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Political salaries debate: MPs discuss pay benchmarks, performance and cost of entering politics   https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/minister-salary-review-parliament-debate-6369416?cid=internal_sharetool_androidphone_10092026_cna   Here’s the full detailed account of Singapore’s parliamentary debate on political salaries, 10 Sep 2026 :       1. Background & Context   - Debate held under Standing Order 44 → discussion only, no vote taken  - Political salaries unchanged since 2011; independent review committee (Gan Seow Kee) reported in Apr 2026  - Effective date: 15 Oct 2026 for pay; revised National Bonus targets from 1 Jan 2027        2. Salary Framework — Key Figures   Item Current From 15 Oct 2026 End-of-term (max, perf-dep) New Committee Benchmark  MR4 (entry minister) reference S$1.1m/yr ~S$1.2m (+up to 9%) S$1.35m S$1.8m (norm, not entitlement)[__LINK_ICON]  MP monthly allowance S$13,750 S$18,500 — to be reviewed    - Pay split: ~65% fixed / 35% variable  - Variable = National Bonus (0.7–5.6 months historically) + individual Performance Bonus + Annual Variable Component  - Tighter bonus targets: if applied over past decade, National Bonus would have been ~1 month lower/yr on average  - S$1.8m is a reference norm, NOT guaranteed pay — no minister moves to this immediately        3. Pritam Singh / Workers’ Party Stance   - ✅ Supports immediate 9% adjustment & MP allowance hike as timely and reasonable  - ❌ Challenges benchmark formula: objects to pegging salaries to median of top 1,000 earners minus discount; proposes alternative formula — MP allowance × multiple, linked to senior public service pay + modest variable component  - Asked for: - Disclosure of bonus data 2018–2024 (like 2013–2017 released earlier)  - Maximum possible MR4 pay under full variable bonuses → Chan: WP’s formula ≈ S$1.5m vs committee’s S$1.8m  - Questions on mayors / community roles remuneration, and legislative/secretarial assistants allowances  - Noted average variable pay ≈ 9.7 months (vs framework’s 7-month “norm”)        4. Government’s Responses   Chan Chun Sing (Coordinating Minister for Public Service)   - Top-1,000 benchmark: broad proxy, not direct job comparison; earlier “specific vocations” approach was too narrow  - Performance assessment: annual KPIs insufficient — many outcomes take years/decades; prevention > firefighting  - Confidentiality constraint: cannot publish all metrics — trade negotiations, defence, security work happen behind the scenes  - MP allowances: will review current link to MR4; acknowledge it’s “not so intuitive”; will consult stakeholders; also review legislative/secretarial assistant allowances  - “If money is your main reason to be a minister, you are not the person we want”   PM Lawrence Wong   - Disclosure: will consider releasing broader bands of performance bonus data; individual figures remain private  - Long-term review: not the final word — framework will keep evolving; future committees will gather feedback on barriers to entering politics    Other MPs’ Points   - Tan See Leng: leaving private sector carries personal/financial cost; too high a cost shrinks talent pool  - Darryl David: seek inclusion of quality-of-life metrics in bonus formula; review delinking MP/community roles from ministerial pay  - Kenneth Goh: review MP allowance benchmark sooner than 5 years → Chan agreed  - Saktiandi Supaat: regular 5-year debate; gather anonymised data on recruitment barriers → PM confirmed ongoing dialogue        5. Key Agreements & Differences   Area Government Workers’ Party  Immediate 9% pay rise ✅ ✅  MP allowance increase ✅ ✅  Benchmark formula Top 1,000 earners proxy MP/senior public service multiple  Max pay transparency Broad bands later Publish full data / max figure  Mayors/community roles To be reviewed Clarify role + pay structure        6. What Happens Next   - 15 Oct 2026: up to 9% pay rise takes effect; MP allowances increase  - 2027+: review committee to revisit MP allowance benchmark, assistant pay, quality-of-life metrics in bonus formula  - National Bonus: tougher socioeconomic targets apply from 1 Jan 2027  - Ongoing: future debates every review cycle; study partial disclosure of bonus bands     

With all the dignity but the moment they go in front of the Fatso president, they cower like some <cannot be said>      Imagine we are not the richest country and we are one of the smallest country, if not the smallest, and yet we have the most politicians and appointment holders.   To cap it all we pay them multiple times more than others and that does not include the bonuses and benefits in kind.   These money grabbing politicians must be all laughing their way to the banks.    If you use money to attract then it is only a matter of time, more money is expected. Man's greed know no limits.   As peasants we will have to accept or we will be taken care of. 

So now it will take an hour to clear custom on return? Assuming they are not charging you for not declaring?   At least they found a new way to pay their pay rise.

This area lotsa weird stuff