President S.R. Nathan's salary of Sg$4.27 ($3.45 million) a year will be included in a cabinet pay review announced

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-cut-huge-salaries-president-cabinet-113211485.html

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday ordered a review of the multimillion-dollar salaries of Singapore's president and cabinet as part of measures to quell public anger after a landmark poll.

He said President S.R. Nathan's salary of Sg$4.27 ($3.45 million) a year will be included in a cabinet pay review announced on Saturday at the new government's inauguration.

Cabinet members in 2009 earned between Sg$1.57 million ($1.27 million) for a junior minister and Sg$3.04 million ($2.45 million) for the prime minister, according to figures published by local media.

Singapore has long justified the salaries, among the world's highest for public officials, as necessary to attract talent and prevent corruption but they became one of the hottest issues in the May 7 general election.

The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) saw its share of votes fall to a record low of 60 percent, and only a controversial system of electing lawmakers in clusters restricted the opposition to six seats out of 87.

The salary of the president -- a separately elected but largely ceremonial post -- was raised by parliament to its present level only in March.

Salaries of all members of parliament, who earn a fraction of cabinet ministers' pay, will also be part of the review.

Since the mid-1990s, cabinet salaries have been pagged to two-thirds of the income of the top four earners in six fields: banking, accountancy, engineering, law, local manufacturing and multinational corporations.

This meant ministers' pay could still rise despite economic recessions, stoking public anger as the income gap between rich and poor Singaporeans widened through the years.

Lee said in guidelines to the review committee that "general wage levels in Singapore" must be taken into account in setting the new pay scales for the country's top officials.