Based on the above comments, this is my feed-back.

If u do not know the answer, do not just try to brush away. Say, I will find the answer and get back to you. This is the basic taught to front-line service staff.

Maybe this is the reason for lousy service from CDCs for bosses set good examples for staff to follow.

To many Singaporean, the 8 months bonus at this time mean a lot. Yes, it means a lot.

W** do mayors do? Other than give stupid ‘I do not know’ answers, that is.

“The mayors are political appointment holders.” So he’s just like a pack of tissue used to chope foodcourt seat?

According to the CDC website, the Community Development Council (CDC) functions as a local administration of its District, initiating, planning and managing community programmes to promote community bonding and social cohesion. There is no mention that CDC is a social safety net. Dr Teo is lying.

well blockhead…we are keen to know..and i think it’s of national interests!

His reply gives me this image in my mind:

A headless chicken fleeing a fire in the chicken coup as fast as it can screaming at the top of its voice, “I DON’T KNOW!!! I DON’T KNOW!! I DON’T KNOW WHO SET THE FIRE!!!”

Like PM Lee once said, the monkeys flee when the tree shakes.

Sounds to me like he is evading the question or is showing totally no interest on the 8 months bonus.

Should he not attempt to find out what is happening?

What a major let down!!!

[ We chair the CDC to spearhead the CDC, to build a social safety net and help the people. That is our job. ]

That’s enlightening. To hear a mayor confess that he’s just a glorified, overpaid social worker. BTW, I don’t have an axe to grind against social workers, just fake political ones. Guess the PAP doesn’t include ’sense of shame’ among the qualities it looks for in its members.

The old man and all the Eeelite cannot control their organisation.

The left arm does not know what the right one is doing.

This is a serious recession and the CDC is giving eight months bonus and 13th month salary.

The Party must have gone crazy.

What is so spectacular about the benefactors of this big bonus?

Have they carried out earth shaking operations?

We want to know. We, the ones who pay our taxes.

There may be one big possibility of giving bonuses to these two jokers – they are probably family members of or relatives of one of the elitist families.

This mayor is simply LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH WITHOUT BATTING HIS EYELID – just like the old man!

ho pin does not seem to care anymore.
he shows no concern of how citizens view the seriousness of this issue.
maybe 8 months of bonuses is normal to him.
govt should spend more to help the unemployed citizens instead of giving
out more than 8 months of bonuses.

why must we pay and pay so that govt can give 8 months bonuses ?

by the way, how many months of bonuses did that civil servant get when he
spent $50K on the cooking course in FRANCE ?

[We chair the CDC to spearhead the CDC, to build a social safety net and help the people. That is our job. ] I will like to add on that the job is done by not knowing what is going on and when serious stuff happens, just use a i-don’t-know for answer. plus they help people by giving 8 months bonus to boost spending…isn’t that great…

this fiasco has proven yet again their caliber…opposition, please take note

You know why Teo Ho Pin act the way he did. Because he knows he will still win the next election!. Remember, even WP Yaw Shin Loong even publicly said he voted for him in the last election!!

That’s why it is good to be the gahmen in Singapore. Fantastic electorate!!. Where in the world can you find this type of electorate??

Even assuming that he doesnt know about the issue about his staff being paid 8 months bonus,

now that he DOES, the important questions arising are:

1. Does he think that it is fair and reasonable to pay his staff that amount given the current economic climate?

2. Is he going to do anything to change his staff’s compensation structure to one that is more acceptable to the public?

I think the two staff members were seconded from the Admin Service. They were therefore paid according to the Admin Service payscale, where 8 months’ bonus is quite commonplace. Ministers get about 12 months or more, and so do permanent secretaries. That’s how they can end up with annual incomes of above $1 million year after year. Paying high bonuses in the pretext of performance bonuses serves to hide their total income, because most Singapore assume that civil servants get maybe a few months’ bonus in addition to their basic pay. The truth is that for many years, downturn or not, top civil servants (there are many of them and are not confined to permanent secretaries) have been earning bonuses equivalent to 80% of their annual basic pay. The ratio of basic pay to bonus for many years has been 6:4. For example, if the annual basic pay is $120,000 ($10,,000 per month), the bonus would add up to be about $80,000.

Remember, even rank-and-file civil servants get about 3 months’ bonus every year. So why are we surprised that the more senior ones get 6 months and above?

What to do when the majority of Singaporeans dont bother to find out and allow themselves to be taken for a ride ?

Frankly, 8 months bonus is PEANUTS in relative to the MILLION dollar salaries our mini-siniters are getting.

Did Teo H P gambled away the TC money on Lehman Bros?

15) Gigi,

If what you’ve mentioned is indeed what is happening in our civil sector, then it is simply outrageous !

Can our opposition parties please pick this up and table it for national discussion. We cannot allow such squandering of tax payers’ monies. What have they done to deserve such high bonuses ? Making us the 1st country in Asia to be in recession ? Influx of foreigners to compete for diminishing jobs here ? Helping bosses of companies rather than workers with job credit ? Little or no welfare at all for retrenched ?

Not surprising that CDCs pay such high performance bonuses called PB. But it could be the rare few maybe one or two who got it.

Most would simply have a PB of 1-3 mths depending on performance.

CDCs paid out PB every April/May perido after performance appraisal. This is to help the officers who may have a low basic salary of between $2000 – $2500 for graduate officers.

It is becasue of this PB that CDC officers can survive on low meagre starting salary. If not, it is tough to retian staff.

If PB can be 7-8 months, then I think this is ridiculously high.

Outrageous,

Of course it is true, and it has been happening for years. That’s why the civil service is now a choice career. Even if you do not belong to the one of the elite services such as the Admin Service or Legal Service, you still earn a pretty decent pay and bonus. In addition you also get job security.

The formula for arriving at the total pay package is not exactly a secret. The government has publicly announced it. However, what Singaporeans dont realize is that a big number of civil servants (certainly in the thousands) have been consistently earning 6 months’ bonus and above for many years. Remember, even the rank and file ones earn 3 months’ bonus.

I am not sure if there is much that the opposition can do, if Singaporeans are apathetic about the situation. In a way they only have themselves to blame. Allowing politicians to pay themselves huge salaries to govern us, in other words giving them both power and money legitimately, is one of the dumbest things I can think of….

Teo HP’s Northwest CDC lost millions in failed lehman’s investment, and now 8 months bonuses ! Now we have an absolutely lucid idea of how efficient (or rather the lack of it) he is managing his CDC’s funds.

Is this the tip of the iceberg only ? Are the rest of the CDCs being managed like this one ? What other dirty linen that’s kept from public eye ? There should be greater transparency on how CDCs’ are being managed and used.

“The mayors are political appointment holders. We chair the CDC to spearhead the CDC, to build a social safety net and help the people. That is our job. If you ask me, I do not know the salaries; I do not know the bonuses of all my staff.”

Of coz he is evading the question, he probably got himself 8-12 months bonus too !

Me thinks there must be a simple answer and explanation to this matter……..

a. million dollars salaries for president, pm & ministers.

b. cdc lost $ in minibond.

c. cdc pays 8 mths bonuses.

d. $50K paris cooking class.

e. TH/GIC lost billions in citigroup, ubs, merrill lynch investments.

Guess who’s not feeling the brunt of the recession at all ?

What is the pay of a Mayor?

Does anybody know?

A mayor is equivalent to Minister of State rank. So pay scale is similar, that is in the millions pa.

danielboy,

Of course he did….

I think singaporeans should stop paying their SC&C fee for now until we receive a good answer from them. It’s just rediculars how these TCs can lost $millions on investments and still help themselves with these unbelievable 8 months of bonuses during this bad reccession time. Is there any law here in singapore anymore? This is robbery!

aiyoyo

why like that huh?

so many months bonus (8months) leh!!

and the elite dont know anything about the worker salary???

then how the TC operate/control in place???

aiyoyo

15/3/09

Shocking indeed…….these two staffs being paid 8 months bonuses and they must be the very “La Creame” and “Bluest Chip” which prices will never fall in the present Global Financial Crisis. Dr Teo should have said “I will investigate and get back to you all”

Regards
Andrew Chuah

oh…speaking of this…why does it have the feel of John Thain and Merrill Lynch? ML Paying billions worth of bonuses before been taken over by BOA, and the money will be extracted from taxpayer’s money to cover up the lost….

for local context, paying 8 months salary after losing millions in the lehman bros fiasco and the bonus comes from??? we know where…ain’t that similar.

and ain’t it great that Dr Teo is been paid to be a mayor and don’t know what is going on with the staff? who wants the job? hands up!

Will DR.Teo still be the mayor for the next GE? will he??

To #31 SZ on March 15th, 2009 9.33pm

Me! Me! Provided I don’t have to wear white which in Singapore is the new “dirty black” colour. This same Teo also asked the S&C payers to go ask their own TCs for details about the losses, instead of being a responsible leader to explain it to the public directly.

My understanding is that politicians with multiple titles get multiple pay packages, 1 for each title they hold. E.g. Teo is getting pay as MP and additional pay as Mayor. Thus he is also getting bonus for MP AND bonus as Mayor. This is how “underpaid” he and his likes are.

how ridiculous in time of recession!

dear teo ho pin,

I am very shocked and worried that as a cdc mayor, you do not know that
your cdc staff are being paid 8 months bonuses.
how can you lead and task your staff when you do not know
how your staff are being rewarded ?

you need public to tell you that your staff are getting 8 months bonuses
despite our economy in deep recession.

do you know how much northwest cdc fund is lost in this financial crisis ?
do you know how the 8 months bonuses are being accounted for ?

Please do not be like temasek holding which annouced the resignation
of ho ching and then followed by news of $50 billions loss.

He doesn’t know? cos it’s not his $$$…Any way I think it’s what you called in the Army…”ACT BLUR”. My Sarge always say: ” If you don’t know then go and find out. ” here it is “For me to know and for you to find out.” I hope TOC can dig deeper into this.

To Dr Teo: I am staying in Bukit Panjang SMC, this coming election I will definitely kick you out from the constituency. Don’t come and give us sweets I tell you first!!

How can a mayor does not know the pay budget and pay of cdc staff ?
Can a cdc run into a deficit because of overpaid staff and the mayor is kept
in the dark ?
will teo ho pin know when cdc has no money to pay his staff ?

I am very worried for mayor teo when he does not know that his staff
are overpaid and depleted the cdc fund.

Govt better do something before something happened like former NKF.

Mr Teo Ho Pin,

Yea, right. We believe you. You do not seem to know anything. You do not know the bonus of your staff. You do not know how much the town councils lost. You do not know how to retrieve the lost investments. You do not know how to find jobs for S’poreans.

You do not know anything. So, why’re you an MP and a Mayor?

Chinese say, jia liao bee (eat finish rice), meaning, you are useless, consuming rice but a good-for-nothing.

Dr Teo, if you think your style of macro-management is correct and worth commenting from your fellow peers, think again. As a normal citizen in Singapore, i think you guys are simply sleeping on your job.

I strongly feel this is exactly the basic flaw in your managment and running of the ministries. And i deemed, is also the indirect cause of the escalating living expenses in Singapore, one example is the S&C charges.

I hope the TOC editor will bring up that the issue of the amount of annual budget allocated to our ministries.

Simply talk to some of your close friends working in the civil service, it is not difficult to know how the civil departments trying to ‘finish off’ the budget allocated. Every year, their bosses will try to do the same to justify for equal or not more budget in the following work year. And in this particular CDC case, I am quite confident that part of the reason is also to ‘finish off’ the budget.

It is disgusting to know about incidents of insensitive payouts using taxpayers monies. There are so many ordinary Singaporeans are suffering while the dogs (sorry to my friends who work in the civil service) are enjoying policy of protectionism (only to protect their own followers, and thus their votes) by our current rulers.

So my plea to our leaders, please do not spend monies belonging to ALL SINGAPOREANS, just to protect the interests and political careers of the minority fews. Sounds like TARP fund being splurged on the bonuses of that few that in the first place created the prolbems, and already benefited for years.

