Friday 13 March 2015

Singapore's Clean Wage System for Government Officials

CNN Money published an article comparing the salaries of world leaders. In the article, CNN reported that China’s Primier Xi Jinping earned USD22,000 per year.

While this might seem  a compelling argument against the “high” pay for Singapore Ministers, we just need to look at the net worth of Xi Jinping to understand the importance of a “clean wage” system.

minister salary clean wage system Singapore


Despite earning a mere USD22,000 per year, Bloomberg estimates that Xi Jinping’s extended family has an estimated net-worth ofUSD376 million, while the Sydney Morning Herald estimates that his siblings have a net-worth of close to USD1 Billion.

Singaporeans must decide if they want a leader who openly earns his salary, or one who earns it quietly. The former ensures that our leaders, who are fairly paid, make decisions for the good of the people, while the latter, tempts our leaders to make decisions which may or may not be good for the people.


The clean wage system is thus the corner-stone of Singapore’s success. As a nation without any natural resources, any misstep or side-step that deviates from being in the best interest of Singaporeans is extremely dangerous. Our leaders must not be put in the position where they are tempted.

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