1 million dollar raise for the world's highest-paid leader: He will donate to charity
A 1.4 million Singapore dollar raise in the annual compensation package of Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has sparked debate in the country. While Wong, whose salary will rise to 3.6 million Singapore dollars, announced that he would donate the additional income to charities for five years, the government defended the high-salary policy on the grounds of attracting qualified individuals to politics.
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The Singaporean government has announced that a 1.4 million Singapore dollar (1.1 million US dollar, 53 million TL) raise will be applied to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's annual compensation package. With the increase, Wong's annual salary will rise from 2.2 million Singapore dollars to 3.6 million Singapore dollars, or approximately 2.8 million US dollars.
According to BBC reports, Wong is already cited as the highest-paid political leader in the world. The new regulation covers not only the prime minister but also ministers and certain high-level public officials.
Prime Minister Wong announced that he would donate the additional income resulting from the salary increase to charities over the next five years. Defending the high-salary policy, Wong said that it is not easy to attract qualified people from the business world or high-level public positions into politics, and stated, "I believe that, in general, this will give me and future prime ministers a better opportunity to convince talented Singaporeans to step forward and build the strongest possible team for Singapore."
DEFENSE OF HIGH SALARIES
The Singaporean government has long defended paying high salaries to ministers as a way to attract talented individuals to public administration and to deter corruption. The base salary package for ministers in the country is around 1.1 million Singapore dollars. With the new system, this amount is expected to rise to approximately 1.2 million Singapore dollars, reaching about 1.35 million Singapore dollars for many ministers at the end of the term with performance-based payments.
A portion of the compensation packages is tied to indicators such as the unemployment rate, income growth, and gross domestic product growth. However, in a country where the median monthly income is 5,775 Singapore dollars, the raise given to political cadres has sparked a new debate in public opinion.
The decision was criticized at a time when concerns about job security and the cost of living are increasing. While it is stated that layoffs in Singapore reached their highest level in five years in the last quarter, some users on social media found the raise to be "out of touch with the spirit of the times." In contrast, comments supporting the regulation were also shared, arguing that the country's administration needs the "best of the best."
HOW MUCH DO OTHER LEADERS EARN?
Wong's salary was already well above that of other leaders before the increase. According to comparisons, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee earns approximately 719 thousand US dollars, Swiss President Guy Parmelin 606 thousand US dollars, US President Donald Trump 400 thousand US dollars, and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham 230 thousand US dollars in annual income.
ERDOĞAN'S ANNUAL SALARY
It is calculated that the salary of AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is approximately 87 thousand 900 US dollars annually following the July raise.
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For the People's Action Party, which has governed Singapore since independence, ministerial salaries have been a sensitive topic for many years. The party received one of its lowest vote shares in recent years in the 2011 general elections, partly due to voter reactions regarding salaries and immigration policies; the government cut ministerial salaries a year later.