MPs suggest tweaking benchmarks, adjusting variable component of ministers’ salaries
MPs also said ministerial salaries might be difficult for everyday Singaporeans to accept.
Singaporean MPs have debated revisions to political salaries, focusing on making the system more competitive. Kenneth Goh proposed using job roles reflecting the complexity and responsibility of political office as benchmarks for ministers' salaries, rather than the median income of the top 1,000 earners. He questioned whether these roles are truly comparable to those of ministers, considering factors such as distributional consequences, social cohesion, and national security.
Goh also suggested reassessing the time horizon for calculating the National Bonus, a component based on four indicators that reflect Singapore's current performance rather than future challenges like demographic sustainability, social mobility, and climate adaptation. Azhar Othman proposed adjusting the proportion of the salary structure from a fixed 65% to a 45% fixed and 55% variable component, arguing that a larger variable component should be tied to metrics that directly affect the median citizen, such as housing affordability and real median income growth.
Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing acknowledged that the top 1,000 earners benchmark was never intended to be a perfect match for ministers' roles but serves as a broad proxy. He agreed that salaries should be benchmarked against jobs more comparable to those of ministers but cautioned that identifying such roles might limit the comparison pool.
Regarding performance evaluation over multiple years, Chan acknowledged the challenges of both single-year and multi-year measures but stated that the committee would find a balance. Azhar's proposal to increase the variable component was met with mixed opinions, with Chan noting that the committee felt the current split of two-thirds fixed and one-third variable was appropriate, but they would continue to explore the issue as they gain more experience.
The MPs also discussed the addition of a Quality of Life measure in the National Bonus, suggesting four dimensions for assessing social progress – material adequacy, access to essential services, social connectedness, and subjective wellbeing.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
