- Joined
- Jul 18, 2008
- Messages
- 661
- Points
- 18
Wah! PAP people are filthy rich!
From: anaksingapur 3:54 am
To: ALL (1 of 5)
70650.1
http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/384147
Mind you this is a 2009 report. Presently their income would be much more!!
PAP MP pays $6.5 million for unit at luxury condo Marina Bay Suites
December 9, 2009 by Our Correspondent
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment
According to a report by Business Times on 8 December 2009, Keppel Land said that it has two granted options to purchase units in Marina Bay Suites to a director of Keppel Land and his wife, and a director of Keppel Corporation (KepLand’s parent company) and his wife.
Mr and Mrs Niam Chiang Meng have bought a 2,045 sq ft four-bedroom unit at the development for $4.6 million, or $2,238 per square foot. Mr Niam is a KepLand director.
Mr Niam Chiang Meng is the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports. Prior to his appointment in 2005, Mr Niam served as Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board from 2002 to 2004.
A PAP MP Mr Alvin Yeo Hirn Hai have also bought a 2,680 sq ft four-bedroom unit for $6.5 million, or $2,442 psf together with his wife. Mr Yeo is a director of Keppel Corp. Mr Yeo is also a Member of Parliament for Hong Kah GRC.The Marina Bay Suites is a luxury condominium project built in the prime district of Marina Bay, just a stone throw away from the soon-to-be complete Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort.
A 99-year leasehold project, it is constructed jointly by Singapore’s Keppel Land and Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited and Hong Kong Land.
Together with other projects such as The Sail in the vicinity, the Marina Bay Suites is one of the most expensive condominiums in Singapore to date. Only the very rich and expatriates are able to afford a unit there.
In other first world countries, it will be near impossible for a civil servant or MP to buy such a high-end condominium with their modest pays. However, Singapore’s ministers and top civil servants draw the highest salaries in the world.
A Superscale grade (SR9) civil servant is expected to get an annual salary of $338, 100 this year, or $28,175 a month. (Source: Press release from Public Service Division, 26 Nov 2009) Being senior civil servants in the top echelon of the civil service, Permanent Secretaries are probably pay more. In comparison, the median pay of the average Singapore worker is only $2,600 a month.
Singapore MPs are given a monthly allowance of around $13,000 a month on top of their full-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see MPs like Mr Alvin Yeo holding directorships in state-linked companies such as Keppel Land.
For example, former Minister for Information, Acts and Communication Dr Lee Boon Yang was recently appointed as a non-executive Chairman of Keppel Corporation though he waas trained as a dentist.
When the issue of MPs holding multiple directorships was raised in parliament a few years ago, it brought a chorus of protests from some PAP MPs.
PAP MP John Chen, who holds 8 directorships said:
“I don’t think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold.”
His colleague Wang Kai Yuen who holds a record 11 directorships added:
“It’s not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year”
In Singapore, there is no clear distinction between the government and the private sector. Many of its major blue chip companies like DBS, Singtel and SIA are actually “pseudo-state” companies owned by either one of the government’s sovereign wealth funds – Temasek Holdings or GIC.
As such, personnel can be transferred seamlessly from the state-linked companies to the government and vice-versa and more than often not, they all belong to the same clique with affiliations to the ruling party.
Current Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong was a former CEO of NatSteel, a government-linked company. The Chairman of Singapore’s sole print media company SPH is Dr Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister.
While there is nothing wrong in civil servants and MPs purchasing private properties, one cannot help wondering if such highly paid senior officials and representatives of the people are able to empathize with the hardships faced by ordinary citizens on the ground.
News source: Business Times, 8 December 2009
From: anaksingapur 3:54 am
To: ALL (1 of 5)
70650.1
http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/384147
Mind you this is a 2009 report. Presently their income would be much more!!
PAP MP pays $6.5 million for unit at luxury condo Marina Bay Suites
December 9, 2009 by Our Correspondent
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment
According to a report by Business Times on 8 December 2009, Keppel Land said that it has two granted options to purchase units in Marina Bay Suites to a director of Keppel Land and his wife, and a director of Keppel Corporation (KepLand’s parent company) and his wife.
Mr and Mrs Niam Chiang Meng have bought a 2,045 sq ft four-bedroom unit at the development for $4.6 million, or $2,238 per square foot. Mr Niam is a KepLand director.
Mr Niam Chiang Meng is the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports. Prior to his appointment in 2005, Mr Niam served as Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board from 2002 to 2004.
A PAP MP Mr Alvin Yeo Hirn Hai have also bought a 2,680 sq ft four-bedroom unit for $6.5 million, or $2,442 psf together with his wife. Mr Yeo is a director of Keppel Corp. Mr Yeo is also a Member of Parliament for Hong Kah GRC.The Marina Bay Suites is a luxury condominium project built in the prime district of Marina Bay, just a stone throw away from the soon-to-be complete Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort.
A 99-year leasehold project, it is constructed jointly by Singapore’s Keppel Land and Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited and Hong Kong Land.
Together with other projects such as The Sail in the vicinity, the Marina Bay Suites is one of the most expensive condominiums in Singapore to date. Only the very rich and expatriates are able to afford a unit there.
In other first world countries, it will be near impossible for a civil servant or MP to buy such a high-end condominium with their modest pays. However, Singapore’s ministers and top civil servants draw the highest salaries in the world.
A Superscale grade (SR9) civil servant is expected to get an annual salary of $338, 100 this year, or $28,175 a month. (Source: Press release from Public Service Division, 26 Nov 2009) Being senior civil servants in the top echelon of the civil service, Permanent Secretaries are probably pay more. In comparison, the median pay of the average Singapore worker is only $2,600 a month.
Singapore MPs are given a monthly allowance of around $13,000 a month on top of their full-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see MPs like Mr Alvin Yeo holding directorships in state-linked companies such as Keppel Land.
For example, former Minister for Information, Acts and Communication Dr Lee Boon Yang was recently appointed as a non-executive Chairman of Keppel Corporation though he waas trained as a dentist.
When the issue of MPs holding multiple directorships was raised in parliament a few years ago, it brought a chorus of protests from some PAP MPs.
PAP MP John Chen, who holds 8 directorships said:
“I don’t think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold.”
His colleague Wang Kai Yuen who holds a record 11 directorships added:
“It’s not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year”
In Singapore, there is no clear distinction between the government and the private sector. Many of its major blue chip companies like DBS, Singtel and SIA are actually “pseudo-state” companies owned by either one of the government’s sovereign wealth funds – Temasek Holdings or GIC.
As such, personnel can be transferred seamlessly from the state-linked companies to the government and vice-versa and more than often not, they all belong to the same clique with affiliations to the ruling party.
Current Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong was a former CEO of NatSteel, a government-linked company. The Chairman of Singapore’s sole print media company SPH is Dr Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister.
While there is nothing wrong in civil servants and MPs purchasing private properties, one cannot help wondering if such highly paid senior officials and representatives of the people are able to empathize with the hardships faced by ordinary citizens on the ground.
News source: Business Times, 8 December 2009
Last edited:
