerial pay, which many see as already being too high.
Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also the minister in charge of the civil service, told Parliament on Monday that the salary adjustment would come in two steps. The first would raise salaries to S$1.6 million (US$1.06 million; EUR790,000) by the end of this year. In 2008, the salaries will jump again to S$1.92 million (US$1.27 million; EUR0.95 million), an increase of 60 percent over the current salaries.
"For the public service to remain an attractive employer, our terms must keep pace with the private sector," Teo said. "We do not seek to lead the market, but to keep pace with it."
The high salaries for ministers have caused grumbling in this wealthy, tightly controlled city-state. The ruling People's Action Party has said ministers' and civil servants' pay must be high enough to attract the best talent and prevent corruption.