SDP's good rebuttal

[tanwahp]

This is usually the job of the universe (cosmos) but I think this good rebuttal of SDP should be highlighted:

"If the PAP is going to proffer exceptionalism as a reason for the high pay of ministers, then its supporters cannot, at the same time, argue that Singapore is really no different from other countries when it comes to the kind of problems we face. Either you perform at the level of your hubris or you accept that you are really no better than others and pay yourselves salaries that are commensurate with your talent and competence. You can't have it both ways."

http://yoursdp.org/news/pap_supporters_take_exception_to_sdp_s_article/2014-02-10-5777

 

[wwabbit]

It's not exactly an original argument, it's been used for many years already.
Even Mr Low Thia Khiang himself has used it in parliament back as far as 2008 when Mas Selamat escaped.

"Sir, does the Prime Minister agree that this is not a question of a witch-hunt as to who should be directly responsible? It is a question of accountability of the Government and at what level and what responsibility a Minister should take. I think we will remember that, when we debated the Ministers' salaries in this House, we were talking about pitching the Ministers' pay to the corporate world or the private sector. But in the corporate world, when something goes wrong, heads roll, and it includes the CEO, whereas here, when something goes wrong, we are talking about honest mistakes. So, I think a lot of people, including myself, cannot reconcile the principle on which the Government applied in looking at the salaries of the Ministers, pitching them to the corporate world vis-a-vis when it comes to accountability and responsibility. Would the Prime Minister clarify? "


But yeah, by paying themselves so much in the first place, they've deservedly open themselves up to this line of argument every time they try to hide from making a mistake.