• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Government’s continued silence on CDC bonuses is fasting eroding public trust and con

Watchman

Alfrescian
Loyal
Government’s continued silence on CDC bonuses is fasting eroding public trust and confidence in its governance.

April 5, 2009 by admin
Filed under Politics & Society

Leave a comment

By Fang Zhi Yuan

Following relevations that some local council bosses were being awarded salaries higher than the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the British government will pass new laws to force council executives to reveal their salaries, bonuses and pension agreements to the public. (read article here)

John Healey, the Local Government minister, said: “We’ve seen top council salaries spiralling recently. We’ve seen some councils change top managers like premiership football clubs, sometimes with big pay-offs for failure. The level of disclosure we require for councils is well short of that which we require for top civil servants and I think the public need to know the full picture.”

There was a similar outcry in Singapore recently over the eight month bonuses allegedly received by two staff of the Northwest Community Development Council (CDC).

A CDC is responsible for initiating, planning and managing community programmes to promote community bonding and social cohesion. There are 5 CDCs in Singapore whose mayors are usually PAP MPs appointed to the post. The mayor of Northwest CDC is Dr Teo Ho Pin.

Dr Teo claimed he was not aware of the bonus of his staff as they were seconded to him by the People’s Association which did not confirm or refute the bonus allegations when quizzed by the media.

One of our readers, Paul wrote an email to Dr Teo Ho Pin to ask him for clarifications on the rumors circulating in the internet chatrooms. He was told that the salaries and bonuses of CDC staff are “confidential”. (read article here)

Had Dr Teo muttered that in England, he would probably be cruxified by the media and forced to apologize. Fortunately for him, he is a politician in Singapore where he can get away with even an open admission of ignorance to the public.

Are Singaporeans unhappy about the bonuses received by the CDC staff? Of course some are. In a recent interview conducted by The Singapore Enquirer, 21 residents from a HDB estate felt the CDC should disclose the salaries and bonuses of all its staff (watch video here)

The question popped up again during a dialogue session with Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the Paya Lebar Community Club. He was asked point-blank by an irate resident to verify the rumors and again he pleaded ignorance on the pretext that he had never managed a CDC before (watch video here)

“I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer to expect from a highly paid minister or MP. Surely they can write in to the People’s Association or the Minister in charge to ask for answers on our behalfs?

The government’s displayed uneasiness and reluctance to come clean with the public is fasting eroding public trust and confidence in its governance and damaging its credibility as a self-proclaimed honest, accountable and transparent government.

The mainstream media has moved in quickly to salvage the situation by removing two online articles and avoiding any mention of the fiasco in subsequent days. However, there is nothing they can do to stop the ongoing gossips in cyberspace.

Singaporeans, especially the young, spent at much as 8 hours a day on the internet according to a recent survey. They do not have to depend on the media for their daily staple of news and when there is a void of information, the alternative media will move in quickly to fill it.

The ensuing PR disaster shows how inept the Singapore government is at handling the new media. The People’s Association should just reveal the salaries and bonuses of all its staff to put a stop to the endless speculations and flaming.

Let the public decide if the financial renumerations are justified and the matter can be brought to a proper closure. Instead, they tried to sweep the issue under the carpet which led to the impression that they have something to hide, thereby giving free ammunitions to their critics to shoot at its standards of governance.

On the whole, the Singapore government is a fairly clean, honest and responsible government, but it needs to do more to dispel the perception or misperception that it is not doing enough to show its accountability and transparency to the people.

Unlike twenty years ago, Singaporeans can easily access public records of other countries and compare their styles of governance with Singapore’s.

When Singaporeans read about the Hong Kong’s civil service publishing the salaries of all its staff online, they will wonder why the Singapore civil service does not do so.

They get incensed when they read about the British government’s move to force Council executives to reveal their salaries and bonuses while there was not even a debate in Parliament on the issue.

Both the Hong Kong and British governments are paid much less than Singapore. We have been told time and again that high ministerial salaries is a price to pay for a good government. Yet when we demand basic accountability and transparency, we are denied the right to access to information which should be in the public domain in the first place.

It doesn’t matter if the CDCs do not come under the Civil Service or the Public Service Division. Where do they get their operating funds from? As long a single cent of their salaries is derived from taxpayers’ monies, then they have the obligation to disclose them to the public.

It is good standard practice for the government to publish the salary scales for the staff under the payroll of the civil service and various statutory boards online.

Besides assauging public concerns about the spiralling salaries of civil servants, it will also serve to attract talents from the private sector to join government service if the renumeration is indeed attractive.

On the whole, Singaporeans do not begrudge civil servants receiving a pay and bonus which is commensurate with their peformance. What we ask for is simply for the respective organizations to keep us informed on how they utilize public funds. Is this too much to ask for?
 

kaipoh

Alfrescian
Loyal
Re: Government’s continued silence on CDC bonuses is fasting eroding public trust and

If the town conucil has millions of dollars surplus, lump par Teo should look into reducing service charge and not squander our money by paying your cronies awesome bonus.
Teo should admit he is not aware of the matter and appologize to the public and not by saying "I don't know" and let the matter died off.
LHL if you have this bunch of monkeys with you, you are doomed!
 
Top