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https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/exhausted-dutch-minister-leading-coronavirus-fight-quits-12558254 Not meant to be a political thread. but just want to give thanks to the man in charge of overseeing the situation in sg. The face of COVID-19 in Sg is that of National Development Minister Lawrence Wong. Maybe nt noticed by many before the task force was setup, surely well noticed by all now. Not an easy task to be the one delivering all the bad news every day. From dorscon orange, to the panic buying situation, to announcing all the new travel advisories, pleading with sgreans not to go overseas this period, taking questions from the press, being asked tough questions like will sg be seeing triple figures soon since 47 cases recorded, still kept a calm face throughout. speaks well, good english, measured response. stil cannot escape from all the negative responses from public saying wayang etc but majority of sgreans dont thinklike that... lawrence wong has been seen as the main person overseeing all the press conferences instead of our health minister. sai gang warrior. i give credit where credit is due. it is a stressful job this period. wish him best of health. http://theindependent.sg/lawrence-wong-gets-high-marks-from-netizens-for-coronavirus-crisis-response/ Singapore— National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs a multi-ministry task force specially formed to combat the coronavirus outbreak, has quietly been winning over many Singaporeans for how he has handled the crisis, with even normally critical netizens calling him “nuanced,” “measured,” and “better than the rest of the team.” People have even noted how the tech-savvy minister uses his smartphone as a tool during press conferences. Some have even called for him to be the next Deputy Prime Minister, and there are those who have compared other ministers to Mr Wong quite unfavourably.

Now this video is a Q&A in a full house Parliament sitting regarding Politics/Religion Disregarding the content of the video as it is a sensitive topic, How well can our speakers really speak? Shanmugam can speak and articulate well because he is a lawyer Faisal Manap is less eloquent and our law minister seems to have him cornered to make a yes or no reply which is what lawyers are good at in getting you to make a confession. They box you in. Personally felt he was intimidated by Shanmugam Pritnam Singh is another lawyer, responded well and allowed the discussion to move forward Also, it's strange to see our PM and Tharman whispering to Shanmugam. Almost like a high school debate competition Question: How many of our ministers are really good in public speaking? Our PM speaks well but doesn't give me the impression of being a quick thinker Thaman is a personal favorite of mine in terms of public speaking

Before May 2006 Yeo Chow Tong. Ater May 2006 Raymond Lim. A big thank you for the current state of Transport in Singapore

So, last time they had to buy..whoops..i meant find girls from Hungary? At least ah loong led by example, Singaporean wife. http://theunseensingapore.blogspot.sg/2013...ign-talent.html

PSI is hitting 321 and rising what are our million dollar ministers doing? I bet many would have taken the 1st plane out of sinkieland. In Hong Kong and other civilised countries when a Tsunami hits hazard zones the govt declares a state of emergency and orders everyone to stay in doors. Here in sinkieland even if it pours acid rain out doors our million dollar ministers will be wilfully blind and sit back and suck on their thumbs as they need the islands slave labourers to continue to toil away in the sweat shop offices. This is where a failure to act reveals the true colours of the million dollar pigs from animal farm

By Chun Han Wong and Shibani Mahtani Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong listens to a statement in Singapore in June 2011. Singapore leaders may be slashing sizeable chunks off their world-beating salaries, but it appears they aren

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/-better--faster-a...ministers-.html Now got to eat his own words .. but he say not fair to compare these 3 words with minister pay ! Maybe these 3 words is more applicable when comparing chow peasants vs cheaper FTs ?

