Why Obama makes less than S'pore minister
PM: Ex-US presidents enjoy lucrative options, but low pay at top level affects all public wages
By Jeremy Au Yong
Mr Lee's speech captured the attention of the students at the forum yesterday. Participants later peppered him with questions ranging from fielding new citizens as election candidates to social mobility and the relevance of GRCs. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
UNITED States President Barack Obama may earn less than a Singaporean minister, but the American system is not without its flaws, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
For instance, he said the low salary of the president had suppressed salaries down the line. He also noted that the US system had different ways of rewarding its presidents.
The hot-button topic of ministerial salaries came midway through the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum last night when a Nanyang Technological University accountancy student tossed up the oft-cited US-Singapore comparison.
He timed his question cleverly, jumping in, after the Prime Minister spoke about how the tough jobs of the ministers here warranted the high pay, to say: 'The US president is actually paid less than a Cabinet minister in Singapore. I'm sure we agree his job is a lot tougher than our Cabinet ministers'...'
Mr Lee, clearly prepared for his riposte, replied without missing a beat, citing two arguments against the US way.
The first involved the money-spinning book and lecture tours which are almost a tradition for former US presidents.
He said: 'Retired US presidents go on book tours, they write books, they are paid US$10 million (S$13 million) advance, they get somebody to help them write a tome and they make a lecture tour... Every lecture (by former US president) Bill Clinton: US$100,000 to US$200,000 for half an hour.
'That's the system. I think that's not a good system for us. We don't want ministers to retire and go on lecture tours.'
The second point was the impact of such a low ceiling on the rest of the civil service.
Said Mr Lee: 'Because of the president's pay being set at a level which is not quite right, all the rest of the civil service and government pay in the US system has to take dressing from there and come down... and come down.
'As a result of this, their judges are underpaid, their civil servants are underpaid and one year, Chief Justice (William) Rehnquist wrote his annual judicial report to Congress and he said, 'You are going to have a very serious constitutional problem because the senior judge sitting on the bench hearing the case with junior lawyers arguing in front of him is paid less than the junior lawyer on Wall Street. Where do you think the talent will go and what do you think the consequences will be for our system?''
Mr Lee stressed that Singapore's ministerial pay system was one that works.
Asked whether pay should still be pegged to the private sector given the many candidates taken from the civil service and unions, he replied: 'The reason I can get good people from the Government and the unions is that I have a pay system which is working properly. People do not enter politics to get rich but neither will they enter politics and as a result, they and their family will become poor.'
He added: 'It is something which is not easy to accept emotionally but is the right thing for Singapore. If you want the system to work for the long term, you must be honest about it. What do I pay for? I pay for the importance of the job, and how difficult it is to do...'
He was also asked later if the relative success of the opposition in recruiting from the private sector meant a failing in the pay system.
Mr Lee replied that the PAP and the task of a PAP MP and an opposition one may be different.
'I'm not sure whether we're looking for exactly the same people. There are a lot of people in the private sector.
'We're looking for a certain type of person, certain job specifications, and not just job specifications, but also commitment, integrity, purpose. And when you're going into the opposition, when you're going into the Government, I'm not sure the job specs are the same.'
[email protected]
HELP ENSURE THINGS STAY RIGHT
'Some people will want to join the opposition. Yes, they will want to propound alternative policies or they will want to be a check on the Government. That's valid. By all means join the opposition, especially if the Government is wrong or incompetent.
But so long as the Government is competent and doing a good job for Singaporeans, I hope you will make common cause with it and help us to ensure that things stay right.'
PM Lee, on the desire among some to join the opposition
BENEFITS OF HAVING A GOOD REPUTATION
'The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) is the policy-steering committee of the International Monetary Fund... And the new chairman of the IMFC, I'm not sure how many of you can name him, but he is Tharman Shanmugaratnam, our Finance Minister.
He was elected last month to chair the IMFC and it's not because we campaigned for the position. We didn't campaign for the position, but Tharman was elected because Singapore has a high reputation as a state which works, as a successful economy and Tharman himself personally is held in very high regard internationally.
They know the quality of the person, they know the contribution he can make. They didn't do this just out of a politeness to us. So our reputation and the reality of our good government is of great value to Singapore. It gives us influence in the world, it gives you standing in the world, it opens the door for our businesses and it creates many opportunities for Singaporeans.'
