{"id":84089,"date":"2026-09-11T14:54:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84089"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:54:03","slug":"no-one-should-enter-politics-for-the-money-says-pm-wong-hk-principal-fired-for-berating-safra-guards-files-unfair-dismissal-claim-singapore-live-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84089","title":{"rendered":"No one should enter politics for the money says PM Wong; HK principal fired for berating SAFRA guards files unfair dismissal claim: Singapore live news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong believes political service should not require candidates to upend family finances. (Photo: Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/5a554aa7ca0fea6c25cbc49b7fc875dceec82a908b038d24f81f6b12bbbfa1a4\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_webp\/https%3A%2F%2Fd29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net%2Fimages%2F2026-09%2Fd5ded4ed-f400-45bb-ac66-001ced24b8c0\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><default:path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/default:svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal dialogue\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\"><span class=\"[&amp;_p]:inline\"><\/p>\n<p>Singapore&#8217;s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong believes political service should not require candidates to upend family finances. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Competitive salaries are not intended to entice people into politics, but to ensure that suitable candidates can serve without overturning the financial commitments they have made to their families, <a data-ylk=\"slk:Prime Minister Lawrence Wong;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:1;pos:1;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.news.yahoo.com\/government-approach-raise-political-salaries-124008206.html\" class=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prime Minister Lawrence Wong<\/a> said in Parliament on Thursday (10 Sept).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wong, who was closing the debate on Singapore&#8217;s political salary framework, believes a desire to serve must come before remuneration. &#8220;No one should enter politics for the money,&#8221; he said, adding that the PAP looks for candidates who genuinely want to contribute to Singapore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">PM Wong noted that potential political leaders may already have mortgages, children, elderly parents and other responsibilities based on their existing incomes. Entering public office involves disruption and sacrifice, he said, and the salary framework is intended to prevent the financial cost from becoming unnecessarily prohibitive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He also rejected the suggestion that civil servants automatically receive more money when they enter politics, saying some take a pay cut and might have earned more had they remained in public service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Recalling his own move into politics in 2011, Wong said he resigned shortly before reaching the 15 years of service needed to retain his pension. &#8220;No one told me, if you win, this is the position you will get. This is the remuneration package. No one. It was <a data-ylk=\"slk:a complete leap of faith,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:2;pos:1;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.news.yahoo.com\/complete-leap-faith-pm-wong-132152502.html\" class=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a complete leap of faith,<\/a>&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">More on <a data-ylk=\"slk:Singapore\u2019s political salary debate;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:3;pos:1;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.news.yahoo.com\/mps-suggest-tweaking-benchmarks-adjusting-131000538.html\" class=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Singapore&#8217;s political salary debate<\/a>, here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/sg.news.yahoo.com\/live\/no-one-should-enter-politics-for-the-money-says-pm-wong-hk-principal-fired-for-berating-safra-guards-files-unfair-dismissal-claim-singapore-live-news-010321199.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Singapore&#8217;s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong believes political service should not require candidates to upend family finances. (Photo: Getty Images) Competitive salaries are not intended to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84090,"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-84089","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\/84089","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=84089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}