One of us sent him an email.
http://civicadvocator.net/dr-teo-dont-worry-we-have-a-solution/#more-1078

Dr Teo,
are you trying to say
‘its not my problem’
or
‘you pay me peanuts as a mayor, i do monkey jobs as a mayor’ ?

“Yea, right. We believe you. You do not seem to know anything. You do not know the bonus of your staff. You do not know how much the town councils lost. You do not know how to retrieve the lost investments. You do not know how to find jobs for S’poreans.”

Really our government elite don’t really need to know anything at all. The more they know, the more insecure and worry they become, threatening their golden rice bowl. All they need to know is that they are paid millions per year with ridiculous bonus regardless of the Singapore’s economy. That’s what elite gahmen are paid for. If they know and they answer, they are responsible , if they don’t know anything, they cannot be accounted, and thus saved for their ignorance. They are lucky to be born Singaporean, just look at Chen ShuiBian who says “I Don’t know” and in the end gonna investigated until he confessed.

Our elite is “I don’t know” but you can’t investigate at all because they pass a law to prohibit investigation of gahmen, don’t they ?

So if you ask them why we even need them in first place, I’m very sure they don’t even know the answer. Remember the clowns are running the circus parliament.

DR TEO is doing DR NO

Not all people can do as DR NO

They are top pay

they are different

No one need to know

last time when tc lost millions what happen?

now will different things happen?

to def #45
…
pap-smear test will happen

Whats happening to this country?

I thought CDC made a loss in Lehman brothers, if making a loss can still get 8 months bonus, wonder how many months they will get on good times, sad to see there are many people suffering in bad times, getting pay freeze, no bonuses, pay cut or job losses, and yet…………

I think by now, Singaporeans should know what to do come election time… Don’t just complain and complain and yet still vote for them… You Have A Choice. Do the right thing at the ballot box and stop all this crappy nonsense coming from the Elitist PAP for once and for all…

20) Gigi ,

Thanks for the elaboration ! I certainly agree with you that there’s nothing much we can do except to re-evaluate our choice during the next GE.

the CDC staff getting 8 months bonus is an exemplification of how the civil service is being run, i.e. by GREED !

The insatiable appetite for more wealth has led our leaders to reward themselves with million dollar salaries and this evil deed has rippled its effect to all stratas of the civil service. These 2 CDC staff cannot be blamed as they are probably pegging their reward scheme to that of their leaders.

In chinese, this is “上 梁 不 正 下 梁 歪”

Where else on earth can you find such a job in CDC ? Lost millions in failed minibond investments and yet able to enjoy 8 months bonus ? What the heck is this? Has our govt lost its head ?

With such oversight and generosity in rewarding themselves, it is little wonder that we need to draw onto our reserve from our recent budget.

Dr Teo,
As the mayor it is now your priority task to motivate all your staff to give their best to the citizens of Singapore. When all your staff knows about this, many will be demotivated, especially when they receive little or no bonuses. So it is in your interests, not to mention all Singaporeans’ interests, for you to come out decisively and explain what is going on. Failure to do so will undermine the morale and motivation of many of your staff. This can lead to disillusions among them because of the perceived unequal and unfair compensation they are getting. This is not the time to quote confidentiality as it will lead to massive demotivation. Demotivated staff will make more mistakes, wittingly or unwittingly, so you must move fast to quell this rumour.

tai chi skill very good!

You guys stop harassing Dr. Teo, after all you are the people who put PAP in power.

If you think 8 months bonus is wrong, vote against PAP.

We should harass Dr Teo’s blog. It hasn’t been updated since May 2008. We have to blame the 77.2% of the Bukit Panjang Constituency who voted him. We should note that prior to the GE 2006, the Election Department partitioned the private estate area of Bukit Panjang to Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. What a nice way to ensure Dr Teo becomes a PAP MP.

Ok, I am willing to give this mayor a chance to explain. To get 7-8 months bonus, you have to deliver exceptional performance in this climate. For whatever reasons he does not know the salaries of his staff, he still has explanation to do on whether these staff have exceptional performance, and if so, it should be made public by now. In the private sector, your story has to be very convincing to get to this kind of payout, since almost all company budgets are shrinking. Also, refrain from saying that he does not know the performance of his staff.
Else, an investigation is definitely in order to stop suspiscions on poor funds management (at best) and abuse (at worst).

There is no accountability.
How do they measure 8 months, 12 months, etc; some consistently get 12 months bonus, a 100% increase in pay. They cannot talk about their low salary per month, we have to know their gross per annum.

mayor teo does not want to answer the question directly.
he just said that he does not know.
can’t he just find out and answer the question directly.
his pay is as good as private sector and his answer is “i don not know”.

look like govt job is overpaid with no accountability.

how can the residents vote and trust this kind of MP and mayor
who does not want to answer issue in his CDC ?

“In the private sector, it’s the same thing. The top performer of the company will normally get better bonuses as compared to the poor performers,”

Ask them to join the private sector lah and see whether they are still as creamy as ever.

Not suprising….

Money can buy loyalthy…..

Also elections round the corner

notice in adition ang mos are the best treated – soon all CEOs will be ang mos, maybe even president

We must let every citizenry know how screw up are the PAP appointed mayors, make sure MSM publish this issue if not use all other means to inform the majority singaporean who are still in the dark.

Dr in crapology??? not the first time commenting without using some of his brain cells..

I think it’s outrageous and definitely too much to pay 8 months’ bonus, with taxpayers’ money which is the public’s money. I would like Dr Ho to specify what sort of extra-ordinay performance should justify this huge sum of payout
in an government organisation, which is non-commercial or profit oriented
I’m very shocked to hear him said that it is not unreasonable given
9 months of good economic performance in 2008.
The question is, should they take the opportunity to reward themselves
so well with tax payers’ money that the private sector don’t even have
half of this sort of remuneration last year.

Obviously this CDC saga has caught the government and public service attention, and they are so anxious so that they assign dedicated staff to monitor the situation.