Pls share your views. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/message/7533 Comments: Mellanie Hewlitt Sg_Review 16 Sep 2011 Below is a self-explanatory letter that was sent to the Straits Times and copied to Mr Gerald Ee (who heads the committee to review Ministerial Salaries), which was never published; This message was forwarded to you by WeeSoon@... Date: 15 Sep 2011 From Goh Wee Soon To: sphcorp@... To: Gerard Ee Re: PAP Ministers Salaries a National Embarassment Dear Sir, I recall some time in May 2011 that a committee was purportedly set-up to review and address the very lucrative salaries paid to our ministers. This has been a long overdue exercise and brings back to me a discussion that I had with some of my younger staff during the financial crisis in 2008. You may recall that the 2008 financial crisis hit many private companies and banks very hard. Many of us were forced to either down-size our departments or effect pay-reductions to contain operational costs. My bank (a state aided European bank) was no exception and as a department head I had the burden of either letting go redundant staff and informing existing staff that there would be delays in bonus pay-outs and temporary pay-reductions during this period. As was expected the news was not well received especially amongst staff who were laid-off. However what was totally unexpected was the reaction of the remaining staff who were spared from the retrenchment exercise. Not only were they not grateful, several even asked why they should take a pay-cut. And it was even more glaring that such objections came, not from the older married staff members with children to support and heavy financial responsibilities, but from the younger, single and more impressionable employees. I tried in vain to explain that this was a temporary situation and that we should all be grateful of having a job in these difficult times and that money was not all that important as we should derive satisfaction from the value we add to the team. The response from 2 young twenty-something year olds was loud and immediate: "Who says money is not important. This is Singapore, look at our leaders and Ministers, they are paid million dollar salaries. Our leaders themselves are doing this for the money. They definitely don't work just for the love of the country. Who are you to tell us otherwise?" I was left speechless for a moment to counter this argument as there was truth in these words. But after a moment's reflection I replied; "Yes this is Singapore and yes we have million dollar salaried ministers. But ask yourselves these questions. Do you respect them? Can you expect to turn to them in tough times like these? Do you want to be like them at all?" They were strangely silent as I think they did not expect such a politically in-correct reply from me. I pressed on: "Do you know what will happen to Singapore as a country if all the citizens here adopt the same attitude as our million dollar ministers? We will cease to exist as a financially viable business center tomorrow!" I have copied Mr Gerard Ee in this email in the hope that he can take the above incident into account in his assessment of ministerial salaries. This is sending the wrong message to our citizens, especially the younger generation as they will adopt a mercenary attitude towards all things in existence and we simply inculcate such shallow and material values. I have never been so ashamed of our leaders before. And I share this with you and with SPH knowing full well that this letter and its contents will never be published. But I do hope that you give some thought to this in your review process. Goh Wee Soon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: Mellanie Hewlitt It has been some months since we received any news from the PAP's bogus committee that was setup in May 2011 as a front to "review" obscene ministerial salaries. The silence from Gerard Ee's committe is defening, and perhaps one difficulty poor Gerard may have is a yardstick for measuring a reasonable benchmark for ministerial salaries. In fact there are plenty of accurate yardsticks for the benchmarks available from salary scales of ministers and leaders in civilised democracies. But poor Gerard is, for some unaccountable reason, unable to use these measures. Of cause it does not help that the only other countries with "leaders" with similiar remuneration scale all just happen to be dictatorships from countries riddled with graft and nepotism. There is however some respite for poor Gerard and his bogus running dog committee as a local benchmark has been offered from Tan See Jay. Now it will be interesting to see how Mr Ee and Singapore's propaganda media attempt to side step this embarassing situtation and continue to remain willfully blind to the increasingly large white elephant squatting in the middle of their small living room.

