Singapore's High Salary for Integrity: There Are No Ordinary Civil Servants with High Salary

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced at the recent swearing-in ceremony of the new government that a review committee composed of independent people will be set up to reformulate a reasonable ministerial salary system. This means that from the president and prime minister to ministerial officials, they will face substantial pay cuts. The high pay system has long been controversial in Singapore. However, in the experience introduced by Chinese officials and scholars, the Singapore version of the "high salary for honesty" system is highly respected. Is the New Version of High Salary for Honesty Really for "Honesty"? In fact, it was misread from the beginning.

Cai Dingjian, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, visited Singapore and found that the high salary system for government officials in Singapore was gradually implemented in the mid and late 1980s and was regulated and restricted by law in 1994. Before that, the Singapore government had already solved the problem of clean government. The implementation of the high salary policy is not to "maintain honesty", but to attract talents. This can be seen from the words of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, who believed that a government must attract the best talents in order to better serve the people.

Singapore is a meritocracy. The government hopes to attract elites from all walks of life, mainly doctors, lawyers, accountants, university professors, entrepreneurs, bankers and other outstanding people with ability, honesty and good moral character. Letting them go into politics means that they may have to give up 2 million, 3 million, or even 5 million annual salaries (Singapore yuan).

In fact, only the president, prime minister and ministers receive high salaries. The gap between the salaries of senior officials in Singapore and those of ordinary civil servants can be said to be the largest in the world. Moreover, Singapore does not give high salaries to senior officials without any basis, but is determined by law according to the national conditions and the labor market. Singapore law stipulates that ministerial salaries are two-thirds of the median salaries of the 48 highest-paid bankers, lawyers, accountants, engineers and business executives in the country, and that the salaries of civil servants at other levels are also set according to this standard. Therefore, although the salaries of senior officials in Singapore are higher than those in other countries, they are still below the average compared with the private enterprises in Singapore.

Singapore's civil service salaries are adjusted annually according to the guidance range of the National Remuneration Commission, either up or down, and are fully market-oriented. For example, in 2008, affected by the global economic crisis, enterprises were depressed and the salaries of employees in private enterprises declined, so the Singapore government lowered the salaries of civil servants, and the salaries of the President and the Prime Minister dropped to S 3.14 million and S 3.04 million respectively, a 19% drop.

"Abandoning office for politics" is not unique to Singapore. McNamara, the famous Secretary of Defense of the United States during the Vietnam War, was the chairman of the Ford Motor Company of the United States. Paulson, the former Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, who was famous for his response to the global financial crisis, also served as the chairman and CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group, a large investment bank. Needless to say, the salaries of ministers are far from what they earn in business. For them, the purpose of becoming a senior government official is to realize their lifelong aspirations and gain social prestige and honor.

When the national economic conditions permit, it is necessary to appropriately increase the salaries of officials and improve their material life. However, if we take it as a means to prevent corruption and maintain honesty, we will fall into a misunderstanding if we think that "a good salary makes people self-respect". Singapore is a genuine society ruled by law. In this context, the income of civil servants in the government is open and transparent. More importantly, Singapore, from the Prime Minister to the grass-roots staff, is openly elected and selected. The rule of law and social supervision are strong, and the space for power for personal gain is greatly squeezed. "Singapore relies mainly on its system, including a good legal system, a transparent financial system and a five-year electoral system, to curb official corruption." (Yang Muyu, Senior Research Fellow, East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore)

The salaries of civil servants in the 10 cleanest countries in the world, including Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden, are roughly equal to or lower than national average. Therefore, there is no "high salary for honesty" in the world.

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