The government-controlled trade union NTUC and its eight affiliated civil service unions have given the thumbs-up to the government’s decision to give a one-off year-end payment of 0.25 month, capped at S$750, on top of the usual 13th month bonus to civil servants.
The Annual Variable Component (AVC) of the salaries of civil servants is tied to Singapore’s economic performance as measured by its GDP growth.
The deputy Secretary-General of NTUC, PAP MP Halimah Yacob said that the payout will provide “some relief, particularly to the rank-and-file workers, as civil servants have endured lower annual salaries for 2009.”
There are no independent trade unions in Singapore to serve the interests of ordinary Singapore workers. The Secretary-General of NTUC is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say.
Despite the bonus, many civil servants still expressed disappointment at the amount.
One teacher told the state media that “most people are not very happy”.
“But we know as civil servants, we have to make the sacrifice. There are many in the private sector who have been retrenched and have yet to find jobs,” she said.
Mr Thomas Tan, a 27-year-old in the legal service, concurred:
“It is not even a thousand dollars, but I guess in these lean times, we have to take what we can get.”
A job in the civil service is considered as an “iron rice bowl” as it guarantees a secure regular income minus the threat of retrenchment faced by workers in the private sector.
Furthermore, the pay is in the private sector is not necessarily higher than the public sector.
Even with a projected decline of 15 per cent, top civil servants are expected to take home $338,000 this year or a monthly pay of about $28,100.
It is highly unlikely that they will be able to command that kind of salary in the private sector.
A medical specialist in a public hospital earns between $10,000 – $15,000 monthly and maybe slightly more than $20,000 in the private sector.
A top surgeon or lawyer in Singapore can expect to earn more than $30,000 a month, but they are professionals and not administrative staff like civil servants.
The high salaries of Singapore’s ministers and senior civil servants remain a point of contention among Singaporeans whose median wage is only $4,500 a month.
Tan Yong Soon, a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Environment, was rapped last year for an extravagant holiday cum cooking trip in Paris, France.
With elections around the corner, the government will not risk infuriating Singaporeans by raising their own salaries now.
After the 2006 elections, the salaries of ministers and senior civil servants are increased to peg it to two-thirds of the pay of the eight top-earning professionals in Singapore with no consultation with the people.
The Annual Variable Component (AVC) of the salaries of civil servants is tied to Singapore’s economic performance as measured by its GDP growth.
The deputy Secretary-General of NTUC, PAP MP Halimah Yacob said that the payout will provide “some relief, particularly to the rank-and-file workers, as civil servants have endured lower annual salaries for 2009.”
There are no independent trade unions in Singapore to serve the interests of ordinary Singapore workers. The Secretary-General of NTUC is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say.
Despite the bonus, many civil servants still expressed disappointment at the amount.
One teacher told the state media that “most people are not very happy”.
“But we know as civil servants, we have to make the sacrifice. There are many in the private sector who have been retrenched and have yet to find jobs,” she said.
Mr Thomas Tan, a 27-year-old in the legal service, concurred:
“It is not even a thousand dollars, but I guess in these lean times, we have to take what we can get.”
A job in the civil service is considered as an “iron rice bowl” as it guarantees a secure regular income minus the threat of retrenchment faced by workers in the private sector.
Furthermore, the pay is in the private sector is not necessarily higher than the public sector.
Even with a projected decline of 15 per cent, top civil servants are expected to take home $338,000 this year or a monthly pay of about $28,100.
It is highly unlikely that they will be able to command that kind of salary in the private sector.
A medical specialist in a public hospital earns between $10,000 – $15,000 monthly and maybe slightly more than $20,000 in the private sector.
A top surgeon or lawyer in Singapore can expect to earn more than $30,000 a month, but they are professionals and not administrative staff like civil servants.
The high salaries of Singapore’s ministers and senior civil servants remain a point of contention among Singaporeans whose median wage is only $4,500 a month.
Tan Yong Soon, a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Environment, was rapped last year for an extravagant holiday cum cooking trip in Paris, France.
With elections around the corner, the government will not risk infuriating Singaporeans by raising their own salaries now.
After the 2006 elections, the salaries of ministers and senior civil servants are increased to peg it to two-thirds of the pay of the eight top-earning professionals in Singapore with no consultation with the people.
