61% Increase in Pay Over 2 Years. Guess Who?

[Dreamer1]

Your suggestion is good but I have a better suggestion. Why don't peg our ministers' salaries with the bottom 10% of workers in S'pore - cleaners, hawker assistants, security guards etc. Being ministers and being into public service and to attract talent, I suggest they draw the average bottom 10% of workers' salaries X 30 times. Fair?

30 times(say S$30-40K per month) is too little,even for people like Ken Jaya,Dr Chee or even our in house joker Mr Goh

I suggest a reasonable monthly salary of S$80K which is just 50% of what they earn now.

 

[yuelao]

Then I am afraid you are never going to find yr GOOD politician!

GET REAL!there is no such animal as GOOD politician in the world.

We have the power to check and balance,we have the power to hire and fire,we decide how much to give them every month,that is all we can get!and that is good enough for me!

I am not looking for good politicians. I am looking for someone who is fighting for what I believe in. I believe that ministers should only be getting at most 50% of what they are getting paid now. If there is no one else who believes in my cause, so be it, doesn't matter to me whether they win or lose, they will just not be getting my vote.

 

[Dreamer1]

I am not looking for good politicians. I am looking for someone who is fighting for what I believe in. I believe that ministers should only be getting at most 50% of what they are getting paid now. If there is no one else who believes in my cause, so be it, doesn't matter to me whether they win or lose, they will just not be getting my vote.

OK,50% of S$2 million per year is quite reasonable.I guess the rasonable political animals can mostly accept

 

[yuelao]

You're too fussy. It'll take alot of baby steps for changes to take place in Spore.

PAP is a monster that's had 40+ years to evolve. How can you expect an overnight, all or nothing solution to change

Sporeans first priority should be to rein-in the monster, PAP. Until then expect more blunders, wayangs, cover ups,....

When that is done, then go to step two, step three,.....

I don't care about other changes. The only thing I want is for the ministers to get a pay cut of at least 50% and for the media to be free to act as a deterrent against corruption. I don't give a damn right now whether they promise to improve the economy, abolish NS or whatever. Why? Because I do not know how those policy changes are going to affect me. It is still an unknown if those policies will be net positive or net negative for me. The only thing I want is for the government to be accountable for how they are paid with the public money. If enough people believe that ministers should get a pay cut, the party fighting on that platform will get voted to form the next government. If not, it doesn't matter to me because all the other promises don't convince me one bit.

 

[Boliao]

OK,50% of S$2 million per year is quite reasonable.I guess the rasonable political animals can mostly accept

If the politician is not genuine in public service, they will still put their self interest first even if you pay them US$10 million a year. Be it rewarding their friends, abusing funds/expense towards their personal consumption or plain old corruption.

If the politician is genuine in public services, they will put their best for the people even if they are doing it for free. We have had so many revolutions in history - did anyone of those who lead the revolution as for million dollar salary?

Some of them became corrupt once they attain power but guess what, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

My view? Let the candidate come forward and we'll give him a 25% rise from what he is earning today. If he does well after a term, we benchmark his salary to median household income x 12.

 

[johnny333]

I don't care about other changes. The only thing I want is for the ministers to get a pay cut of at least 50% and for the media to be free to act as a deterrent against corruption. I don't give a damn right now whether they promise to improve the economy, abolish NS or whatever. Why? Because I do not know how those policy changes are going to affect me. .....

Ideally you should vote for people who will change the "system" into a fairer one & to prevent future LKY's from abusing Spore & Sporeans.

The reality is that you can't trust politicians since they are all humans. The best you can hope for is that the "system" is fair. By voting for more non-PAP MPs you will at least ensure competing self-interests.

Don't forget that a fair "system" will allow voters to vote out an MP that you're unhappy with,

 

[yuelao]

Ideally you should vote for people who will change the "system" into a fairer one & to prevent future LKY's from abusing Spore & Sporeans.

The reality is that you can't trust politicians since they are all humans. The best you can hope for is that the "system" is fair. By voting for more non-PAP MPs you will at least ensure competing self-interests.

Don't forget that a fair "system" will allow voters to vote out an MP that you're unhappy with,

The first change people should ask for is to get the government to be accountable with how they are paying themselves. If they can't even hold the government to that, how are they going to demand accountability on other issues? Whenever the opposition start talking about how they will introduce this policy or that policy, I just want to laugh. They can't even come up with a proper system for their own remuneration and they want to talk about the big changes. I bet most of them are simply in agreement with the PAP system. If so, what makes them think they can do a better job than PAP? More importantly, why should I believe them?

As a simple example, consider that you have been using a car of brand X for years. Now car X costs a lot but you are very used to its performance and it has been running reliably although you are getting increasingly fed-up with the hefty maintenance costs. Suddenly, a new car of brand Y sprung out of nowhere and tells you it has better performance for the same price and maintenance costs. However, car Y is unknown and has never been used by more than a small group of people. It has also not been tested for its performance over long distances. Why the hell would you pay the same price for car Y? Why do you think new entrants to the market need to promote themselves as lower-cost against a long established incumbent? Sure, you can position yourself as a high-end model right from the beginning even though you are an unknown, just don't expect to be able to earn from being a mainstream model.

 

[bryanlim1972]

Absolutely agree with you. That's why I will never vote for anyone who is not campaigning to reduce the ministers' salaries by at least 50%. I will simply cast a spoilt vote. What is the point of voting a different pig into office to feed at the trough? Unfortunately, Sinkies are too stupid to understand how to demand accountability from politicians.

and your spoiled vote is the WORST way to demand accountability from politicians.

voting for any monkey is way better than your misguided vote spoiling technique.

spoiling your vote only serves to keep the incumbent in power, which means you must inherently approve of them.

 

[yuelao]

and your spoiled vote is the WORST way to demand accountability from politicians.

voting for any monkey is way better than your misguided vote spoiling technique.

spoiling your vote only serves to keep the incumbent in power, which means you must inherently approve of them.

You are mistaken. I don't really care who is in power. I am only concerned with how the taxes and fees I pay go towards their remuneration. If enough people are happy to spoil their votes because they think the politicians are way overpaid, you will start seeing the political parties come up with their own remuneration system.

Please explain how voting in any opposition candidate will provide me with accountability on how the government are paying themselves if the opposition does not even have a coherent remuneration system.

 

[bryanlim1972]

You are mistaken. I don't really care who is in power. I am only concerned with how the taxes and fees I pay go towards their remuneration. If enough people are happy to spoil their votes because they think the politicians are way overpaid, you will start seeing the political parties come up with their own remuneration system.

Please explain how voting in any opposition candidate will provide me with accountability on how the government are paying themselves if the opposition does not even have a coherent remuneration system.

your assumption is flawed - no one will know conclusively the grounds for a spoilt vote. political parties will only "see" votes being spoilt, they won't know the numerous reasons behind the spoilt vote.

putting a monkey in parliament gives you a voice. because if the monkey wants to stay for a 2nd term, he/she better pay attention to the wishes of the voters who put them in office.

your misguided strategy of vote spoiling only achieves one thing - keeping the incumbent in power.

which is what you want, since you don't care who is in power. ie you would prefer the status quo over a change.

call a spade, a spade. your interests lies with keeping the incumbent in power. because that is the natural result of your misguided vote spoiling technique.

 

[Lee5604]

Old Man Lee and his Dagron son has to answer to God for all his actions. That is his choice and his son's choice when they were on earth.

 

[johnny333]

Old Man Lee and his Dagron son has to answer to God for all his actions. That is his choice and his son's choice when they were on earth.

Before that I'm sure many would like father & son to face civil & criminal charges. That would give many who feel that they have been victimised some sense of closure.

It would also set the record straight as there are plenty of skeletons in the closet that needs airing & only LKY & his ex-wife know all the facts.

If there is a hell in the after life, it would be a added bonus.

 

[yuelao]

your assumption is flawed - no one will know conclusively the grounds for a spoilt vote. political parties will only "see" votes being spoilt, they won't know the numerous reasons behind the spoilt vote.

putting a monkey in parliament gives you a voice. because if the monkey wants to stay for a 2nd term, he/she better pay attention to the wishes of the voters who put them in office.

your misguided strategy of vote spoiling only achieves one thing - keeping the incumbent in power.

which is what you want, since you don't care who is in power. ie you would prefer the status quo over a change.

call a spade, a spade. your interests lies with keeping the incumbent in power. because that is the natural result of your misguided vote spoiling technique.

