\n<\/p>\n
Singapore\u2019s prime minister has been given a $1m pay rise as the affluent city-state announced a dramatic one-off salary boost for government ministers.<\/p>\n
The pay increases add more than 60% to what are already the world\u2019s highest ministerial salaries.<\/p>\n
Singapore has justified high-end salaries for its political leaders, arguing they attract talent and ensure good governance. The issue is nevertheless politically sensitive, with cabinet members\u2019 income far exceeding that of most ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n
Prime minister Lawrence Wong\u2019s benchmark annual salary will rise from S$2.2m ($1.7m) to S$3.6m ($2.8m).<\/p>\n The deputy prime minister\u2019s benchmark will lift from S$1.8m to S$3m. Cabinet ministers will get between S$1.8m and S$2.8m, depending on the seniority and weight of their portfolio.<\/p>\n Wong said he would donate the entire increase of his salary to \u201csuitable good causes\u201d during his term.<\/p>\n Even before the raise, the Singaporean prime minister\u2019s paycheck vastly outstripped the wages of many other leaders, including in the US and other G7 nations. The US president earns $400,000 a year, while the UK prime minister is paid about $230,000 annually.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitical salaries are a difficult and emotive issue,\u201d said Wong, whose long-ruling People\u2019s Action Party dominates Singapore\u2019s parliament and its 21-member cabinet. \u201cThe sums involved are more than what most citizens earn, so I understand why Singaporeans scrutinise them closely, and why many feel strongly about the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the issue is \u201cultimately about whether Singapore will continue to have the quality of political leadership we need to take our country forward\u201d in the decades ahead, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur starting point is this: good government depends on good leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n The South-east Asian nation, which last adjusted ministerial salaries 15 years ago, is regularly ranked among the world\u2019s least corrupt countries.<\/p>\n Wong said the pay raises were recommended by an independent committee, adding that existing office holders would not be moved immediately to the new benchmarks.<\/p>\n They will receive a one-off adjustment of up to 9% from 15 October, depending on individual circumstances, including performance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Singapore\u2019s prime minister has been given a $1m pay rise as the affluent city-state announced a dramatic one-off salary boost for government ministers. The pay…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n