Teo is so caught up in the unexpected situation. Instead of brushing the comments off by saying ‘i-don-know’, he should at least excert some damage control by explaining why the satff could get 8 months bonus. From what I heard the excessive bonus is due to the very very low monthly pay of the staff, and to award the staff good performance during the year. The total renumeration package is still well within the limit capped by the public service guidelines. Maybe Teo should issue a press conference to clear off some doubts and misperceptions. From what I can see here are mostly grudges and complaints w/o knowing the details of it.

Do you recall the incident happen in National Kidney Foundation (NKF) headed by Mr Durai?

Who gave Durai this position?……It’s the PAP.

It’s the almost same scenario here. Dr Teo Ho Pin & his party will only investigate & action the issue only if election is round the corner. Since it is not, he just gave dump excuses.

God’s knows how much the PAP squander the Nation Money away.

Frankly speaking, what can the nation do? YOU vote for them, YOU gave them mandate.

Fellow citizens, do WISE UP in the next coming election or wait for the old man to kick the bucket……

[#40 Crap Shoot]

“Mr Teo Ho Pin, You do not know anything. So, why’re you an MP and a Mayor?”

Excellent question CS.

Ignorant people should never be placed in positions of power. They can cause serious damage, ignorantly or unwittingly.

Too many ignorant people, unfortunately for our society, seem to be in high positions in our governing body. And these same ignorant people seem to be paid well for their ignorance.

I think its only right that CDC staff, who are also civil servants serving the people as equal and comparable to the role of our ministers who are also serving the people, to get higher salaries in proportion to our multi-million ministers’ pay. With 8 months bonuses given to them is representative of our sense of proportion compared to the stress and the number of needy folks whom they are helping.
They have done a great job in training the needy folks to spend wisely with their meagre income and CDC reliefs and matching them with good jobs in their constituency. So they should be applauded and be rewarded even in recessionary times because their workloads of caring for the needys are even greater.

This Teo guy is either not telling everything or simply incompetent! Let’s us kick him out of his office. Please. it would in the nation’s interest to wack out incompentent leaders.

From the comments that have been posted so far, I conclude that there are many ignorant Singaporeans around. For many years I have known that civil servants, whichever department or ministry they are from, have been receiving hugh bonuses under the pretext of performance bonuses.

It starts with the lowest rung, which routinely receiveds 2 plus to 3 months’s bonuses every year. The higher they go, the more the number of months of bonuses they receive. Potentially the maximum is 18 months, for the PM. That is why he can end up with nearly $4 million, before the recent pay cut.

Between 18 months and 3 months, one can imagine many civil servants (some high ranking and middle ranking) have been receiving bonuses amounting to anything from 4, 5 , 6, 7 ,8 to 18 months’ pay.

There is really nothing shocking about the bonuses the 2 CDD staff received. It has been happening for years, and Singaporeans have allowed it to happen by their silence and inaction. To me the more shocking thing is the ignorance of Singaporeans.

“I want to clarify that the mayors do not decide on the salaries, the increments, the bonuses of all our staff at the CDC.”

In this case, Who IS the one who does so?

#7 Its shocking, their bonuses can go up to 18 months. I thought every year reported 2 to 3months for the whole year for civil servants. Thats mean they are not transparent all the while hiding this fact from the public. Really they are all very snaky with all the talk of honest and integrity government. This is really shocking. No wonder, we need a multi-billions dollars budget for the civil services. People of Singapore should call for reforms of our civil services.

The civil servants are the backbone of the PAPee especially the middle and top ranks, they are well paid and taken care of, so this are the grps that support PAP when election come.

Spirit-centred,

As I have mentioned before, 2 to 3 months is for rank-and-file civil servants. Wake up….

He should answer the ? or tell the media who they should refer to.

Now a lot of people should realise that we are all not in the same boat.
Our leaders always say, we will weather this recession together.
I want to ask by the way are we in the same boat? You people are
so highly paid, rich millionaires managing us, the poor ordinary citizens
feeling the squeeze for jobs from skilled and semi-skilled foreign
workers brought in to make our life even more difficult.
I think it’s all bullshit. Our lives have not become better, although
we pay higher government fees as compared to the past.
Our budget of $20b is so tiny
as compared to other developed countries but our goverment fees
are so much higher as compared to them. I think more Singaporean
should grow more aware of what is happening. The government
should give financial help to unemployed workers, who are the weakest
in the current situation.

I felt quite hopeless if there are no changes to the way things are.
There should be some kind of audit on government spending
and expenditure, whether remuneration for civil servants
is justifiable in consideration with factors like job stability
and not blindly peg to private sector pay. Don’t forget
where the money comes from, it’s tax payers’ money,
money from the public. What talent you are talking about,
when mistakes can be made and billions can be lost.
Singapore has no lack of talents, so we no longer need to take that as an excuse to pay high salary as there are so many talents out there who are jobless.
In this lean time, the government should watch and cut its own spending
and lower its expenditure so that the country can have more budget to help
the unemployed and fight the recession as a united nation.

Well done, at least the CDC is rewarding and their workers’ efforts are recognised.

#74) Money talk
” The civil servants are the backbone of the PAPee especially the middle and top ranks, they are well paid and taken care of, so this are the grps that support PAP when election come.”
…………………………………………………………………

I believe the top ranks like perm sec, directors – 99.9% voted for the PAP while the other ranks – maybe 80% voted for PAP. Plus those top ranks at the NTUC, PA, CDAC, NTUC-controlled unions, GLCs, govt-controlled NGOs, etc. So, how can the opposition parties win?

Chiam & Low retained their seats by the grace of the PAP. If they behave like Chee they would be fixed and removed from parliament.

I hope #38, #51, #67, #70 and others who believe in the survival of Singapore to do more than just give their one vote. We need a substantial number of opposition MPs to insure our country in the event the PAP becomes corrupt and inefficient in the future.

ITs TIME !

When Singapore is in recession – it is because of global recession.

Because Singapore’s recession is beyond the control of the NW CDC, they are “doing Singapore a favor” by giving out 8 months bonus to their staff.

