After living in a bigger country (both in terms of land mass and population), it is very difficult for me to wrap my head around the logic of Singapore's ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP); that its prime minister and ministers should be paid such high salaries (not that it was easy before).
In Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) governs over a country with metropolitan areas like Greater Taipei, which houses 7 million people, as well as major cities like Kaohsiung and Taichung with about 2.7 million people each, and Tainan with 1.9 million people, or a total population of 24 million people for the whole of Taiwan.
Moreover, Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) is US$612 billion, or the 13th largest in the world.
Singapore's population is 5.8 million, and its GDP was US$310 billion in 2016.
The Greater Taipei Area, which comprises Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung, has a population larger than the city of Singapore (which is essentially the country), and there are three cities in Taiwan each with about half the population of Singapore.
Taiwan's total population is four times that of Singapore while Taiwan's GDP is about twice that of Singapore's.
President Tsai governs over a much larger population and economy but only earns about US$218,000 a year, while the Singapore prime minister, Lee Hsien-loong, earns a base salary of S$2.2 million (US$1.6 million) a year.
In other words, Singapore's GDP is only half that of Taiwan, but the Singapore prime minister earns more than seven times that of the Taiwan's president.
International comparisons
Or look at Germany, which has cities like Berlin with 3.5 million people, Hamburg with 1.9 million people, Munich with 1.5 million people and Cologne with 1 million people, or a total of population of 82.3 million people. Germany's GDP in 2017 was US$3,686 billion, or the fourth-largest in the world.
There are 14 cities in Germany each with more than 500,000 people, and Germany's total population is 14 times that of Singapore, while Germany's GDP is 13 times larger.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, governs over a much larger population and economy but only earns about US$370,000 a year.
In other words, Singapore's GDP is less than one-tenth that of Germany, but the Singapore prime minister earns more than four times that of the German chancellor.
Or in terms of real GDP growth, according to the International Monetary Fund’s April 2018 World Economic Outlook, Singapore’s economy is projected to grow at 2.9 percent on year.
New Zealand is earmarked to grow at 2.9 percent and Australia at 3 percent. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden's base pay is US$340,000 a year while Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes home US$528,000 a year.
If the Singapore prime minister cannot galvanize Singapore to grow at three to five times the rate of the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers, why is he earning three to five times what they earn?
In Luxembourg, the IMF projects real GDP growth at 4.3 percent, or 1.5 times higher than Singapore's. The Luxembourg prime minister, Xavier Bettel, earns US$278,000 a year.
The Luxembourg prime minister is presiding over a country forecast to grow 1.5 times faster than Singapore, yet Singapore's prime minister pays himself nearly six times the salary.
More at On the Distorted Logic of Ministerial Salaries in Singapore
