Opposition parties criticise ministerial pay hike, question need for high salaries to draw talent
Public service should not be driven primarily by pay, say the Progress Singapore Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Red Dot United.
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SINGAPORE: Three opposition parties have criticised the planned increase in ministerial salaries, saying that public service should not be driven primarily by pay and questioning the government’s stand that competitive salaries are needed to draw talent into politics.
The comments from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and Red Dot United (RDU) came a day after an announcement that ministers will get an up to 9 per cent pay bump on Oct 15.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing addressed parliament on Tuesday (Sep 8) to outline an independent review committee’s recommendations and the government’s response. It is the first revision to ministerial salaries since 2011.
The matter is set to be debated in parliament on Thursday.
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The Workers’ Party, the only opposition party with seats in the House, told CNA it will respond in parliament on Thursday as that was the appropriate place for such a debate.
PSP: “NOT A SALARY QUESTION”
PSP told CNA it agrees Singapore must continue to attract capable people into public service, "but we do not believe the market value of Singapore's highest earners should remain the principal benchmark for political leadership".
“Political talent is an ecosystem question, not simply a salary question,” the party said.
It added that Singapore will get stronger leadership when talented people from different walks of life see meaningful and viable routes into public life across the political spectrum, as serious competition and diverse perspectives produce better ideas, stronger accountability and greater public trust.
“PSP believes political leadership should be defined by purpose rather than price. Political compensation should support public service, not define its value,” the party said.
The debate on attracting talent into politics should therefore focus not only on how much political leaders are paid, but on what kind of political system will produce better leaders, ideas and governance, PSP added.
SDP: “DEEPLY INSENSITIVE”
SDP vice-chairman Bryan Lim said his party "strongly opposes the government's decision to increase, yet again, the salaries of political office holders".
“At a time when many Singaporeans are struggling with rising costs, job insecurity and economic uncertainty, it is deeply insensitive for ministers – already the highest-paid politicians in the world – to award themselves even more,” he said.
He pointed to rising youth unemployment and retrenchment figures, and increasing costs in housing, food, healthcare, transport and other necessities, adding that the government had itself acknowledged significant external uncertainties and slower long-term growth ahead.
“The government’s justification that ministers must be paid more to attract and retain ‘talent’ is equally unconvincing. Singapore has no shortage of capable people prepared to serve the public,” he said.
“They choose not to step forward because they refuse to serve in an administration that is both undemocratic and misguided by material wealth, not because of the pay.”
Mr Lim cited the case of former Transport Minister S Iswaran as a counter to the argument that high salaries are necessary to prevent corruption.
Mr Iswaran was initially charged with corruption and later pleaded guilty to four counts of obtaining valuable items as a public servant and one count of obstructing justice. He was sentenced to 12 months' jail in October 2024.
“Integrity cannot be bought and public service should never come with a price tag of millions. Strong institutions, transparency, independent oversight and accountability – not enormous pay cheques – are the proper safeguards against corruption.”
He said the SDP advocates for political salaries to be pegged to the incomes of ordinary Singaporeans instead.
RDU: "PUBLIC SERVICE MUST INVOLVE SOME SACRIFICE"
RDU secretary-general Ravi Philemon told CNA that the argument for high salaries to draw capable people into politics "turns public service on its head".
“Singapore was not built by people who first asked what the government would pay them. It was built by people prepared to give up more to serve the country,” he said.
“If someone needs a S$3.6 million benchmark before he is willing to serve Singapore, then perhaps public service is not what he is looking for.”
Mr Philemon said RDU opposes the ministerial salary package, as "public service must involve some sacrifice".
“If RDU were the government, we would slash these pay packages by half. A minister paid S$550,000 to S$600,000 a year would still live more than comfortably. That is still about eight to nine times the annual median income of a full-time employed resident in Singapore. It is still many times what most working Singaporeans earn.”
OPPORTUNITY COST EXISTS
On Tuesday, Mr Wong said Singapore must raise political salaries to have a "better chance" of persuading capable Singaporeans to step forward, warning that the gap between political and private-sector pay risks making leadership renewal harder.
The changes would give him and future prime ministers a better chance of building the strongest possible team, he added.
Bringing people with substantial private-sector experience into politics has grown harder since Singapore's early years, he said.
“That matters because we cannot build our political leadership from the public service alone. I want people in Cabinet who have spent substantial parts of their careers in business or other professional fields, especially in running large organisations and overseeing complex systems,” he added.
Such candidates' pay can run to several million dollars a year, still well above the revised political salaries, Mr Wong said.
“We are not trying to match what they earn. We never will. But when we approach people of that calibre, we cannot pretend that the opportunity cost does not exist,” he said.
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