While all the hype had been on the astronomical (to the layman, but peanuts to those who handle billions for Singapore economy) amount of pay increase for the Ministers, it is a certainty that the Ministers will get their pay increase. Personally, I have nothing against the increment. The money not paid to these people will end up locked in GIC without any real impact on my life. Therefore, I decided to concentrate on what will happen to Singapore and the government after the pay increase. Interestingly, I begin to feel that this increment has a greater impact on the party than it'll have on Singapore .

Loyalty to the civil service or the party

Now, considering that the main reason for the increment is to maintain a competitive wage in the civil service relative to the private sector. This is apparent in the higher ranked officers (SR9 & above). The civil service is in the service of the government and not the ruling party. However having the ruling party be government for so long, the civil service seems to "belong" to the party. If an officer in that grade becomes a supporter of the opposition, what will become of him? His civil service career depends a lot on the MR4 officers (Perm Secs, Ministers, etc) and they are definitely pro-ruling party. Would they allow someone who is pro-opposition to progress to a high post or maybe even an MR4 rank? I am assuming that they would not, regardless of whatever talents he may process. This has the effect of retaining talents in the ruling party instead of talent retention in civil service, which should really be the case.

Monopoly of talents

The most reasonable course of action for such a "renegade" talent would be to leave the civil service. While it is debatable whether he will make it in the private sector, let's assume for argument sake that he does. If he wants to have a similar pay to what he is getting in the civil service, not many small companies can afford to pay him that much. His pay is pegged to the 15 th top earner of age 32 in Singapore . A talent that he is, he'll likely land a job in a MNC who can pay him at least equivalent to his civil service pay. These MNCs' operations here depend largely on the ruling party's policy to keep their operating costs low. If this talent's party of choice speaks up actively against that, then this MNC would also be unlikely to favor him. He would be forced to accept a lower pay (compared to his civil service pay) in a smaller company or start his own business. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, this talent is not only deprived of a job in civil service, he is deprived of similar high ranking positions in the private sector. Thus again the competition for talents in the private sector by offering equivalent if not higher salary than the private sector, will have the effect of retain talents within the ruling party. Of course, this is highly hypothetical but nevertheless a possible strategy to firmly monopolize talents in the party and putting up the price tag for anyone who decides to do otherwise.

High ministerial pay benefits the party who controls the government

Besides locking talents within the civil service for use by the party, the highly controversial MR4 benchmark has other uses as well it seems. MM Lee had named 3 Ministers that had to be wooed from the private sector to hold public office with a great decrease in their then salary. I do believe that it is true and that they ought to be compensated for their monetary sacrifice. What interests me is who approached them. Or rather, which party, in the capacity of the then government offered them this job. Well, that's a no-brainer. It is the ruling party. While we must not take away anything from the ruling party for their ability to entice talents into their ranks even if it means a great deduction in salary. This recruitment has no doubt come with the intention of a Ministerial post should they perform as targeted. Now that they have (or will) increase the Ministerial pay, it will make the above process easier, as these candidates will have one fewer worry when choosing to join the party. No other party will be able to use the promise of Ministerial post (and with it Ministerial pay) as a promise to lure talents from the private sector. How and if the means is ethical to have such control over the political scene is still a subject of great debate. The luring of talents will inevitably be into the ranks of the ruling party, further cementing their rule over the political scene. The paradox is that these talents will help the party further their vision of Singapore and we still do not have a choice in our future do we? Such talents who favor the opposition will no doubt be discarded; well the ruling party will not want an opposition lover in their ranks would they. Thus seen in this light, high Ministerial pay will also monopolize talents within the party. Again, this is just a hypothetical assumption, but one that is rather realistic and could very well is part of the whole benchmarking strategy.

Usage of the wealth for political gains

My last point of concern has to lie with the amassing of wealth. While this is not a crime, I am nonetheless interested in how this wealth is used. I am not implying that the money is used in unethical means, I wonder (I seriously have no idea) how much of this money is channeled back into political gains for the party. The usage may be a simple party donation or personal money used in elections (errr, maybe something like abalone porridge) to legal fees when suing your political opponent. There could be even uglier usage but I believe the ruling party may not be capable of that yet. I sincerely believe that our Ministers and Administrative Officers are men of integrity and building up an empire of wealth is not their main concern in life. In fact they appear to be frugal men and women who seldom find themselves in the limelight for using their wealth. Nonetheless, more than 40million dollars each year is being paid to the party members. In 15 years (assuming that party members hold office for so long), more than 600million dollars will be paid out to them. That is a sizable obstacle for anyone to overcome should they want to challenge and compete on level terms with the ruling party.

Indeed, the pay rise may have a lot of hidden implications for the political future of Singapore . While the benchmark appears in this argument to favor the ruling party more, it remains a fact that they are kept in office by the majority of the Singaporeans who believes that they are delivering. This bias may be felt but ignored because we are comfortable with our leaders and see no need for change. Perhaps those who violently oppose the increment do not want to have such a lopsided political scene continue in Singapore . Or maybe nobody had thought about this line of argument and this bias is just a positive side effect of a strong political party.