PM Lee, on how Singapore's reputation and that of its ministers opens doors
PM: Ex-US presidents enjoy lucrative options, but low pay at top level affects all public wages
By Jeremy Au Yong
Mr Lee's speech captured the attention of the students at the forum yesterday. Participants later peppered him with questions ranging from fielding new citizens as election candidates to social mobility and the relevance of GRCs. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
UNITED States President Barack Obama may earn less than a Singaporean minister, but the American system is not without its flaws, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
For instance, he said the low salary of the president had suppressed salaries down the line. He also noted that the US system had different ways of rewarding its presidents.
The hot-button topic of ministerial salaries came midway through the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum last night when a Nanyang Technological University accountancy student tossed up the oft-cited US-Singapore comparison.
He timed his question cleverly, jumping in, after the Prime Minister spoke about how the tough jobs of the ministers here warranted the high pay, to say: 'The US president is actually paid less than a Cabinet minister in Singapore. I'm sure we agree his job is a lot tougher than our Cabinet ministers'...'
Mr Lee, clearly prepared for his riposte, replied without missing a beat, citing two arguments against the US way.
The first involved the money-spinning book and lecture tours which are almost a tradition for former US presidents.
He said: 'Retired US presidents go on book tours, they write books, they are paid US$10 million (S$13 million) advance, they get somebody to help them write a tome and they make a lecture tour... Every lecture (by former US president) Bill Clinton: US$100,000 to US$200,000 for half an hour.
'That's the system. I think that's not a good system for us. We don't want ministers to retire and go on lecture tours.'
The second point was the impact of such a low ceiling on the rest of the civil service.
Said Mr Lee: 'Because of the president's pay being set at a level which is not quite right, all the rest of the civil service and government pay in the US system has to take dressing from there and come down... and come down.
'As a result of this, their judges are underpaid, their civil servants are underpaid and one year, Chief Justice (William) Rehnquist wrote his annual judicial report to Congress and he said, 'You are going to have a very serious constitutional problem because the senior judge sitting on the bench hearing the case with junior lawyers arguing in front of him is paid less than the junior lawyer on Wall Street. Where do you think the talent will go and what do you think the consequences will be for our system?''
Mr Lee stressed that Singapore's ministerial pay system was one that works.
Asked whether pay should still be pegged to the private sector given the many candidates taken from the civil service and unions, he replied: 'The reason I can get good people from the Government and the unions is that I have a pay system which is working properly. People do not enter politics to get rich but neither will they enter politics and as a result, they and their family will become poor.'
He added: 'It is something which is not easy to accept emotionally but is the right thing for Singapore. If you want the system to work for the long term, you must be honest about it. What do I pay for? I pay for the importance of the job, and how difficult it is to do...'
He was also asked later if the relative success of the opposition in recruiting from the private sector meant a failing in the pay system.
Mr Lee replied that the PAP and the task of a PAP MP and an opposition one may be different.
'I'm not sure whether we're looking for exactly the same people. There are a lot of people in the private sector.
'We're looking for a certain type of person, certain job specifications, and not just job specifications, but also commitment, integrity, purpose. And when you're going into the opposition, when you're going into the Government, I'm not sure the job specs are the same.'
[email protected]
HELP ENSURE THINGS STAY RIGHT
'Some people will want to join the opposition. Yes, they will want to propound alternative policies or they will want to be a check on the Government. That's valid. By all means join the opposition, especially if the Government is wrong or incompetent.
But so long as the Government is competent and doing a good job for Singaporeans, I hope you will make common cause with it and help us to ensure that things stay right.'
PM Lee, on the desire among some to join the opposition
BENEFITS OF HAVING A GOOD REPUTATION
'The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) is the policy-steering committee of the International Monetary Fund... And the new chairman of the IMFC, I'm not sure how many of you can name him, but he is Tharman Shanmugaratnam, our Finance Minister.
He was elected last month to chair the IMFC and it's not because we campaigned for the position. We didn't campaign for the position, but Tharman was elected because Singapore has a high reputation as a state which works, as a successful economy and Tharman himself personally is held in very high regard internationally.
They know the quality of the person, they know the contribution he can make. They didn't do this just out of a politeness to us. So our reputation and the reality of our good government is of great value to Singapore. It gives us influence in the world, it gives you standing in the world, it opens the door for our businesses and it creates many opportunities for Singaporeans.'
PM Lee, on how Singapore's reputation and that of its ministers opens doors
I think i found the Joke Of the Day
