So what’s new? Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Wednesday apologised for the blunder in a government lab, which resulted in the need to retest almost 2,000 DNA samples connected to criminal cases here. The initial uproar was drowned out by more pressing issues.
For those who don’t want to read serious stuff, check out Ris Low’s competitor, Miss Jodi Lee, a product of Singapore’s bilingual system. I’ll be writing a bit on bilingualism at Dewdrop Notes soon. Do check it regularly.
Yes, the long-awaited report from the Committee to Review Ministerial Salaries is finally out and can be read in detail here. Finally, we no longer need to deceive ourselves that we are paying our leaders in char kway teow.
As expected, there are criticisms. Some of these include:
“Why cut so little? Still very high leh.”
“Long overdue lah! We expect more cuts.”
“Disappointing.”
The last comment sums up the statements by opposition political parties. Nicole Seah spoke for NSP. Toothfully, I think we should not be too demanding. Gerard Ee really deserves a pat on the back. Yes, the ministers’ salaries are still astronomical by any standards, but it’s a good start. I take it more as a token than anything else. Perhaps the NSP can help us push for more cuts when they win a GRC in the next GE. Let’s take it one step at a time. No quarrels with the committee. No quarrels with either side of the political fence. I’m happy and looking forward to Nepal. 2012 has been a good year so far.
But what troubles me are “experts” who have yet to learn a lesson from all this. I’m talking about a certain professor from SMU who always seems to have something to say on socio-political issues. He wrote a pretty unremarkable article in Today. However, a few statements he made prompted me to comment and I say categorically that I’m not paid to do this.
We need to be mindful not to push this public service logic and sacrifice too far. As much as serving Singaporeans through political office is a calling, it is by no means a priesthood. Often, as in the private sector, you get what you pay for.
Our dear prof seems unaware that in the private sector, you are only rewarded when you can show results. Get what we pay for? What about the Old Guard? What about the numerous men and women who made their sacrifices on the rough road to nation-building? Did we need to pay them to shed blood for the country? Did we get leaders of inferior quality because we paid them only a fraction of the salary that we pay now? Take a look at other developed countries whose leaders are not paid as well. Are these leaders inferior to ours? Would their citizens be willing to swap?
There is a larger imperative behind this effort to right-size political pay that should also be deliberated. How do we encourage and nurture an ethos of public and political service among Singaporeans in a young society like ours, where there is the abiding focus on one’s market value?
Market value? Young society? Why should we be a mercenary society just because we are young? Didn’t our forefathers shed blood and risked their lives for the country? Toothfully, I don’t see the connection. But giving astronomical pay for public service and the culture of “abiding focus on one’s market value” seem to go hand in hand. Perhaps one even follows the other. How do we encourage the ethos of public and political service among Singaporeans? By not enticing people into public service and asserting their “market value” with astronomical pay of course, my dear prof.
And contrary to what dear prof would have us believe, we already have an ethos of public and community service here in our young society. There are many self-sacrificing people out there. He just has to walk into our special schools. How many teachers and admin staff in these schools took a huge pay-cut and left the corporate world to teach our autistic children? Why aren’t these people asserting their “market value”? Why are only people involved outside the political arena encouraged to make such sacrifices while those political services need to entice people to join?
Our dear prof should read a chapter in Romance of the Three Kingdoms on how Cao Cao captured Guan Yu and urged him to surrender and join him. Guan Yu categorically refused even though Cao Cao showered him with gifts and promised him wealth he would never see if he continued to fight for Liu Bei’s cause. Did Cao Cao manage to recruit many genuine loyalists even though he was the most powerful warlord at that time? Why not? It’s not because he didn’t pay his ministers and generals enough. It’s because talented people with a conscience did not agree with his selfish and ruthless ways.
Finally, a minister is alleged to have posted the following statement in her Facebook account. No quarrel from me. I like honest people.
“When I made the decision to join politics in 2006, pay was not a key factor. Loss of privacy, public scrutiny on myself and my family and loss of personal time were. The disruption to my career was also an important consideration. I had some ground to believe that my family would not suffer a drastic change in the standard of living even though I experienced a drop in my income. So it is with this recent pay cut. If the balance is tilted further in the future, it will make it harder for any one considering political office.”
i believe it was goh keng swee who, a long time ago, said tt joining the MIW was akin to joining the priesthood. so eugene’s wrong.
The less you have to offer, the more you appeal to people with passion. The more you need to offer, the more likely it is that your cause doesn’t appeal to people with passion.
I really enjoyed your post ..:) I must say you seem to have hit the nail on the head…yet again!!
I cannot agree more with your comments on the ministerial review. I absolutely agree that Mr. Ee deserves a pat on his back for having carried out his duties. I feel that we are definitely moving in the right direction. I think it would be quite pointless to cry “not enough” or “why so little?” or “Why still so high?” Rather , we should start inculcating the right kind of values in our young and hope that things will improve eventually. Someone once said that political office is not a career move, it’s a calling to serve…:) let’s see if this will take root.