The Barren Political Landscape
By Dr Wong Wee Nam
26 January 2012
The ominous forecast is that if we don’t continue to attract a stream of good people into political leadership, we are doomed to become a little black dot. This statement is essentially true, except that salaries, however high, would not be the right solution to alleviate this problem. There are historical reasons why we are starved of political leadership in Singapore. To solve this problem, the right thing to do is the remove the inherent obstacles.
Way back in the fifties and the sixties, when the population was less than 1 million, Singapore had no problem with educated people and professionals coming forward to serve in public office. At that time, pay was not a consideration. Passion was.
Live Simply That Others May Simply Live
By Dr Patrick Kee
16 January 2012
The current debate about the pay of our political leaders has generated much heat, but has shed little light on the need of our nation for a committed, compassionate, caring, competent and co- operative oriented leadership.
The more important issue is not about the adequacy of the pay to attract leaders to come forth to serve. The fundamental problem is the need for our leaders to be beacons of light, and to inspire our people to become a committed, compassionate, caring, competent and co-operative society.
We need leaders with the wisdom to optimize the use of our nation’s limited financial resources for the well being of our people. Our taxes should be invested in our educational, health, social and defence services, which are for the common good.
What kind of people are we trying to attract?
“There is one good point about paying our ministers obscene salaries. This will make them so expensive that foreign countries would not try and poach them.” — An Anonymous Wag
By Dr Wong Wee Nam
08 January 2012
“When I undertake to do something, I do not expect anything in return. I am doing it for the sake of my country.” So he said on national television. This sounded very much like an inspiring political utterance made by a selfless politician, but unfortunately, it was not. The words actually came from the mouth of the late Mr. Choo Seng Quee, Singapore’s legendary football coach of the 60s and 70s.
Who is Choo Seng Quee? Those of us who are in our fifties and above would probably know something about him. It is unlikely that people below the age of 50 would have heard about him.
More thoughts on ministerial pay revisions
Written by Ng E-Jay
06 January 2012
The ministerial pay revisions is primarily a political exercise aimed at pacifying the large number of Singaporeans who over the years have become disgruntled at what they deem to be exorbitant compensation for political appointment holders.
It is clearly just a cosmetic exercise. First and foremost, the Terms of Reference (TOR) under which the Committee headed by Mr Gerard Ee operated clearly specified that the Committee was to devise a formula for ministerial pay based on private sector compensation. In other words, the Committee was already handcuffed in its approach — it had to adopt a private sector benchmark and it was not permitted to choose another approach.
That explains why the Committee only came up with token revisions to the salary scale, but without changing the underlying premise of using top private sector compensation as the deciding factor.
Analysis on the pay cuts of political appointment holders
Written by Ng E-Jay
04 January 2012
The Committee to Review Ministerial Salaries chaired by Mr Gerard Ee released its report, entitled “Salaries for A Capable and Committed Government”, to the public on Wednesday.
Firstly, ministerial pensions would be done away with.
Secondly, the Committee recommended a 37 percent pay cut for entry-level ministers and a 36 percent pay cut for the Prime Minister, taking into account the removal of ministerial pensions.
Excluding the effect of pension removal, entry grade ministers would see their annual salary docked by 31 percent to around $1.1 million, while the Prime Minister would see his annual salary docked by 28 percent to around $2.2 million.
A Christmas message of care and meaning from the SDP
Looking at SMRT breakdowns from a Macro View
By Mr Jimmy Ho
22 December 2011
The recent spate of breakdowns of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) system is a concern for most Singaporeans. There were people blaming the system’s maintenance, with some pointing their fingers at Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, its CEO, for not giving the smooth running of trains or its alternative backup transports the deserving attention. Then, there were others who felt that the SMRT had too many businesses in its portfolio than it could handle, which distracted it from its “core” business.
I believe that most forwarded views were relevant to the issue on hand, except that the points mentioned were grossly more symptomatic than being the actual problem itself. Let me explain.
People connected to substantial shareholdings of the SMRT do not usually take the public transport, but they are the ones who decide if the company has performed or if the CEO is acceptable. Their immediate interest in the Corporation would be the return on their investments than the services’ efficiency, sad to say. As a listed entity, it is only logical that the SMRT management put priority on being “answerable to its shareholders” over providing the Singapore public with a smooth transport system. And with an increase of annual profits from $57m to $161m, there is no reason why these shareholders should think of Ms Saw as not doing a fine job and remove her.
What has gone wrong with SMRT, LTA, and the entire system
Written by Ng E-Jay
20 December 2011
The defects in our train systems are systemic in nature, and it would take a great deal of effort, resources and political will to get them fixed. Our engineering designs, the hardware, and the emergency procedures have all gone haywire.
What has gone wrong? Why is it that the whole apparatus and infrastructure seem to be tumbling down? The answer might lie deep within the corporatist system that has been created by the government, in which SMRT and LTA operate.
To begin with, SMRT does not just operate the train system. Its corporate portfolio includes buses, taxis, retail outlets, advertisement hosting, leasing of media spaces, provision of repair services, and provision of engineering expertise to other transport operators, both local and overseas.
Does SMRT value its property over the well-being of commuters?
Written by Ng E-Jay
18 December 2011
Does SMRT value its property over the well-being of its commuters? That is the impression I got when reading media reports about Thursday’s major breakdown along the North-South MRT line.
Firstly, SMRT has stated that emergency ventilation and lighting should have come on when power supply to the train was cut off. The reality however, as reported by the mainstream media, is that commuters were left gasping for air inside the train carriages, which were plunged into darkness. So what has happened here? Why were the emergency systems not in operation? The health and safety of commuters was evidently jeopardized.
The Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), according to SMRT, is supposed to last at least 45 minutes, giving rescue teams sufficient time to tow the train to the next available station. However, commuters reported experiencing “unbearable heat”, and there were fainting spells. A couple of commuters had to be sent to hospital after they had been rescued. This situation is inexcusable, as it is clear that something has seriously gone wrong with the emergency systems.
Public inquiry to look into MRT disruptions: PM Lee
Source: CNA
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered a public inquiry, after trains on the North-South Line broke down on Saturday morning – the third MRT disruption in four days.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon, Mr Lee said the committee of inquiry will be similar to that formed after the Nicoll Highway collapse in 20 April 2004.
More immediately, a thorough check of the rail system will begin on Saturday after, after the train services end.
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