[kuasimi]

‘Reasonable pay will help to maintain a bit of dignity’
Member of Parliament Lim Wee Kiak of the Nee Soon group representation constituency (GRC) defended ministerial salaries by saying a reasonable payout helped maintain "dignity" for politicians.
He was quickly slammed by netizens, many of whom pointed out in various posts on the Web that "dignity" should not be justified by salary alone.
The multi-million dollar pay of ministers was a hot-button issue in Singapore's recent General Election, which saw the ruling People's Action Party win 81 out of 87 seats but at a significantly lower share of the total votes.
Following the results, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the formation of a committee to review the "basis and level of political salaries". Any pay changes would take effect from 21 May this year.
"If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals. Hence, a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity," Dr Lim told LianHe ZaoBao in Chinese.
In reaction, Francis Oen postedon Facebook: "Hi Wee Kiat.. Suggest you clarify your statement. Does it mean that only $ talks?! ... And if someone earns less, does it mean he cannot have dignity?"
Winnie Lim tweeted: "So according to Dr Lim Wee Kiak's theory, our ministers will ignore Obama because he earns less than all of them."
On his Facebook page, Dr Lim said that his quote was taken out of context.
"Minister's pay issue is a sensitive one. There must be a balance. After all, capable individuals who are willing to come forward to serve should not so because of pay and perks," he replied to a user's question about his quote.
He added, "On the other hand, they do have families and dependents and need to consider for retirement, etc."