After all CDC is “doing their part” to stimulate the Singapore economy.

Therefore 8 months bonus is peanut, just like NKF’s Durai’s CEO salary and his toilet bowl came with gold plated cover.

Thank you CDC, you have indeed done your part in minimizing the impact of the recession. I would therefore recommend that ALL CDC staff be rewarded with 8 months bonus. Why limit to 2 only???

I find this episode of generously giving out bonuses to civil servant very disturbing especially during this messy crisis. What good performance was Teo Ho Pin or Lee Boon Heng talking about? Is CDC a profit oriented organisation acting like private sector to justify obscene salaries and bonuses? Singaporean who really worked hard all these years got retrenched to make way for foreigner and did they get 8 month bonuses other than retrenchment compensation? Lim Boon Heng also strongly advocated that employers and employees must bite the bullet to cut cost through wages and bonuses, did he do the same? If this ministers are not conmen, what are they? Are Singapore a truly bigger NKF? I hope to see more worms crawling out from these so-called purer than white people.

$$$$ – Probably that is one reason that the civil servants will and must always vote for the ruling party. Cannot kill the golden goose!

How come Teo Ho Pin got Dr-prefix to his name? Does he have a PhD in Taichi from Authoritarian University of Burma?

8 months bonus?! What the hell is happening here?!?!! Here we are, worrying night and day about our jobs, and there we have two freaks who are getting their hands on the green! Man, this is like hitting the balls with a hammer. Looks like the term “Wall Street excess” has found its way right here. Right now, I want to find me a civil servant, tie him up with a piece of raw meat stuck in his mouth, and throw him into the croc enclosure of the zoo.

So, which one of you still think the ruling party will call for a general election this year?

This is pure outrage. How do they justify for the tax money we paid to them? Damn to these greedy and arrogant politician, who now even do not care or pretend to be helpful. Instead, they’d just simply brush off any question w/o providing details.

I forsee singapore will go down the drain in the near future. With economy shrinking and GDP nose-diving due to the stupid economy policies and idiotic investment decision, it’s no wonder that why people start to think and talk about migrating to other country. And worse off, replacement comes in the forms of foreign labour from china, india, and other asean country, it’ll surely create a lot of social problems.

87) SingEsc on March 17th, 2009 12.08 pm

This is pure outrage. How do they justify for the tax money we paid to them?

Actually, it is possible to justify. Say if the individuals are working 70hrs a week etc. However, the whole thing is poorly handled as if they have something to hide that the handling of the matter itself is another screw-up for PAP.

This group of PAP, the so-called national leaders, are very lousy.

Come on man….8 months bonus is only given in the private sector IF u have made a VERY substantial contribution to the company like helping increase the profits of the company or helped in extensive cost saving etc etc….the CDC do wat? Collect tax and parking fines more efficiently? LOL

You know? I want the Oppositions to prove that they can work just as well without the heavy salaries! LKY said we live in a real world. Obama is Real, Lincoln is Real, Japan is Real, Taiwan is Real, Singapore is Real, We are Real. We’re the only country who have Government comparing their pays to private sectors, we don’t see the other countries doing it. And it is NOT innovative to earn more money to do service for the people. Oppositions now have the chance to prove themselves what they can do and are capable of. Offer the Citizens pride, dignity and honesty, and in return we can, and we will offer Law and Order. Singaporeans online are starting to show unity in slamming what we deem injustice, and unity to reason. Offer us what we deem reasonable, and help the weak, secure the good, and keep yourself humble. These are what I as a citizen seek, I do not know what the others seek, but offer us such grand qualities, and I offer you my votes.

Greed, greeds and greedies !!!

Why is our society like this ???

Ridiculous.

Insensitive.

Not in the spirit of civil service. (haha)

We loss billions in our reserves. We are already digging into what’s left of our reserves and the civil servants are paying themselves huge bonuses??

We must show this govt that what the ppl can do. We the citizens of singapore are the bosses, we employed (voted u in) u the govt to manage the country and its finances as well as the welfare of its citizens. If this employee (govt) don’t performed to expectation and if found any misappropriating of funds/revenues and reserves from the country, he (govt) will be sacked once the time is up.

#77 “Our leaders always say, we will weather this recession together.
I want to ask by the way are we in the same boat?”

They are on a luxury cruise liner, speaking of we are in it together.
We are in boats with holes and plucking them, some sank and sinking.
This is reality, people!

We have paid for them to be in the crusie liner.
coming years we have the choice if we keep them there,
anyway we (singaporean) have to decide ourselves and take the chance.

Concerned Citizen (#88),

You raised a very good point. Nobody is actually interested in the names of the 2 CDC Northwest staff. All we want is the government disclosing the entire reward system of the CDC staff.

Link to the website is down. Articles have been removed from CNA and other local news websites.

A google cache link:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Y0duZ5YhZnQJ:www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/specialreport/news/415302_73/1/

CNA has removed the article from their website. Sigh.

Now, this is what a WOLRD CLASS leader would do:

Outraged Obama vows to block AIG bonuses

President Barack Obama Monday vowed to block multi-million-dollar bonus payouts by bailed-out insurer AIG as he confronted intensifying public anger against Wall Street excess.

The controversy escalated as New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo started to slap subpoenas on American International Group, after the crippled firm ignored a Monday afternoon deadline to divulge details of the bonuses.
Read more:http:
//sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090317/tts-us-politics-insurance-public-aid-aig-972e412.html

Dr Teo said first 9 months economy is very good, only last 3 months not good,
so it’s not unreasonable to pay 8 months’ bonus. But does he know that
in fact from october 2008, many organisations in the private sector have already started cost cutting measures like retrenchments, pay and bonus cuts.
So how can a non-commercial and non-profit goverment organisation like the CDC be so insensitive about what is going on and proceed to give such
generous bonus, despite the fact that Singapore has fallen into recession.
Does the government still have a feel for the people?

I belong to Gen X, middle aged and have voted twice in my life.
Gone are the days when MPs do walkabout personally and
ask about how we are doing and any problems we face
which they can help. I can sensed their humility and I
appreciated that.

Nowadays, MPs doesn’t need to do that to earn their own merit
as they are often sheltered in a GRC and get elected almost
effortlessly, which is something I don’t feel right at all.

I don’t agree with having GRC for the sake of the so-called synergy and
cost savings to run the town councils. What is the point of the cost savings,
where we don’t see much reduction in conservancy charges and
the extra funds get invested and ended up with losses.
With GRC, we run the risks of bringing in MPs who are inefficient
and can do without.

I appeal to the government to leave all seats single ward,
we want to have a fair election. We don’t want GRC.
An election is an election. Management of town councils
is a separate matter, can come later. Anyway,
the two opposition town councils have proven
that single ward constituency can be efficiently run too.
So what is the problem?

In fact sometimes I wondered Singapore is so small, why
do we need so many MPs and ministers and senior ministers.
Can’t we reduce the number to cut costs and government expenditure,
especially that is what happens in the private sector, a leaner
structure during lean times.

There are so many people out there needing help,
especially the unemployed workers, housewives
and single income families but sad to say, there is
very little or no help given to them even during this crisis.

I believe that many civil servants and business licence holders
tend to vote for the ruling party, that’s why the ruling party is always
assured of winning.

I appeal to all Singaporean, not to be so selfish
and just think of themselves, to care for the plight
of their fellow citizens.

Vote wisely.

Let us be united to elect our leaders whom we
respect and who deserve our vote.

WASHINGTON – Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for “recklessness and greed” Monday and pledged to try to block it from handing its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” Obama asked. “This isn’t just a matter of dollars and cents. It’s about our fundamental values.”

Read more here and watch the video:-

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_aig

Passing the buck is the specialty of our civil servants.

MP Dr Teo Ho Pin is from Holland-Bukit Panjang and hence North-West CDC, and hence the place where the 2 staff are paid 8 months bonus. You call this good performance??!!!

This story was printed from TODAYonline

Dr Teo says ‘be thankful’

Some residents upset;MP points out how funds have grown

Wednesday November 19, 2008
Ong Dai Lin
dailin@mediacorp.com.sg

AS RESIDENTS of Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council reacted to the news on Monday that their constituency’s funds were exposed to Lehman-linked structured products, its chairmanDr Teo Ho Pin had this message for them: Be thankful that the funds have grown under the Town Council’s watch.

Told of the rumblings on the ground about the high-risk investment, Dr Teo said the potential$8-million loss should be viewed in the context of the $24 million in investments generated over the past six years. If the Town Council had invested all its funds in low-risk investments, it would have earned only $5 million, he said.

“They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money.”

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/287994.asp

Peter, please do not post entire news articles in the comments section. You can post an excerpt and a link to the article. Tks. – Moderator.

This sounds like AIG to me. They are all the same…. lies lies and more lies…..

What can I say??? What can we say????
We so need VANDETTA…..
Where you are Vandetta…WHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t think there is any economic situation would merit an 8-month bonus payout to what the private sector would call a cost-centre…If they had belong to a revenue-generating department, perhaps there’s some justifications. Even then, 8 months would have been excessive, 8 months is like Lehman Brothers during their glory days….I sincerely doubt CDC earns THAT MUCH money….

Haiyah…. in the heydays of the investment banks. Front liners can paid in excess of 1 year’s bonus. Even those in support function can get 4 to 6 months bonuses.

But then again, 8 months is quite a lot and could cause quite a stir especially in times of economic difficulties. Personally, I know of quite a few pple in the civil service that are still enjoying life big time in the midst of all these problems.

102) Moral Dog on March 17th, 2009 11.20 pm
This sounds like AIG to me. They are all the same…. lies lies and more lies…..

What happened here is worst than AIG, at least now OBAMA is going very hard to recover the $millions back. Here? hahaha. . . . . you can’t even touch them not even when they still continue to pay themselves $million salaries. . . . .continue digging and more of such issues would surface in those non-transparency corps.

So did you get the message? Join the civil service and you get a cushy life recession or not, good pay, great bonus, iron rice bowl and
recreation clubhouse for enjoyment! I hope the government will
seriously reflect upon and exercise restraint over their rewards system,
otherwise it would incur the wrath of the people.
I hope this episode do not cause a division among Singaporeans,
ordinary citizens working in private sector/ unemployed citizens and
civil servants.

There is obviously something very wrong here.

yet we have no system to deal with it. The mainstream media doesn’t seem interested, and there’s no way the ordinary citizen can make the CDC’s more transparent.

Despite calls for CDC to reveal its payroll structure and calculations (like what other civil service departmetns have), these ppl just keep queit. They obviously have something to hide. So what can we do the learn the truth?

Let’s face it. The CDC case is just the tip of the iceberg. Many staff numbers of ministries, statutory boards, uniformed bodies and other government bodies have been enjoying high bonuses for years, recession or not. Singaporeans have been naive to underestimate the number of such people. If the government is transparent enough to release figures to show the range of bonuses civil servants in various departments/ministries have been receiving, and the the number of civil servants receiving such bonuses, I am sure Singapore will be astounded. We dont need names of civil servants receiving such bonuses; we just need the number for each range of bonuses received.

No wonder GST cannot go down, despite us facing the worst financial crisis.
Bus fares only go down by a pathetic two cents despite oil prices down significantly. Taxis fares still refuse to come down. What is the PTC
doing? Are their pay and bonus structure similar to that of the CDC?
Why don’t our President say something? I adore President Obama
who can speak against injustice felt by the common people in the
AIG bonus saga.
Ai..sign, why are things like these down here?
No wonder some singaporeans chose to migrate.

Singaporeans need to be aware of what is happening to our own country and speak up against injustice felt.

As Singaporeans, we have the right to know how tax payers’ money are
being used. What percentage is given back to the people in
the form of education, health care, social subsidies, etc. and
what percentage is used for goverment fees, i.e. to pay the salaries
and bonus of civil servants? We want transparency and accountability.

