<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>50923.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>May 14, 2011
PMO on pensions for political office and MPs
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
WE WISH to make this clarification about pensions of political office-holders. The points below are already on the public record, having been stated during the parliamentary debate on salaries for political appointment-holders in 2007, on other occasions in Parliament and in previous media releases.
Under the Parliamentary Pensions Act, political office-holders are eligible for a pension. The pension scheme recognises their role and impact on national policies, and the strong reliance on depth of expertise and length of experience for the continuity of national policies.
=> But why are they not held accountable for their various mistakes? Instead, it seems that the greater the 'impact' of their mistakes, the more they are promoted and fatter their bonuses.
Ministers have to serve a minimum of eight years as a political office-holder to qualify for a pension.
=> No wonder Wooden said '2 terms good enough already lah!" - just nice to qualify for $$$-Million pension!
A minister's pension is determined based not on his total monthly salary, but only on the pensionable component of this salary at the point of retirement. This pensionable component has been frozen since 1994.
=> So how much is it? Still amount to $$$-Million, right? How does it tie in with ordinary Sporeans being told they have to work till death, forget about taking back their CPF, not deserving of minimum wage, unemployment benefit, etc?
All salary increases since 1994 have been added to the non-pensionable component, to contain pension costs.
Thus, over time, the pensionable component has shrunk as a proportion of total monthly salary.
=> Wow! What great sacrifice! Sporeans' depressed wages and Sporeans being made jobless due to unbridled FTrash influx is nothing compared to this huh?
A minister qualifies for the maximum pension of two-thirds of this pensionable component of monthly salary only after having served as an office-holder for 18 years.
=> Ah, the Familee members and their relatives should qualify for this?
The pension will be less if he has served for a shorter period.
The annual components of salary, which account for a significant proportion of the annual salary, are also not pensionable.
Hence the maximum annual pension of a minister retiring now would be about 10 per cent of his annual salary while he was in service.
The Parliamentary Pensions Act, as amended in 1982, provides for an office- holder to receive a pension at the age of 55, should he qualify for one, while he continues to hold office. This provision is being reviewed.
Salaries of political office-holders are benchmarked against the private sector. In making the comparison, the value of the office-holder's pension is fully taken into account.
Members of Parliament elected after January 1995 are not eligible for pension.
Tan Kee Yong
Secretary to Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
PMO on pensions for political office and MPs
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
WE WISH to make this clarification about pensions of political office-holders. The points below are already on the public record, having been stated during the parliamentary debate on salaries for political appointment-holders in 2007, on other occasions in Parliament and in previous media releases.
Under the Parliamentary Pensions Act, political office-holders are eligible for a pension. The pension scheme recognises their role and impact on national policies, and the strong reliance on depth of expertise and length of experience for the continuity of national policies.
=> But why are they not held accountable for their various mistakes? Instead, it seems that the greater the 'impact' of their mistakes, the more they are promoted and fatter their bonuses.
Ministers have to serve a minimum of eight years as a political office-holder to qualify for a pension.
=> No wonder Wooden said '2 terms good enough already lah!" - just nice to qualify for $$$-Million pension!
A minister's pension is determined based not on his total monthly salary, but only on the pensionable component of this salary at the point of retirement. This pensionable component has been frozen since 1994.
=> So how much is it? Still amount to $$$-Million, right? How does it tie in with ordinary Sporeans being told they have to work till death, forget about taking back their CPF, not deserving of minimum wage, unemployment benefit, etc?
All salary increases since 1994 have been added to the non-pensionable component, to contain pension costs.
Thus, over time, the pensionable component has shrunk as a proportion of total monthly salary.
=> Wow! What great sacrifice! Sporeans' depressed wages and Sporeans being made jobless due to unbridled FTrash influx is nothing compared to this huh?
A minister qualifies for the maximum pension of two-thirds of this pensionable component of monthly salary only after having served as an office-holder for 18 years.
=> Ah, the Familee members and their relatives should qualify for this?
The pension will be less if he has served for a shorter period.
The annual components of salary, which account for a significant proportion of the annual salary, are also not pensionable.
Hence the maximum annual pension of a minister retiring now would be about 10 per cent of his annual salary while he was in service.
The Parliamentary Pensions Act, as amended in 1982, provides for an office- holder to receive a pension at the age of 55, should he qualify for one, while he continues to hold office. This provision is being reviewed.
Salaries of political office-holders are benchmarked against the private sector. In making the comparison, the value of the office-holder's pension is fully taken into account.
Members of Parliament elected after January 1995 are not eligible for pension.
Tan Kee Yong
Secretary to Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>