Dignified pay
Sophia Tsang
There is much discussion regarding ministerial pay. Dr Lim Wee Kiak’s comments have now gone viral. This shows how much the populace of Singapore care about this issue.
For a start, not many bought the “pay millions to ensure no corruption” argument. To me, a man who requires million dollar salary to keep from corruption is like a man who needs a harem to keep from
lust. Trust me, there is no satisfying such a man. I also have enough faith in the integrity of my leaders that they will not be such.
Then there is the issue of speaking rights. Whether it was a tongue-in-cheek comment, or a quote out of context, the underlying suggestion in Dr Lim’s remarks is that more money, more talk. If this were true, I have suddenly become the most undignified person in my family, for even my youngest is earning some money since she is on internship, and I have no income whatsoever. Jokes aside, when our retired MM Lee called himself a “kept man”, earning much less than his late wife, did he lose his authority or the respect of Singaporeans? Speaking rights is based on much more than income – think Mother Teresa.
Just as a summary of my own thoughts on this issue – it will bring shame to a wealthy nation like Singapore if we paid our parliamentarians so little that they can only manage hawker centre meals. Just like our country can now hold her head high, we do not expect our leaders to hang their heads low, because they cannot make ends meet. But this task I am confident Mr Gerard Ee will address fairly and I await his report.
Finally I do want to mention a lack of dignity. A man feels that he has no dignity when his wages do not give him enough to cover the basic needs for himself and his dependents. We are talking enough to keep bellies warm and basic living quarters. That too disgraces our country. When I read about the million dollar payouts to CEOs, which yardstick was used to calculate our ministerial salaries, I am angered.
Some companies can pay their directors and CEOs astronomical bonuses, but how much of these were the result of the blood and sweat of the staff at the bottom of the hierarchy, who barely earn enough to keep body and soul together? Spare them a thought even as we enjoy the prosperity of our nation.
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Clear national direction needed
Jeremy Chen /
Singapore seems to have been, for the past decade, floundering with no well defined direction. Granted, there have been some great new initiatives such as NParks’ work in building a greener and more pleasant environment, as well as forays into large scale event management (with mixed results), but it appears that the only truly concerted movement has been increasing the population, as seen in extensions of the rail network to and relatively rapid building of housing in the northeast.
Most lists of Singapore’s major achievements do not contain anything post-2000. This leads to the question of whether our leadership thinks we are “there” and only minor incremental moves are necessary. I would most certainly disagree with that proposition, pointing to clear quality of life issues that are widespread.
As a national direction, I would propose something familiar. As a statement of objectives, it reads: to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. (Nostalgically: 建设公正平等的民主社会，并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步.) That definitely sounds good and agreeable to most, though it need not be the direction for our nation as articulated by the government, but there are compelling historical reasons for it.
We need a direction to tag to and it should be clearly articulated. It will serve as a set of principles and objectives to verify all legislation and initiatives against. Conversely, such a direction may be used to design and formulate legislation and initiatives.
With apologies for the abstract, this call for an articulated direction is basically an appeal for a statement of mission, vision and values, on which strategic thrusts and the crafting of initiatives may be based. We need this, or, like corporate entities without one, be destined to flounder and envying the increasing success of others with clarity of purpose and alignment to that purpose.
I propose that the formulation of a clear direction be done in Parliament. The pledge could be the basis of one. It should be borne in mind that goals like “ensuring security” and “promoting growth” are of a strategic nature (supporting the mission and vision, respecting the values). Lets do this right and get Singapore on the road to success. Is any MP up to the task of raising a motion on this matter?
1) How much is enough for our MPs & Ministers? 3 meals a day, at hoawker centre? Food Court? Or Resturants??
If they have very high allowance, then should not give pension also…
Money should not be the motivator for ppl to serve.
2) all countries in this world, upon founding will create a myth of the country’s ideal status.
our national pledge:
“to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. (Nostalgically: 建设公正平等的民主社会，并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步.) ”
We are not there yet, but i hope we can make progress.
would you believed if i were to tell you all..i never visited the nightly hawkers stalls @ all for almost 1/2 ears…
i only goes there if i hav kakis to entertained/discussions…
i hav discipline meself…lookin forward to cook my daily evenin simple poorman meals…even rejected adhoc lucious dinner @ their residences(some millionairs..some angmors as well)
why? 1st may seek?
remembered the movie of panda kungFOOL..
see that movies..think the logic behind it…
the day when the political current swings against both the regime and those who opposes it, maybe the day we draw closer to a unified vision forged by a different set of political computation. but with the parties pandering to the itching ears of the public and their coveted votes, I don’t see that happening or even happening at all.
in fact, and the irony, your pledge may even be the cause of retrogradation in your call for progressive vision and point of convergence.
http://www.ruiwen.com/news/23325.htm
strike the right balance…
1) 国宽(则)民富(孔子),
when country is gracious(not stingy, not jealous and not greedy towards people), people becomes rich
2) （正业使民乐，
when the trades and jobs of people is proper(IR proper?), the people will be happy…
3) 民乐图业兴，
when people are happy, they would be happy to motivate themselves positively to better their jobs, careers, opportunities and businesses in a greater positive ways
4) 业兴则强国）:
when people are well fed with booming industries, the country will be strong.. the culture must be promoted to mentally support booming financial and economic improvement of country and people..
居安思危
in peace beware of danger
In real feedback, the system of country will be finetuned in better way
为政以德：孔子的德治主义治国模式
– [ Translate this page ]
杨伯峻：《论语译注·子路》，中华书局1980年版，第137页）为了实现其富民的政治理想，孔子要求统治者多予少取，要施惠于民。孔子的民富则君富、民贫则君贫的的见解不但 …
ethics, meaning of life, honesty, integrity, compassion, empathy, sympathy must be taught with our education system(maybe a core subject) to cope with success of financial and economic of individual and society from young, else economic and financial success of individual and society cant be substained and explored well and will collapse..
Henceforth Dr. LIm Wee Kiak should be remembered as “Dr I was quoted out of context I was joking Lim Wee Kiak”.
We have been conned. Demand to know how much they have made while in office. Demand them to declare their and families assets. Why do you think they have never agreed to do this, why do you think they have protected themselves from private investigations, why why why, if they did not enrich themselves. People should demand answers. Otherwise like their own rules it’s guilty till proven innocent. Come on we have seen so many examples of their version of “meritocracy”
Hi, I like your analogy :
“For a start, not many bought the “pay millions to ensure no corruption” argument. To me, a man who requires million dollar salary to keep from corruption is like a man who needs a harem to keep from lust. Trust me, there is no satisfying such a man. I also have enough faith in the integrity of my leaders that they will not be such.”
What our current leaders are saying “Fill our office bearers’ pockets with money so they dont have to resort to corruption to satisy their greed” – a very very flawed argument from the ruling party.
Hi Sophia,my fmr neighbor from demolished Minton Rise Condo ……well-written and an excellent piece on the Ministerial salaries. Best Wishes to you and family.
Ting Pei Ling can’t even earn more than 5k a month. Now getting a ride from PAP GRC system suddenly becomes an MP overnight earning 15k/mth on a part-time job. She can’t get most people respect as she is a walkover.
Speaking of dignity, does PAP has anything better than Money to weigh against dignity?
The writer made an important point when she wrote:
“For a start, not many bought the “pay millions to ensure no corruption” argument. To me, a man who requires million dollar salary to keep from corruption is like a man who needs a harem to keep from lust. Trust me, there is no satisfying such a man. I also have enough faith in the integrity of my leaders that they will not be such.”
However in an attempt to appear unbiased and balanced she missed the wood for the trees.
She went on to say:
“Just as a summary of my own thoughts on this issue – it will bring shame to a wealthy nation like Singapore if we paid our parliamentarians so little that they can only manage hawker centre meals. Just like our country can now hold her head high, we do not expect our leaders to hang their heads low, because they cannot make ends meet. But this task I am confident Mr Gerard Ee will address fairly and I await his report.”
Let me continue the analogy she started with. She rightly claimed there is no satisfying a man no matter how big his harem grows where the issue of lust is concerned. Imagine the whole family finally woke up and realised it is mistake to give in to the lust of the head of the family and decided to appoint an independent committee to look into the matter how large the harem should be.
The wife made the observation there is no satisfying a man where lust is concerned. At the same time she also volunteered her opinion she doesn’t want a wealthy family like hers to lose face if her husband were to have such a small harem in comparison with other wealthy families. She testified at the Commission’s hearing she doesn’t expect her husband to hang his head low because he can’t satisfy his lust. She went on to proclaim she is confident Mr Gerald Ee will address the issue fairly.
Herein lies the anchoring bias that has been implanted into every Singaporean for the past few decades: high pay for good performance. The current pay of the Ministers et al is so absurdly high to even suggest any review can ever bring it down to a level they can only afford hawker centre meals is surely ample proof we have been thoroughly brainwashed.
The fact that hardly anyone has seen our Ministers and their families dining in foodcourts or the popular restaurants confirms that they only dine in the private rooms of fine-dining eateries. I myself have seen one of them with family in tow at a high-end eatery’s pte room. They can easily afford the cost with their million dollar salaries and they also need the privacy.Many also dine in their exclusive clubs like Pyramid Club etc…..no such thing as mixing with the lesser mortals…
“… to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.” This pledge is indeed a noble ideal that we can use for the next stage of our nation building that is before us.
The 1st 40+ years of our independence have rightly been focused on meeting our basic needs of survival and establishing a livelihood for Singaporeans. Our form and system of government and policy priorities during the last 40+ years, such as: treating education as an investment; attracting foreign investment to resolve high unemployment; defence; freedom of speech and expressions; etc, have met that objective of survival and wealth creation.
As a result, within the short last 40+ years, we have acquired significant wealth, achieved a big middle income society, high literacy rate etc. Along with these advances we have now a populace, both young and old, who is no longer content with the ’60s – ’80s mentality of breaking its backs day after day to increase Foreign Reserves that do not filter through as benefits to the people in intangible forms such as: better quality of life; new inventions or industries that we can call our own and be proud of; greater freedom of speech and expressions so as to allow greater participation in policy setting and building of civic society by the general populace; creating a national identity that all Singaporeans can call its own and be proud of … etc. These are intangibles that people cared about and wants to strive for when they have met their basic needs of survival. Unfortunately, the PAP government has missed this major trend and paradigm shift in its people and as such its policies (education, economy, social and political insitutions etc) of the last 15 years have not changed much from those of the 60s – ’80s when we were fighting for economic survival. The consequence is that the PAP form of government and the aspirations of the people are no longer in sync. This election result therefore should not come as a surprise to the PAP government and unless it starts to realign itself to the people’s aspirations, I can see that it will suffer greater losses in the coming elections. Given that the PAP Government is already far behind in understanding the people, I believe PM Lee cannot afford to look at incremental changes in existing policies and hope to appease the people becuse it will be too late for that. Instead, it (PAP) will need a major paradigm shift before it can try to formulate and signal a new phase of nation building established in accordance to a new societal vision that is embraced by the people and where the people and the government of the day work hand in hand to achieve as equal partners. Only then can we truly have a “Government BY the People and FOR the people”. It need to shed its image of “I AM THE GOVERNMENT & THEREFORE I KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU” because YOU DON”T!
I like facts:
We paid $3,000 per month without extras and got Hon Sui Sen, who took pay cut from $15,000.
We paid $225,000 per month with extras (bonuses, etc) and got Mah Bow Tan, who got big pay jump.
@Nation Building Phase 2
Your first half sounded alright until you go into the second half. I think you got derailed by…govt FOR the people? and BY the people?…like most opposition and people.
Think about it.
For 50 over years the PAP has been destroying all protestations, dissenters and opposition by gagging peoples’ mouth so that what they do will be in secret. What is the big secret? -it is to control all the wealth producing entities of the Nation by managing them at exorbitant remunerations. In Suharto’s Indonesia for instance, that Nation’s assets were foisted on themselves in ownership. In Singapore managing the honeypots is the mode of operation to milk the country. As if that was not enough, in 1994, the PAP hit upon the bright idea of paying themselves millions per year, being six to 10 times more than the remuneration of office holders in other governments, even Governments of Superpowers. It was easy to do because the ground was well prepared. There are no effective countervailing voice when the bill for the new Ministerial salary scheme was passed in Parliament.
All are made possible by; compliant judges who bankrupt anyone speaking out the secret; a controlled media which never report on anything connected with the secret; a secret faceless police which harass and imprison people who speak out the secret. In order to increase the GNP on which their salaries are ultimately calibrated, the PAP brouht in a million foreigners into Singapore over the last five years.
How are we the citizens of this country ever going to be free of this scourge, especially of the parasitic species of million dollar office holders who do nothing arising originally of themselves but parrot the two or three top leaders’ phrases and whole speeches? I ask you my fellow citizens, does not all these activites of suppressing a people to milk them sound like a crime against the Nation? Genocides and rape of populations by their own governments are brought to justice by UN Councils. What sort of crime has been done to us for the last decades of the 50 year rule by the PAP? Robbery.
They have always believed in a “win-win”. In general, if the conditions created a sense of worth and improving quality of life, people “win”. Although they win more but that’s another debate which could be addressed. No other regimes have achieved, at least those mentioned, a “win-win”.
Whether the discontent on the ground is self generated or not, one thing is for certain, the establishment is severely rocked.
Why?
Not an accepted authority because of real or perceived abuse?
You will never resolve that kind of problems without an…established authority and it does not come through a presidential elect.
Dont you think that Dr Lim Wee Kiat was frank to share the moral truth of his culture viewpoint. Nepotism and corruption has been pervasive characteristics of the history of our political leaders. Perhaps it is this inherited cultural mindset of “No money, No dignity” that they embraced. Infact the measure of a person ‘s success is generally defined by his monetary worth rather how well educated, fair minded,,considerate, or compassionate the person is to his community. That is the probable reason many Asian Leaders use economic growth as the main pursuit and accountability at the expense of opression and depriving other social rights of their citizens.
Singaporean ‘s culture has indeed evolved to a new charter. I was surprised with such high economic growth last year yet they are so much dissatisfaction. With a more educated population and exposure to global culture thru globalisation and internet, singaporeans, Singaporeans are coming out of their “in the box” culture mindset.
Dont you think that Dr Lim Wee Kiat was frank to share the moral of his culture viewpoint. Nepotism and corruption has been pervasive charteristics of the history of our political leaders in Asia. Pheraps it is this inherited cultural mindset of “No money, No dignity” that they embraced. Infact the measure of a person ‘s sucess is generally defined by his monetary worth rather than how educated, fair minded, considerate, or compassionate the person is to the community. That is the probable reason many Aisan Leaders use economic grwoth as the main pursuit and accountability at the expense of oppression and depriving other social rights of their citizens.
Singapore ‘s culture has indded evolved to a new charter. I was surprised with such high economic growht last year yet they are so much disatisfaction. With a more educated population and exposure to global culture thru globalisation and intertnet, singaporeans are coming out of their “in the box” culture mindset.
a million dollar salary to keep out corruption,what a joke does it make sense to anyone who have a clear mind,come on its just an excuse and you know it,touch your heart and conscience if you have one.If someone really has a heart to serve the people,its from their heart deep down,i have always believe in being fairly paid but not to the extend that it corrupts itself,if the person serves and thinks that he deserves that kind of salary,then i think he better join the private sector cos he got no morals at all,pls don bother to complain here cos they won listen and would not bother to listen,after all 60% give them the mandate to do wat they want,don be naive just do what you think is the right thing to do every five years,one day the people will wake up this i believe cos no one will stay up there forever,it make take 10 years 20 years but the day will come sooner or later,and all this while i have been doing the right thing and its getting nearer,have faith my dear friends.
Under normal circumstances,I will not post comments on what I write. But I saw an old friend hers, so i thought i will say hi.
Hi Mike. Best wishes to your family too.
Since i am here, i thought i will make some clarifications – oops -bad word!! haha.
