From Yawning Bread of course.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shed figurative tears last week, saying that he and his ministers are underpaid: the floor rate for a minister should be S$2.2 million, but currently they're only getting S$1.2 million. Adjustments will be made soon, he said.
Singaporeans hurled abuse at the whole idea.
Lee justified his notion of appropriate salaries with reference to the benchmarking model established in 1994. But however they are calculated, to the public, the key issue is that the outcome is one of obscene levels of remuneration. There must be something wrong with the model. No use referencing it when it produces such results.
What is wrong with the model? Let me try to pick it apart.
But first, I had to force myself -- it made me sick to my stomach -- to read the 4 broadsheet pages of the Straits Times, 23 March 2007, devoted to apologia for the salary increase.
Having (in)digested that, this critique will comes in 4 parts, discussing various points that came to my mind.
The conflation of civil service and ministerial salaries
The MR4 benchmark
The SR9 benchmark
Increase in benchmarks since 2000
The conflation of civil service and ministerial service
It strikes me as unproven why Singapore has to have a salary scale where political officers are lumped together with career civil service officers. In most other countries, they are on quite separate scales, enacted separately.
to continue reading Yawning Breads detailed breakdown of the recent pay increase click here.
You can also go to numerous other blog sites, forums, chatrooms and continue to discuss the pros and cons of the recent pay raise.
Or you could get up out of you defeatest comfort zone and actually do something.
Go down to Orchard Road at Ngee Ann City Shopping Centre this Saturday, 31 March, starting from 12 noon to about 3 pm
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