Singaporeans want accountability and transparency.
As citizens, we pay taxes so we have the right to know how
taxpayers’ money are being used.
What percentage and how much is given back to the people in the
form of subsidies in education, healthcare, etc. yearly.
What percentage and how much is used for government fees,
i.e. to pay the salaries and bonus of civil servants, ministers, etc. yearly.
Then everyone can have a clearer picture of how the country is
being run.

By the way, I just heard that HDB is also paying huge bonuses this Mar, ostensibly based on Singapore’s last year’s economic performance. Many senior staff members are getting 6 or more months of performance bonus. This is of course in addition to the 3 months that all civil servants receive. Anyone knows about other ministries, statutory board and government departments ?

Life is not so simple that migration can solve ……
Basically it seems to be the perception of priviged class versus underdog citizens…is it really ? do not yet!
Well perhaps every dod will have its day after long waits…perhaps never
So why not join the privilged class if you can – do so quickly as the smarter Malaysians are filing and filling up all the outside quotas…. start by joining a sports association

8 months’ bonus is ridiculously high considering the recession and the service standards of Community Development Council.
Last March, I went to the Northwest CDC to seek help in job seeking.
After waiting for an hour, I was told to come back the next day because the career counsellors were “fully booked” for that afternoon.
CDC should have a digital system to tell people the expected waiting time or engage more counsellors.
Surely bonus must be pegged to service and performance.

Our government sectors seem to be doing very well with big bonuses despite losses in overseas and recession. Wonder why there is a need for our government to dig into the reserve in the first place with so many surplus on hand.

People, i said already, the ministry spend within their budget, no fault on their side.

The fault lies with the one who ‘design’ the budget from the drawing block. The one sitting in the office and pluck the figures from the records & reports, doesn’t know what the hell is going on within each ministry or its sub-units. Dont even bother whether the taxpayers monies are spent wisely, except ’spend within what you are given’. And always work on theories but never hands on or walk the ground, always follow the policies of their predecessor not realising the changes on the ground and the feelings of heartlanders.

I call them theory-king scholars. So i really doubt if these scholars could really survive the private sectors if they are thrown there in the first place, before entering the public sector and became protected species.

By the way, some species are born protected.

Guys!

News articles on North West CDC 8 months bonus disappeared from Mainstream Media?

HOW COME ???

So,they want TO HIDE THE TRUTH??!! &&%%()(#%$^&(#!*

Mayor’s comments may sound evasive on the verge of defensive.

Minister’s later comments even though he has no portfolio make sense – these are most probably front line staff on their own doing long hours of “thankless work ” to try to help citizens within the ambit of the CDC. They are most probably very good workers and must be rewarded to persuade them to stay. Good front line staffers are really hard to find. Do not begrudge them as their basic salary even though may be competitive is very structured and do not come with massive perks, and their jobs do not open them to big opportunities or future.

It is perhaps timely that the minister take a good look at himself and the entire political machinery from president , ministers , parliamentary secretaries, mayors, etc, appointments who could also have thousands working for them in the workload system.
It had been said that the massive salary for politicians is to bring in the best – is it really so ? has it happened ? look at the massive jump in salary of a common working man when he crosses over to be a PAP politician . One cannot be far out to say that it is easier money paid compared to the CDC front line staff.
If there is no attrition – there will be many political overstayers and if the hire and fire policy is not there to ensure that the PAP politicians are really Division one materials. On performance, one could perhaps conclude that the learning process seems to be a long one and perhaps lifelong.
This is the real sore point for voters in the coming GE, and unless the PAP addresses the selection, pay and tenure issues – it is going into a hard landing for them.
PAP – please feel the ground and be courageous to act. You have done well for almost 40 years ; please do not let the last few years continue to be your spoiler……..
Citizens are not born yesterday and there is a limit that FTs including Malaysians can come in to counterbalance the ground swell…….
Thank you.

My company turned from loss to profit last year. But still AWS cut by 1/2 month. sigh….

HDB also giving huge bonus? 6 months’ performance bonus on top of 2-3 months for senior staffs? Wow, that’s too much! That shows we need more leaders with qualities like ex-NTUC income CEO Mr Tan, who can speak up and stand up for the common people when things are not right.

Why do we need so many MPs who don’t walk the ground and are so well paid that they don’t even bother to speak up for the people?

Righteous,

In reality MPs represent PAP, not the people.

Through my encounter with government agencies all these years with regards to jobs, I find their efficiency has been lousy, especially in helping people find good jobs. Most of the jobs don’t come with good pay. And they still have the cheek to pay themselves the so-called perfornance bonus for finding lousy jobs that pay peanuts!

They launched a women-back-to-work scheme in october last year with a big hoo-hah, a big and enthusiastic advertisement enticing housewives to go back to the workforce with jobs in various sectors. But when I called up, it was a big let down, they don’t sound so enthusiatic and on hand they only have very few and mostly low level jobs. In the end I gave up on them and do the job seach on my own.

When they have a compliance officer conversion programme which
promises job placement and 90% subsidy from MAS as indicated in the WDA website. I was a bit happy at first, but when I called the training institute (ICA) to enquire, I was shocked to learn that you need to pay the fees 100% upfront which
can amount to a few thousand dollars,sit and pass the papers every term before you can proceed to apply for the subsidy. And when I asked the ICA whether
they is job placement before or upon completion of course, they said no
and they only act as a referral.

Luckily I checked it out myself with ICA, otherwise I may have assumed
wrongly that there is indeed job placement after program completion.
I urged the PMETs to think carefully and practically before committing their
time and money to the training. They are very costly and I wonder
why the 90% subsidy is not given upfront to help PMETs lessen their
financial burden at a time like this.

This SIN will only get worse as time goes. So, instead of cracking ones’ head to suggest and hope for better days ahead which will never be realised, why not find out more about other countries and seek for a better living elsewhere. Try to get to know the many foreigners here, find out more about their countries, see if they can show us around their countries and whether one can adapt and settle there.

