Salaries of political office holders to be reviewed by independent committee: Chan Chun Sing

The salary structure and benchmark of political office holders will be reviewed by an 8-member independent committee, said Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing. 

In a written reply to a parliamentary question by MP Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) on Monday (Jan 12), Chan said the committee has just been formed and has been asked to recommend the appropriate wage levels of political office holders based on the current salary framework. 

The 8-member committee will be chaired by Gan Seow Kee, who is chairman of Singapore LNG Corporation and an alternate member of the Council of Presidential Advisers. 

The committee will submit its report to the Government when ready, and the Government will in turn consider its findings and provide an update to Parliament, said Chan. 

The wages of political office holders — including the President, Prime Minister, Speaker, MPs and NMPs — have not been adjusted since 2012. 

That year, the current salary framework for political office holders was established by a review committee, which also recommended that the framework be reviewed by an independent committee every five years.

A subsequent committee in 2017 found the framework sound, but recommended that political wages be adjusted annually in line with the movement of benchmark salaries. 

The scheduled review in 2023 was deferred given the uncertain external environment and downside risks in the global economy. 

Under the current framework, political salaries are benchmarked against the private sector, with ministerial wages benchmarked to the median top 1,000 Singaporean earners, with a 40 per cent discount to reflect the ethos of public service. 

The salaries of other political office holders are, in turn, determined based on ratios to ministerial salaries.

The other members of the independent review committee are: Ramlee Buang, a member of the Public Service Commission; Cham Hui Fong, deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress; Thomas Chua Kee Seng, executive chairman of Teckwah Industrial Corporation; Theresa Goh, chairman of the Charity Council; Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of the NUS Board of Trustees and GXS Bank; Professor Lily Kong, president of the Singapore Management University and a member of the Public Service Commission; and Shekaran Krishnan, a partner at Ernst and Young.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com