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..Salaries of Singapore ministers, among the most highly-paid in the world, should be cut by 37 per cent to S$1.1 million, the panel to review political pay said in a press release to the public on Wednesday.
According to the release, the panel recommended that the annual salary of the President be brought down by 51 per cent to S$1.54 million.
It also advised that the Singapore Prime Minister’s salary, the highest of all elected government leaders in the world, be reduced by 36 per cent to S$2.2 million.
The committee, headed by National Kidney Foundation chairman Gerard Ee, said that the new salaries are based on its recommendation that the formula for pegging ministerial pay be changed to the median income of the top 1,000 Singaporean earners less 40 per cent "to signify the ethos and sacrifice that comes with political service".
Currently, ministerial pay is benchmarked to two-thirds of the median income of the top eight earners in six professions: banking, accountancy, engineering, law, managing local manufacturing companies and multinational corporations.
Ministerial pay came under fire from opposition parties during the watershed general election in Singapore last year during which the ruling People’s Action Party lost a group representation constituency for the first time.
Acknowledging the public’s concern over ministers’ high pay, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the creation of the salary review committee after the election.
He said the panel’s recommendations would be adopted by the government and would be effective retroactively from 21 May last year. The change in salary of the President will take effect from the start of President Tony Tan’s term on 1 September last year.
Removal of pension scheme
Aside from suggesting changes to the level of salaries, the committee also recommended that the pension scheme for all political appointment holders be removed, and that only the Central Provident Fund system, which is the basic retirement scheme for Singaporeans, be adopted.
"With this recommendation, political appointment holders appointed on or after 21 May 2011 will not receive any pension. For office holders who were appointed before 21 May 2011, they will have their pension frozen, ie they will only be eligible for pension accrued up to 20 May 2011. The frozen pension will be paid when they step down or retire from office," the committee said.
Sources from Yahoo Singapore
According to the release, the panel recommended that the annual salary of the President be brought down by 51 per cent to S$1.54 million.
It also advised that the Singapore Prime Minister’s salary, the highest of all elected government leaders in the world, be reduced by 36 per cent to S$2.2 million.
The committee, headed by National Kidney Foundation chairman Gerard Ee, said that the new salaries are based on its recommendation that the formula for pegging ministerial pay be changed to the median income of the top 1,000 Singaporean earners less 40 per cent "to signify the ethos and sacrifice that comes with political service".
Currently, ministerial pay is benchmarked to two-thirds of the median income of the top eight earners in six professions: banking, accountancy, engineering, law, managing local manufacturing companies and multinational corporations.
Ministerial pay came under fire from opposition parties during the watershed general election in Singapore last year during which the ruling People’s Action Party lost a group representation constituency for the first time.
Acknowledging the public’s concern over ministers’ high pay, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the creation of the salary review committee after the election.
He said the panel’s recommendations would be adopted by the government and would be effective retroactively from 21 May last year. The change in salary of the President will take effect from the start of President Tony Tan’s term on 1 September last year.
Removal of pension scheme
Aside from suggesting changes to the level of salaries, the committee also recommended that the pension scheme for all political appointment holders be removed, and that only the Central Provident Fund system, which is the basic retirement scheme for Singaporeans, be adopted.
"With this recommendation, political appointment holders appointed on or after 21 May 2011 will not receive any pension. For office holders who were appointed before 21 May 2011, they will have their pension frozen, ie they will only be eligible for pension accrued up to 20 May 2011. The frozen pension will be paid when they step down or retire from office," the committee said.
Sources from Yahoo Singapore
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