Born Singaporean for six decades, my observations all these years consistently showed that the Leaders lead, demand, enforce and ensure that the people follow, take their orders and never to interfere with their powers and authorities. The Leaders never yield to counter suggestions nor accept any meddlings from their subjects, nor matter how benign or constructive your ideas are.

If you cannot beat them, join them, join civil service so you can too get fat bonus.

8 months’ not a lot. I even heard of 11 months bonus for director position. Even a fresh scholar who knows nothing beside writting good essay is also getting at least 4 months bonus.

Our scholarship system is getting fundamentally wrong. These scholars are articulate, smart, and capable, but they are so lost touch with the ground that drives them to make stupid policy. One example is that LTA decided that taxi cannot stopped at roadside. Heard that policy was drafted by a scholar and approved by his scholar-boss.

The whole point of having a political appointment holder in government is that they would intervene with the civil service to ensure the policies coming out would reflect sentiments on the grounds. Instead, we have a civil service that calls the shot and the political appointment holders are refraining from any intervention.

“Our scholarship system is getting fundamentally wrong. These scholars are articulate, smart, and capable, but they are so lost touch with the ground that drives them to make stupid policy.”

Everyone knows (scholars will even describe it with flowery mastery) that you need to take a plane by air / ship by sea to a far away country, but how many of us really know how to make a plane or a ship.

At least justice was to be looked forward to as AIG is to cough out the millions in bonuses. What about this? Where even the press hesitates to report it…. sad… pathetic….

In Singapore, everything seems fine on the surface, and people are too pre-occupied with their lives to bother. Everyone takes heart that Singapore is
not a poor state but yet we don’t really enjoy the fruits of success, being
a Singapore born citizen.

Sweden, a highly developed and successful country,
has many social policies that truly takes care of the people.
The country’s productivity is very high and their government
don’t demand for high salaries.

Here, we live more stressful lives, take on more jobs and hours
to make ends meet, pay more indirect taxes, i.e. GST on even basic necessities, like water and electrical bills, medical fees which is ridiculous, you need to pay taxes when you fall sick. Talk about the Water Conservation Taxes, why should we be paying this tax when we had already pay for the water we used and the
the added New Water should have brought the cost of water down.

Here we have Workfare, which is insufficient, there are not even enough
jobs for everyone.

I felt our leaders don’t care if we live or die, as we can easily be replaced
by foreigners. If they let the vast number of workers in from China,
India, then of course our workers won’t be able to compete.
Our lives will be very difficult.

I knew someone working for a Sweden MNC here and at best
time of economy, they only get 3 months’ bonus, including AWS.
All levels of staffs, including Senior Managers to low level staffs
get the same bonus.

So again, what could justify the civil service to pay out such fat bonus, 8 months?

Talk about HDB, if they have so much money and can afford to give their staffs fat bonus, then we should not be made to pay for lift upgrading, which is due
to the own poor foresight in not recognising that people do age
and flats should have lifts that stop at every level.
We should also not be made to pay hefty levies when we
change flats. All these policies are simply not social friendly
and gracious for a mature society.

Things are getting too costly in Singapore, rentals are so high so defnitely the cost of goods remain high. Take for example, I was told by a Singaporean who is based in Australia and back for a short visit that some of the branded toys are actually cheaper in Australia as compared to Singapore. A friend from Romania
told me that things are very expensive in Singapore as compared to England which they have lived before they settle here due to a job opportunity.

Take for example, Zoo admission tickets. They are so expensive, $18 per adult
and $9 per child. So an outing of family of three would easily cost $45.
And as Singaporean, we have to pay the same rate as tourists
which I don’t feel right at all. They should give concession to Singaporeans to encourage them to visit the local attractions with their familiies as often as possible.

Other attractions like the Jurong BirdPark,
Cable Car are also too highly priced that most middle income families
won’t be able to bring children there as often as they wish.
Last year the STB even give 50% to tourists to attract them here,
how come as Singaporeans, we don’t enjoy any concession?

Salaries are declining but cost of living remains high,
How can the people not be depressed?
There are already so many people down with
stress, anxiety and depression.
Can the PM truly understand why people are depressed?

Singaporeans are not stupid, they can be trained and take on new jobs.
But before they can do so, they don’t have the means to pay for the high course
fees of the training courses, as most middle-aged people already have family committments. And even if they are able to pay, there is no guarantee they can switch jobs easily. And the influx of skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers
only make things worse.

Now Dr. Teo Ho Pin is also known as Dr. I Don’t Know!

I am a resident of Bukit Panjang and I can’t believe that Dr. Teo did not know that his 2 staff were give 8 months bonus.

My questions are, who judged these 2 staff’s performance? What so “exceptional” about their performance? Did they help Singapore to come out of recession? Did they help to create jobs for the unemployed and retrenched workers?

We are definitely NOT on the same boat that Dr. Teo and Lim Boon Heng are sailing. It is more like they are taking aeroplane and ordinary Singapore are struggling to keep their noses above the water level.

Many of you critics can talk. How many of you are willing to walk the talk? I am not for or against the Government but what IS important is, what we have is what we choose to have. If you study hard, do well, you’ll get a good job and you will be happy. If you don’t study hard, don’t blame the world. Blame yourselves for the lack of forward thinking or the ones mentoring you when you were younger.

It may sound cool to blast our Government, but have you really given a thought about what you have now, or are you just complacent. Please. Travel the world, live abroad for awhile if you can. Watch more documentaries, if you soften up your hearts. Singapore and the way it is run, isn’t that bad. Face it, if someone is getting 8 mths bonus, though many of you will say ” It’s Our Money”, that person gets 8 mths bonus. You can’t do anything about it. You don’t run NWCDC. They don’t owe you an explanation either.

If one thinks they can run Singapore better, please step up and run for opposition and do your part instead of hiding behind the console and writing these things to gain popularity or for whatever insidious reasons.

There are reasons why so many foreigners living here like the system here. They may have better health benefits back home, better retirement plans or even housing plans. BUT at what expense? Do think about it.

- Benedict Koh

* I do not work for the CDC
* I am not in the Government
* I am not rich
* I am not highly educated
* However I work hard and I am very comfortable with my flat and my career.