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Ministerial pay gets an airing at NSP's public forum
Published on Dec 5, 20
By Andrea Ong
A PUBLIC forum to discuss ministerial pay saw opinion divided on whether ministers should be paid more than top civil servants running the ministries.
The question was raised by one of four panellists at the National Solidarity Party- organised forum, NSP vice-president Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss.
She noted that the committee appointed by the Government in May this year was tasked only to review political salaries, not civil service pay.
Some in the 40-strong audience felt ministers should earn more than their permanent secretaries as the permanent secretary reports to the minister.
Another panellist, former civil servant and presidential candidate Tan Jee Say, disagreed. He argued that politics is a 'calling' while being in the civil service is a job.
Yesterday's forum, held at the Parc Sovereign Hotel, also saw participants disagreeing on whether there should be a variable bonus component in ministers' pay.
Mr Tan and a fellow speaker, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) member James Gomez, were against the idea.
Mr Tan argued that a variable component, especially one based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth, might encourage easy solutions to raise GDP, such as by increasing foreign worker numbers.
Dr Gomez reiterated the SDP's stand that the variable bonus should be abolished and replaced by a fixed component determined by an independent commission. The SDP issued a paper on ministerial pay last week.
The last speaker, NSP member Ong Wee Min, 41, felt a variable bonus could be retained but should not be pegged to GDP growth alone. Instead, it could be linked to other indicators including Singapore's Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, and quality of life.
Ministers should also be guided by key performance indicators which are not specific to their ministries, so that national policies are better coordinated, said Mr Ong.
Speakers and audience members agreed, however, that the current approach of pegging ministers' pay to that of top income earners in the private sector should change. Various other pegs were suggested, ranging from the national median income to the mean wage of the bottom 20 per cent of wage earners.
The NSP will collate responses to questions raised at the forum and issue a party stand soon.
Published on Dec 5, 20
By Andrea Ong
A PUBLIC forum to discuss ministerial pay saw opinion divided on whether ministers should be paid more than top civil servants running the ministries.
The question was raised by one of four panellists at the National Solidarity Party- organised forum, NSP vice-president Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss.
She noted that the committee appointed by the Government in May this year was tasked only to review political salaries, not civil service pay.
Some in the 40-strong audience felt ministers should earn more than their permanent secretaries as the permanent secretary reports to the minister.
Another panellist, former civil servant and presidential candidate Tan Jee Say, disagreed. He argued that politics is a 'calling' while being in the civil service is a job.
Yesterday's forum, held at the Parc Sovereign Hotel, also saw participants disagreeing on whether there should be a variable bonus component in ministers' pay.
Mr Tan and a fellow speaker, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) member James Gomez, were against the idea.
Mr Tan argued that a variable component, especially one based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth, might encourage easy solutions to raise GDP, such as by increasing foreign worker numbers.
Dr Gomez reiterated the SDP's stand that the variable bonus should be abolished and replaced by a fixed component determined by an independent commission. The SDP issued a paper on ministerial pay last week.
The last speaker, NSP member Ong Wee Min, 41, felt a variable bonus could be retained but should not be pegged to GDP growth alone. Instead, it could be linked to other indicators including Singapore's Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, and quality of life.
Ministers should also be guided by key performance indicators which are not specific to their ministries, so that national policies are better coordinated, said Mr Ong.
Speakers and audience members agreed, however, that the current approach of pegging ministers' pay to that of top income earners in the private sector should change. Various other pegs were suggested, ranging from the national median income to the mean wage of the bottom 20 per cent of wage earners.
The NSP will collate responses to questions raised at the forum and issue a party stand soon.
