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</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt" id="msgtxt_1">The Might of the Peoplefs Power
May 23rd, 2011 |
Author: Contributions |
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Never has the might of the peoplefs power manifested itself so strongly in Singapore as in the last General Election. This was acutely felt by PM Lee Hsien Loong and his Cabinet colleagues when the Peoplefs Action Party (PAP) was overwhelmingly defeated in Aljunied GRC resulting in the loss of two heavyweight ministers and a prospective Speaker of Parliament. The PAP also saw its share of valid votes drop to 60.1 per cent compared to 66.6 per cent in 2006, the lowest since independence. There has been a considerable amount of soul-searching in the party and PM Lee has since shown that he is going to give more priority and importance to the peoplefs financial and social woes. He may be gung ho in his revivifying effort but whether some of his more tardy ministers are up to the mark is another matter. There is a Chinese saying: He who gains the peoplefs heart gains the country; he who loses the peoplefs heart loses the country (“¾–¯SŽÒ“¾“V‰ºG Ž¸–¯SŽÒŽ¸“V‰ºj. In a microcosm, the Workersf Party fits into the former.
It is because of the widespread criticisms of the astronomical ministerial pay that PM Lee now feels the heat and compunction to do something to assuage the peoplefs anger. He has now decided to form a special committee to be headed by Mr. Gerald Ee, National Kidney Foundation Chairman, to review the basis and level of Ministersf salaries. It is preposterous when the prime ministerfs salary is six times that of the President of the United States of America. Even a ministerfs salary exceeds that of the USA President several times.
A discomfited and comical SM Goh Cok Tong had described the issue of ministerial salaries as the goppositionfs flogging horseh and said that the gmajorityh of the population were not concerned about it. He was either day-dreaming or was misled by his feedback people. In fact he was the blurry-eyed Prime Minister who introduced these infamous ministerial salaries in the mid-1990s, so how could he be be aware of the peoplefs wrath now? Even if he were aware, it would reflect badly on his reputation to admit to this animosity of the people. In fact at that time, the famous author Catherine Lim sent a long letter to the Straits Times highly critical of the astronomical salaries but the then PM Goh Chok Tong, true to his hubristic character, dismissed Catherine Limfs letter offhand, chastised and warned her that if she wanted to engage the Government politically she would have to join a political party to do it. What impertinence! Any citizen has the right to criticise the Government in his own capacity. In fact by his high-handed action, PM Goh was trying to intimidate Catherine Lim not to criticise the Government on this issue.
The fact that PM Lee Hsien Loong has now decided to form a special committee to review the ministerial salaries flies in the face of Emeritus SM Goh Chok Tongfs complacent assessment of the ground feelings on this issue. The ball is now in the court of the Review Committee to see if it has the courage to recommend a drastic pruning of the absurd ministerial salaries to a level commensurate with their duties and responsibilities to the satisfaction of the people (rakyat).
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Yoong Siew Wah
*The writer is an ex-ISD director and he blogs at Singapore Recalcitrant.
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt" id="msgtxt_1">The Might of the Peoplefs Power
It is because of the widespread criticisms of the astronomical ministerial pay that PM Lee now feels the heat and compunction to do something to assuage the peoplefs anger. He has now decided to form a special committee to be headed by Mr. Gerald Ee, National Kidney Foundation Chairman, to review the basis and level of Ministersf salaries. It is preposterous when the prime ministerfs salary is six times that of the President of the United States of America. Even a ministerfs salary exceeds that of the USA President several times.
A discomfited and comical SM Goh Cok Tong had described the issue of ministerial salaries as the goppositionfs flogging horseh and said that the gmajorityh of the population were not concerned about it. He was either day-dreaming or was misled by his feedback people. In fact he was the blurry-eyed Prime Minister who introduced these infamous ministerial salaries in the mid-1990s, so how could he be be aware of the peoplefs wrath now? Even if he were aware, it would reflect badly on his reputation to admit to this animosity of the people. In fact at that time, the famous author Catherine Lim sent a long letter to the Straits Times highly critical of the astronomical salaries but the then PM Goh Chok Tong, true to his hubristic character, dismissed Catherine Limfs letter offhand, chastised and warned her that if she wanted to engage the Government politically she would have to join a political party to do it. What impertinence! Any citizen has the right to criticise the Government in his own capacity. In fact by his high-handed action, PM Goh was trying to intimidate Catherine Lim not to criticise the Government on this issue.
The fact that PM Lee Hsien Loong has now decided to form a special committee to review the ministerial salaries flies in the face of Emeritus SM Goh Chok Tongfs complacent assessment of the ground feelings on this issue. The ball is now in the court of the Review Committee to see if it has the courage to recommend a drastic pruning of the absurd ministerial salaries to a level commensurate with their duties and responsibilities to the satisfaction of the people (rakyat).
.
Yoong Siew Wah
*The writer is an ex-ISD director and he blogs at Singapore Recalcitrant.
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