The writer, See Leong Kit, was a Colombo Plan scholar. With all the statistics presented, I think Gerard Ee will have a hard time not to do something drastic to cut Ministerial pay to a decent and reasonable level, otherwise ... ..............................Enjoy To: Mr Gerard Ee Chairman, Ministerial Salary Review Committee From: Mr David L K See (63-year old tertiary-educated native-born S'pore Citizen, who had completed full- time National Service) cc: PM Lee Hsien Loong/Other Ministers Opposition MPs, NCMPs Political Commentators Contents Para 1 --- Quick Background/Summary of the Ministerial Pay Issue and the ensuing Public Anger. Para 2 --- Suggestions to address/defuse Public Anger. 1 World-Infamous Obscenely-Humongous Million-Dollar PUBLIC SECTOR Salaries in Singapore 1.1 Quotable Quotes: -- US President Barack Obama (BBC 11 Jul 09): "...No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves..." -- From a Financial Times article (TODAY 26 Nov 10): "...In a society that lacks political checks and balances, such waves of public outrage can develop a force rarely seen in democratic societies..." 1.2 Very Telling PAP Political U-Turns (confirming that PAP has lost its "moral compass"):THEN (Straits Times 21 August 1989 ) "To build a country, you need passion. If you just do your sums --- plus, minuses, credit, debit --- you are a washout." --- PM Lee Kuan Yew 18 YEARS LATER (Straits Times 5 April 2007 ) When it was put to him that people hoped for leaders who were willing to make sacrifices and who were not there for the money, he (MM Lee Kuan Yew) replied that these were "admirable sentiments but we live in the real world". NOW (Straits Times 22 May 2011 ) " Politics is not a job or a career promotion. It is a calling to serve the larger good of Singapore." --- PM Lee Hsien Loong 1.3 "Monkey Politics" in Singapore: PAP say: Pay PEANUTS and you will get CORRUPT Monkeys! S'pore Voters say: Pay BIG BANANAS but still get INCOMPETENT Chimpanzees !!! [ Just one example of INCOMPETENCE taken from a long list --- The Mas Selamat Great Escape Monumental Fiasco, which led to Singapore (and its Prime Minister) becoming a laughing stock amongst the International Coalition Against Terrorism ] "Monkey Antics" of Singapore Political Elite: I scratch your back, you scratch mine. I cover your butt, you cover mine. 1.4 Main Bug-Bear of many Singaporeans is the HIGH COST of LIVING --- arising from high cost of government; high cost of homes (both HDB and private); high cost of healthcare; high cost of transport (both private transport and public transport), etc...... HIGH COST of GOVERNMENT in Little Red Dot Singapore: (a) A BLOATED CABINET comprising an extravagant entourage of one Prime Minister, one Minister Mentor, two Senior Ministers, two Deputy Prime Ministers --- followed by 15 Ministers, 10 Ministers-of-State --- plus 4 Parliamentary Secretaries, 5 CDC Mayors and 82 PAP MPs [ Parliament set-up, prior to 2011 GE ] (b) A BULGING BLOATED BUREAUCRACY with 9 Organs of State, 15 Ministries and 64 Statutory Boards. NOTE: The high cost of this Top-Heavy Government is paid for NOT from PAP Party Funds BUT from PUBLIC FUNDS (i.e. the hard-earned monies of S'pore Taxpayer-Voters collected through numerous taxes/dues) 1.5 PAP Government's World-Infamous Double Records: (a) PM Lee Hsien Loong confirmed as "World's Highest-Paid Politician" by Economist/Financial Times. (b) All the world's Top 30 highly-paid politicians are found in SINGAPORE (in PM Lee's Cabinet, of course!). 1.6 Singapore's fat-cat ministers getting fatter each year: BASIC Annual Pay (Source: Straits Times reports) President's pay: $2.6m(2006) $3.2m(2007) $3.9m(2008) [ THIS MUCH for a largely ceremonial post (shaking hands, kissing babies, cutting ribbons, opening Keppel Bay bridge, attending charity functions, hosting state dinners ....) ??? ] PM/MM/SM pay: $2.5m(2006) $3m(2007) $3.8m(2008) DPM pay: $2m (2006) $2.5m (2007) $3m (2008) Minister pay: $1.2m(2006) $1.6m(2007) $1.9m(2008) [ Current MP Allowance (for a part-time job!) = $13,500 per month ] [ PM Basic Pay = $3.8m per year = $320,000 per month = $10,000 per day ] [ Minister Basic Pay = $1.9m per year = $160,000 per month = $5,000 per day ] 1.7 Justifiable/Understandable Anger of S'pore Voters: (a) We, Singaporeans, Not DAFT !!! Neither are we uncivilized nor barbaric to expect our Politicians/Bureaucrats to work "for free" or to survive on "fresh air and love of the people". We will readily support adequate/reasonable remunerations. BUT the above figures are not just humongous but obscenely-humongous salaries, going by both local/international PUBLIC SECTOR standards !!! (b) How could tiny Singapore's PM be earning six times the pay of the American President and ten times that of the Japanese PM and the Australian PM ??? [ All the latter three Heads of State are governing very big countries with large populations, and very complex political/economic/social issues. ] If Singapore's PM screw up, only S'poreans will suffer. But if the American President screw up (and presses the wrong buttons), the whole world (including little red dot Singapore and its entire Lee Family) could go up in nuclear smoke !!! © Are we paying TOO MUCH for TOO LITTLE transparency and accountability ??? Do we really have a "visionary and competent" Government or just "grossly over-paid" Politicians/Bureaucrats ??? With such obscenely-humongous public sector salaries, how can these PAP politicians ever earn the "moral authority" [much less the respect] of S'poreans to govern this tiny island nation ??? [ "People do not always hate the rich. People hate those who are immorally rich."--- Mr Qiu Liping, professor of social stratification at Shanghai University. MYP 16 Dec 09 ] 1.8 AN IMPORTANT NOTE: (a) The above-stated mind-boggling SINGLE-DIGIT MILLIONS represent just BASIC Annual Pay i.e excluding mid-year bonus, year-end bonus, Performance Bonus, GDP Bonus, CPF/PENSION

