Re: Minister's Salary :'...the expansion of GRCs from 3 to 6 members in the years following was total unnecessary.'

'...the expansion of GRCs from 3 to 6 members in the years following was total unnecessary.'

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earthyblue (05Apr2011: 09:44 PM) wrote:

Re: Minister's Salary averages at 30+ months!
MP is $15K per month.

I have no questions on ministers drawing salaries close to what CEOs of blue chip companies are drawing. But the recent 25% increase on President, seems to be the 1st step to increasing the pay on the rest of the ministers.
The other thing is no MPs should be allowed to hold directorships in other companies regardless of whether it is executive or non-executive positions. It just isn't right when voters vote full time MPs in who don't give full time to their roles.
Any form of increment now is seriously obscene

Actually I've no qualms of MPs holding directorships. They just have to balance their MP work- many have day jobs, so if you're a director, should be okay- however, when standing for election/ in your 'Facebook' page, you should be transparent as to what directorships you hold.
You should be open and transparent about these when asked by your constituents.
What I think is important however is for the GRC system to return to its 1988 roots of 3members per GRC [chart] and there by leave half or > half of parliament as single seat constituencies; if not to further PAP hegemony, the expansion of GRCs from 3 to 6 members in the years following was total unnecessary.

That would allow more competition, more vibrancy, more independent participation etc- every candidate in GE2006 was someone from a political party- nobody contested the election as an independent candidate. So much for the demise of original creativity and independent representation, now only political parties dominate the scene. How then would a citizen's interest in politics be spurred- and how then would you have the necessary momentum to develop 4G leaders.

As it seems, Singapore will always be dependent on geriatric leaders who will eventually die in service. MM, SM etc-> not much different from N Korea in that sense as I believe.

As mentioned, the default way in which PAP wields the 'whip' in parliament ('Singapore lifts whip on orchestrated parliament' [AFP 21Mar2002]: "The free vote is given to them when they make a request, and the Whip will consider. In the past it was simply: 'No you can't even request',' he said.") makes many people feel that besides entering parliament through GRCs ( 'GRCs make it easier to find top talent: SM' [ST 26June2006], when SM Goh was reported saying "Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics"), many in Singapore shun politics because the choice is like one between the devil and the deep blue sea. Selling your soul to hegemony on one hand vs. being 'fixed' by the PAP on the other.
This Hobson's choice's choice leaves the youthful wandering mind to consider migration, others dissociate with reality and lead a mundane existence of compliance.

References:
- 'PM Lee says countries worldwide respect and admire Singapore's proven system': "Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament...I'm going to spend all my time thinking what's the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters votes, how can I solve this week's problem and forget about next year's challenges?.. " [CNA:03May2006][YouTube/@1m10s]


- 'Freedom for Sale': "Don’t risk real freedom for short-term material gain.. Our civil liberties are in jeopardy and we are to blame. We have reduced democracy to the right to make and spend money... (in return for) a temporary blanket of security and what turned out to be an illusory prosperity" [The Times, 7Sept2009]

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06April2011: Minister's Salary averages at 30+ months!