Spoiling my vote just means that I do not approve of any of the candidates running for office. Why should I simply cast my vote for one of them if I don't want any of them to represent me?

Since voting is compulsory, the only way to show my disapproval is to spoil the vote. Again, get it through your head that I am not for or against the incumbent. Spoiling my vote simply means none of the candidates has my support, period. Why should I vote for someone to represent me when I don't believe he is fighting for my interests?

When there is a huge percentage of spoilt votes, there will be incentives for the political parties to actually go and find out what is it that the people want. If you just vote opposition because you are unhappy with PAP, how do you know you will be happy with the opposition? It is like telling me you will marry someone on offer even if you don't love her at all.

 

[rodent2005]

Excellent analysis.

No opposition party has dared say they will bring down the salaries of ministers.

They only complain about the salaries but they will likely keep the million dollars once they are in power. Maybe this is why SDP, WP, RP, SDA, NSP never put in their manifesto to bring down the salaries.

In other words, Singapore is doomed to pay these high salaries.

Nonsense, WP said in the last election to peg ministers' salary to 20 times of the lowest workers.

 

[saratogas]

That is why so many youngsterS join politics these days... They dream of earn such huge salary one day!

 

[johnny333]

When there is a huge percentage of spoilt votes, there will be incentives for the political parties to actually go and find out what is it that the people want. If you just vote opposition because you are unhappy with PAP, how do you know you will be happy with the opposition? It is like telling me you will marry someone on offer even if you don't love her at all.

You really think LKY or LHL care about wha the lesser mortals care
Did they consult the 'public' before giving themselves multi-million $$$ salaries, open the door to foreigners, planned CPF changes, run Temasek as a family business,......

If you spoilt your vote, the PAP will as the incumbent party win the elections. You might as well stay home & sleep during election day.

When that happens what will you do then

 

[yuelao]

You really think LKY or LHL care about wha the lesser mortals care
Did they consult the 'public' before giving themselves multi-million $$$ salaries, open the door to foreigners, planned CPF changes, run Temasek as a family business,......

If you spoilt your vote, the PAP will as the incumbent party win the elections. You might as well stay home & sleep during election day.

When that happens what will you do then

You really think the opposition care about what the lesser mortals want? They are only after the votes. The only way to get politicians to do what you want is to make them work hard for your vote. If they don't measure up, no vote for them, doesn't matter which party they are from. In my case, the only thing I care about right now is their remuneration, their other policy promises don't interest me at all.

Staying home and sleep will strike me off the electoral roll and I would need a good explanation before the elections department will reinstate me, not to mention paying a possible fine as well.

What makes you think the opposition will not do the same as the PAP and renege on their promises once voted into government? When that happens, what will you do then? Are you going to sue them?

If PAP is willing to get a pay cut of at least 50%, I will happily vote for them.

 

[johnny333]

Staying home and sleep will strike me off the electoral roll and I would need a good explanation before the elections department will reinstate me, not to mention paying a possible fine as well.

.

Even if they strike you off the rolls, so what What's the point of remaining in the list, if in essence you are choosing to abstain from voting for anyone


Might as well save on your time & transport costs. Just imagine how much $$$ you would save all these decades


It's no wonder that LKY has managed to hang on to power & now the tradition continues with his son

 

[johnny333]

What makes you think the opposition will not do the same as the PAP and renege on their promises once voted into government? When that happens, what will you do then? Are you going to sue them?

If you not happy with them nothing is stopping you from voting them out.

Take a look at the 2 opposition wards, they have been re-elected numerous times. So there are decent non- PAP candidates out there.

 

[yuelao]

Even if they strike you off the rolls, so what What's the point of remaining in the list, if in essence you are choosing to abstain from voting for anyone


Might as well save on your time & transport costs. Just imagine how much $$$ you would save all these decades


It's no wonder that LKY has managed to hang on to power & now the tradition continues with his son

Spoiling my vote in one election doesn't mean I will spoil my vote in the next one. There is no need for me to pay transport costs to vote, I simply walk to my designated polling station. Looks like you are short on common sense.

As I have said, I am not averse to having a different party in power, but it is of utmost importance to me that I don't replace a set of pigs with a different set of similar pigs.