Two MPs point out widening income gap between elite and needy

Apr 10, 2007
AsiaOne

Two MPs have warned that the Cabinet's moral authority will be weakened with the ministerial pay hikes.

Opposition MP Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir) said in Parliament yesterday that they had lost their moral authority over low-income workers as the new pay rise would widen the wage gap between them and the poor.

Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong also cautioned that linking ministerial pay to the private sector amounted to "valuing ministers by their salaries and not their tangible and intangible contributions", according to a report in The Straits Times today.

Arguing that this would send a wrong message about the political leaders, he said: "It equates political leadership with management...Our ministers do more than just run Singapore. They lead Singapore."

He added that serving in the Cabinet should be seen as an honour and privilege.

Both MPs restated certain issues raised in Parliament only last month.

One of these was the calls from MPs for a higher increase to the revised $290 given monthly to Singaporeans on public assistance.

An increase of $110 to $400 monthly, which is the minimum amount needed as calculated by Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC), would just mean 7 per cent of the $56 million annual wage bill for ministers after the pay revision.

Mr Siew pointed out that this proposal was turned down for fear of eroding the Singaporeans' work ethic.

Making the same point, Mr Chiam, who noted that the poorest 15 per cent of Singaporeans earn about $1,000 a month, asked: "How will the people react if they found out that the Government is asking for a pay hike of ministers' salary when the ministers are paid... about $100,000 a month?"

"What are the ministers going to say to these people when there is such a great disparity of incomes between them? As far as I'm concerned, they've all lost their moral authority vis-a-vis the low-income workers."

Mr Siew also warned out that continued benchmarking of pay to the private sector would put ministers' moral authority at risk.

"When we focus on salaries to the exclusion of the moral imperative and considerations of public service and duty, we endanger the moral authority of the Government to lead. Because then, cynicism creeps in, and it taints, weakens and may ultimately destroy the bond between the Government and the people," he said.

» Have your say on this and other issues in our forum pages