LOL i sent the thread to Sg Review and they posted it.... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/message/7474 Sg_Review Comments: Mellanie Hewlitt It has been some months since we received any news from the PAP's bogus committee that was setup in May 2011 as a front to "review" obscene ministerial salaries. The silence from Gerard Ee's committee is defening, and perhaps one difficulty poor Gerard may have is a yardstick for measuring a reasonable benchmark for ministerial salaries. In fact there are plenty of accurate yardsticks for the benchmarks available from salary scales of ministers and leaders in civilised democracies. But poor Gerard is, for some unaccountable reason, unable to use these measures. Of cause it does not help that the only other countries with "leaders" with similiar remuneration scale all just happen to be dictatorships from countries riddled with graft and nepotism. There is however some respite for poor Gerard and his bogus running dog committee as a local benchmark has been offered from Tan See Jay. Now it will be interesting to see how Mr Ee and Singapore's propaganda media attempt to side step this embarassing situtation and continue to remain willfully blind to the increasingly large white elephant squatting in the middle of their small living room. http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2667953 NightWind Yesterday, 09:41 AM Post #1 Compare this to the greed of the PAP Pig ministers on Animal Farm...good to see TJS making this point. I wonder what ever happened to that bogus committee that was set-up to review Ministerial Salaries.....they should use S$500k as the benchmark... http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC11...s-enough-for-me Tan Jee Say: S$500,000 is enough for me by Carolyn Quek carolynquek@... 04:46 AM Aug 21, 2011SINGAPORE - After laying out several pledges in his Presidential candidate broadcast speech, Mr Tan Jee Say said he would take a salary of S$500,000 if elected. The 57-year-old's campaign flyer states, among other things: "Presidential salary: $500,000 a year is plenty for anyone to live on. Anything else should go back to the people of Singapore." Asked by reporters how he had arrived at the figure, Mr Tan replied that the sum "is far above" what an average family needs. On whether it was meant to counter Mr Tan Kin Lian's campaign promise to take half of the president's salary, which is currently about S$4 million, Mr Tan Jee Say replied: "No it's not undercutting. People do ask me what is good to live on so I think this is a figure. It's a lot of money." Any amount he receives above S$500,000, if he is elected as President, would go to charity, Mr Tan Jee Say added. He was speaking to reporters during a walkabout at Geylang Serai yesterday evening. Earlier, he visted the Green Avenue Home for the Elderly and High Point Community Services at Lorong 23 Geylang. Calling ageing issues a "rising problem" for Singapore, Mr Tan Jee Say felt that issues such as raising the income ceiling for healthcare subsidies for the elderly in aged homes should be looked into. Mr Tan also told reporters he was heartened to see so many young professionals taking time out to volunteer, and said it is something he wants to promote if elected as President. Accompanying him on his visit was Ms Nicole Seah, who stood in May's General Election as a National Solidarity Party candidate. Mr Tan has approached her to be a speaker at his rally on Tuesday night at the Toa Payoh Stadium. The 24-year-old Miss Seah said that she is willing to take up the invitation, pending Mr Tan's campaign committee's decision. She added that she is helping Mr Tan in her own personal capacity.

Hurry up. Good chance for the bros to contribute your ideas. [email protected] ----- Jun 8, 2011 Wanted: More views on ministers' pay Committee gets down to work, calls for more suggestions by June 20 By Amresh Gunasingham Chairman of the ministerial salary review committee Gerard Ee called for more ideas from the public. -- ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN THE committee set up to review ministerial salaries met for the first time on Saturday to consider a slew of suggestions for a new formula - and yesterday called for more ideas. Chairman Gerard Ee promised that the eight-member committee, set up by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 21, will 'consider every one of them for their suitability and appropriateness'. Mr Ee asked that additional views be sent by June 20 via e-mail or normal mail. 'While the Prime Minister has not given us a timeline to deliver on our recommendations, we do want to get down to work as soon as possible, hence the deadline for sharing your ideas,' he said in a statement last night. 'You have our assurance that we will consider all inputs. We would appreciate it if contributors not flame, even though we fully understand the need to vent.' Mr Ee said committee members had been 'poring over the sea of suggestions' they had received personally or which had been forwarded to them by others. Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times. The public can e-mail suggestions to [email protected] or they can write to Mr Ee at P.O. Box 539, Singapore 910504.

