Competitive Salaries for Head Hunted Cabinet Members

Singapore operates a meritocratic system where politicians' performance is rewarded, unlike that of Finland, Denmark and Switzerland where they are political coalitions by nature. Hence, it is no surprise that these ministers' pays are far less than ours. Putting the issue of values and sacrifice aside, a small and nimble country like ours needs to attract top talent to ensure that the economy continues to prosper and achieve high growth rate and hopefully to reach Swiss living standards.


I strongly support Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's decision to go talent hunting just like many multi-national corporations are doing in this business world.

Since many young Singaporeans are pragmatic and ambitious, unlike the past generation of able, dedicated Singaporeans who willingly stepped forward to serve in the public service, this serendipitous state of affairs will NOT continue unless they are paid salaries comparable to what their counterparts are earning in the private sector. In fact, they should be paid relatively higher as they make more sacrifices, in terms of the loss of privacy and time they could spend with friends and families. Hence, to benchmark their salaries to the top professionals is a wise decision to ensure sustainability of the nation's growth rate.

Comparisons in the light of PM Lee Hsien Loong’s disclosure on increasing top ministers’ salaries (related article)…

Annual salaries of heads of government:

1. Singapore Prime Minister US$1,100,000 (S$1,958,000) a year
2. United States of America President: US$200,000
3. United Kingdom Prime Minister: US$170,556
4. Australia Prime Minister: US$137,060

Annual salaries of Ministers of government:

1. Singapore Minister: US$819,124
2. UK Minister: US$146,2993
3. US Cabinet Secretary: US$157,000

Source: Asian Wall Street Journal 10 Jul 2000

See: The Cabinet Appointments (2007)

Posted by Ms Chin Chiew Fong