PM may see 36% pay cut, entry-level ministers 37% - Channel NewsAsia

PM may see 36% pay cut, entry-level ministers 37% - Channel NewsAsia
By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted: 04 January 2012 1208 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Review Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister to look at Ministerial salaries, has recommended cuts of between 36 and 53 per cent.

This was disclosed by Committee Chairman, Gerard Ee, on Wednesday at a news conference .

The committee also recommended for the pension scheme to be removed entirely for new office holders.

This will be applicable to those appointed on or after 21 May 2011.

Those appointed before that, will also be affected.

The committee was appointed after the general election in May last year, and had submitted its report to the Prime Minister on December 30.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced the review at the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet in May last year.

Among the recommendations made are the Prime Minister's annual salary to be cut by 36 per cent, to S$2.2 million.

The President's annual salary is reduced by 51 per cent, to S$1.54 million.

The Speaker of Parliament will see the biggest percentage cut of 53 per cent, to S$550,000.

The lowest percentage change of a 20 per cent cut is for the Mayor and Senior Parliamentary Secretary positions.

Mayors will now get S$660,000 while Senior Parliamentary Secretaries will get S$572,000.

Previously, salaries were pegged to the median income of the top 48 earners in Singapore, with a one-third discount.

Now, they will be pegged to the median income of the top 1,000 earners who are Singapore citizens.

A 40 per cent discount will then be applied.

Based on 2010 figures, the proposed salary for entry-level ministers works out to S$1.1 million.

The committee also recommended changes to bonus payments, pensions and benefits under the new pay structure.

The committee has recommended that the GDP bonus be removed, and replaced by a National Bonus.

The National Bonus comprises four elements - including the unemployment rate, real median income growth, GDP growth and the real income growth of the bottom 20 per cent of wage earners.

Chairman Gerard Ee said the salary must be a "clean wage" with no hidden perks.

He said: "Our recommendations, while it is a severe cut, should be able to attract not all, but some of the talents to come forward.

"But preserving the message that you're coming forward to serve in a political capacity, and there is some sacrifice to be made.

"The 1,000, basically is, first take note that it's based on Singaporeans only, and eliminate the PRs and everybody.

"So we say if the talent pool from which we want to tap, if we were to hunt for them, we believe if they were to be functioning outside of politics, that's where we're going to locate them."

A member of the committee, Fang Ai Lian, said: "This new system is a lot more transparent and a lot more Singapore centric and that's why we were very careful when we picked our benchmark, it is about Singaporeans.

"When we talk about performance indicators, it is about Singaporeans. This is something that the public can look forward to when measuring the performance of your ministers.

"So when you look at benchmark, indicators pertaining to National Bonus, it is about the well-being of Singaporeans."

View the news conference here

The new salary will be backdated to 21 May last year, when the new government took office.

MPs will debate the report when Parliament sits for a second session 16 January.

Parliament's first sitting for this year will be on 9 January. It's expected to focus on several questions tabled on the recent flooding and the spate of MRT disruptions.

- CNA/ck