SO now is the BIG question, since our three highly sought after ministers are now out of jobs, will they managed to command a million dollar salary in the PRIVATE SECTOR based on their own merit??????

MBT, Wong KS & Raymond Lim "retired"..... If only TPL and VB also "retire"... Will be more than happiness. Good reshuffle.... MINISTERS Lee Hsien Loong - Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean - Deputy Prime Minister, coordinating Minister for National Security, Minister for Home Affairs Tharman Shanmugaratnam - Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, Minister for Manpower (promotion) Lim Hng Kiang - Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Swee Say - Minister in Prime Minister's Office Assoc Prof Yaacob Ibrahim - Minister for Information and Communication and the Arts Khaw Boon Wan - Minister for National Development Dr Ng Eng Hen - Minister for Defence Dr Vivian Balakrishnan - Minister for Environment and Water Resources K Shanmugam - Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law Gan Kim Yong - Minister for Health S Iswaran - Minister in Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Home Affairs, Second Minister for Trade and Industry (promotion) Heng Swee Keat - Minister for Education (new appointee) MG (NS) Chan Chun Sing - Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Minister of State for Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (new appointee) SENIOR MINISTERS OF STATE Grace Fu - Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources Heng Chee How - Prime Minister's Office (promotion) MINISTERS OF STATE Lee Yi Shyan - Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of National Development Dr Amy Khor - Ministry of Health Masagos Zulkifli - Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teo Ser Luck - Ministry of Trade and Industry (promotion) Halimah Yacob - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (new appointee) Josephine Teo - Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transport (new appointee) Lawrence Wong - Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education (new appointee) BG (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin - Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Manpower (new appointee) SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES Hawazi Daipi - Ministry of Education, Ministry of Manpower Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman - Ministry of Defence, Ministry of National Development Sam Tan - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Sim Ann - Ministry of Education, Ministry of Law (new appointee) The new Cabinet will be sworn in by President SR Nathan this Saturday at 730pm. Source : Yahoo SG

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/artic...umentid=4841311 SINGAPORE: When a Cabinet minister retires, the maximum annual pension he is entitled to would be about 10 per cent of his annual salary while he was in service. But to qualify for the maximum pension, he must have served as an office holder for 18 years, said Mr Tan Kee Yong, secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a letter sent to the media on Friday. Also, Members of Parliament (MPs) elected after January 1995 are not eligible for pension. Mr Tan

TAKE A PEEK. SEE THE LIGHT http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/fi...0Rulers.doc http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/fi...ore%27s%2\ 0Rulers.doc http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/fi...ore%27s%2\ 0Rulers.doc

http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElectio...ory_660390.html First it was Lim Boon Heng. Now Lim Swee Say and who will be the next?

Below article shows what went wrong when Mr Ng attempted to bribe a cop. He really should have known better as this is afterall Singapore and not Malaysia and we do things the LEGITIMATE way here in PAP land. What Mr Ng should have done was to issue the good corporal a

If You Leave Me Now Original by Chicago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx-1ovf1cjo...feature=related If you leave me now you'll take away the biggest part of me oooh no, baby please don't go And If you leave me now You'll take away the very heart of me oooh no, baby please don't go oooh PAY, I just want you to stay The PAY like ours is a Pay that's hard to find how could we let it slip away We've come too far to leave it all behind how could we end it all this way When tomorrow comes and we all agree the miilions we're paid today The PAY like ours is a Pay that's hard to find how could we let it slip away We've come too far to leave it all behind how could we let it slip away When tomorrow comes and we're all happy with the PAY we have today If you leave me now you'll take away the biggest part of me oooh no, MONEY please don't go oooh PAY, just got to have you by my side oooh no, PAY please don't go oooh mama, just got to have your lovin

http://theowlcritic.blogspot.com/ Thursday, March 31, 2011 An 'Animal Farm' In Singapore For those who have not read Animal Farm, it was a story about farm animals who revolt and throw out their whip-wielding owner. The pigs, being the smartest, then run the farm. We will not spoil the book for you by revealing more, but here is how their propagandist, Squealer, justifies the pigs getting the milk and all the apples : "Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Surely, comrades, surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?" Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone. If you can tell the difference between Animal Farm's pigs and their taking all of the best things, and the PAP's politicians and the obscene amounts they are paying themselves, then we congratulate you. We cannot.

Can someone explain the logic to me? When the benchmark rises, their pay goes up. When the benchmark decreases, shouldn't their pay drop as well? Pay adjustment deferred Reason: Private sector benchmarks used to calculate pay have fallen By Li Xueying A PLANNED adjustment of the pay of Cabinet ministers and top civil servants to align it with salaries in the private sector has been deferred - for the third time. The adjustment was to have been made in January last year, but was deferred then, and again last November, because of the weak economy. A statement from the Public Service Division (PSD) said the Government will monitor economic growth and movement of the pay benchmarks 'before making any subsequent decision on when to implement the salary adjustment'. The deferment applies to administrative service officers, and those who hold political, judicial and statutory appointments. Explaining the deferment despite a roaring economy this year, the PSD said the two private sector benchmarks it uses to decide the pay of these officers had fallen. The first benchmark - 2/3M48 - pegs pay to two-thirds of the salary of the 24th highest earner in a group comprising the top eight earners from six selected professions. This benchmark is used to determine the pay of entry-level ministers and senior permanent secretaries. The second benchmark - 15P32 - pegs pay to that of the 15th top earner aged 32 in the same six professions. It is used to decide the salaries of entry-grade Superscale administrative service officers. Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times. [email protected]

Ministers

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story Dec 20, 2009 4 ministers' sons SAF officers By Terrence Voon Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean (centre) pinning the rank epaulette on his son Eng Siang's uniform yesterday, while his wife Poh Yim looks on. -- ST PHOTOS: CAROLINE CHIA He was there as the reviewing officer presiding over the commissioning parade for new Singapore Armed Forces officers yesterday. He was also there as a proud parent. And once his official duties were over, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean joined hundreds of other parents in congratulating their sons' on their achievements. Mr Teo's son, Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) Teo Eng Siang, was among the 504 graduating cadets who received their commissions yesterday, in a ceremony that is held four times a year after 38 weeks of rigorous training. Mr Teo was not the only Cabinet member at Saturday's parade at Safti Military Institute in Jurong. Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say were also there. Read the full report in The Sunday Times.

CABINET ministers, appointment holders and top civil servants will not be getting a pay increase for the second year running, in view of the uncertain economic recovery. Salaries were to have gone up in January as part of salary revisions that follow from benchmarking to the private sector. But the move was deferred at that time as Singapore had slipped into recession. Announcing the second deferment on Thursday, the Public Service Division (PSD) said that annual salaries of officers in the elite Administrative Service, and of political, judicial and statutory appointment holders, will in fact shrink by up to 22 per cent this year. This means that the annual salary for ministers at the entry-level grade of MR4, for example, will amount to $1.49 million this year, down from $1.92 million last year. For Administrative Officers on the Superscale Grade (SR9), annual pay packages will be down to $338,100 this year - a 15 per cent decline from $399,500 last year. As part of Government efforts to retain talent, salaries are benchmarked to top earners in the private sector and reviewed yearly

SINGAPORE, Jan 20 - The annual salaries of Singapore's ministers and senior civil servants are expected to fall by 12 to 20 percent this year in line with the shrinking economy, local media reported on Tuesday. Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also minister in charge of the civil service, told Parliament on Monday that senior permanent secretaries and entry-grade ministers will likely receive S$1.54 million , which is a drop of 20 percent from last year. Younger officers in the elite Administrative Service -- typically top performers in their early to mid-30s -- will receive S$351,000 or about 12 percent less, Teo added. "As the salaries are linked to economic performance, the 2009 salaries may be subject to further adjustments given the volatility of the economy," he said. Singapore pegs ministers and senior civil servants' pay to top earners in the private sector, saying it needs to pay well to retain talent in the government service. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year received an estimated S$3.76 million, about five times the annual salary of outgoing U.S. President George W Bush. Singapore, which became the first Asian economy to slip into recession last year, has forecast the economy could shrink by up to 2 percent this year. It is considering dipping into its reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars for the first time to tackle the slump, officials were quoted as saying on Monday. [iD:nSP388780] The government could draw on the central bank's foreign reserves that totalled $174.2 billion in December, or its two secretive sovereign funds GIC and Temasek that had at least a combined $230 billion in assets in reported figures last year. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090120/tap...ay-c3bb44c.html