Regarding the comparison between million dollar salaries and the harem, it is not about the salary or keeping the harem per se that is wrong. F1 champs like Vettel, Jack Panda Black and Steve jobs deserve their millions – I am biased. I enjoy watching F1, Kungfu Panda and love Apple products. (Another point to note – writing is often subjective). As for harem, some cultures find it acceptable – not here to make a moral judgement. what is wrong is if they are being justified wrongly.
As for my saying that a wealthy nation will not pay paltry figures to their parliamentarians – there was some editing, due to time lag factor. In my original letter it was directed at Dr Lim’s comment on the need to provide for the financial needs of our political leaders.It is ridiculous to suggest that a wealthy nation like Singapore will starve her political leaders.
Using the salary vs harem analogy is not applicable here. Salaries – why should it be called salaries beats me, cos its not a job is it? but an elected position? The amount they should be paid should be based on a host of other factors, which should not include preventing corruption. Otherwise you have just legalised it.
As for my “trusting” Gerard Ee – the word trust here does not mean blind faith – it means “hope” – like when we tell someone. “T trust you are in good health”. I am an eternal optimist, and when i see a small cloud during dry weather, i already hope for rain. I am hopeful that there will be changes. But you know something, given the current environment, they will not be allowed to get away with window dressing. Netizens will not let them hear the end of it – neither will our WP MPs and NCMPs. The optimist in me say give them a chance to prove themselves.
Lastly,the point i really want to highlight is where real lack of dignity exists. When million dollar companies pursue profit, at the expense of their staff – paying them pittance while paying their CEOs and directors the sky.
If you are looking for someone with a heart to serve the people, with a much lower scale remuneration in the offering, there are plenty who would bite – the prestige of political office can be a bigger carrot than just money. Don’t be surprised car salesman have plenty of “heart” too if that’s the criteria.
Actually, only people with certain characteristic can do the job. That’s why we say it is a calling, and they usually have the entire package. Not everyone who put themselves up can do the job. Not even when you have the qualification or the charisma. We should be looking for people to fit certain roles, which we are, but in question, what are these roles?
Pay them well enough to carry themselves well with the rich(comes with the job) and low enough to eat with a pauper( it’s not a job)?? Do we have such people??
I really like Sophia’s…”Gerard Ee and Cttee will not be able to get away with just a window dressing to the current ministerial salaries.”
Yes indeed, they are aware of this BUT they are also aware that they can’t afford to displease PM Lee and his Ministers with too drastic a cut.
So it has to be a dellicate balance somewhere in between…
Before that % cut is made, we have to consider the fact that already top civil servants in the staff grades as well as Supreme Court judges are already getting slightly over/near $1 million per year (excluding bonuses)
It is therefore illogical for PM and Ministers to get less than $1 million…they must get slightly more in spite of the cut.
I think the cut MAY be close to 50%….i.e. PM will now get abt $1.8 million and the Ministers $1.4 million.
BUT don’t forget that our political leaders can easily recoup these losses somewhat via the yearly performance bonuses which can pay a max of 11 months, are strictly confidential and decided solely by PM Lee.
To Sophia again…..thanks. Since leaving MR condo in 2008. I have become a grandpa with 2 grand-daughters. Time flies!
i read today the cpf min sum has increase to $131000 from july,a$8000 increase from $123000,sigh!when will i ever see my money,also medisave up from $34500 to$41000,i already tell myself thats the last straw,i stop working already as i am going on to 55 years,i am not going to work till i die and continue contributing for them to invest,i intend to migrate soon and will give up my citizenship when i turn 65,so that i will be able to take out all my rightful money and retire gracefully,sigh!people will say the grass is not always greener on the other side but i beg to differ,what difference does it make if i continue to stay here
i will have to struggle till the day i die and still not able to touch my blood sweat and tears my money that belongs to me,i am glad i have this apportunity to do so,but i do feel sad that iwll not be able to die in my homeland call singapore,sigh!!!!
just take some Singapore soil with you. you will feel more at home. enough soil, you can say you hv been buried in your homeland
gonecase
when will i ever see my money,also medisave up from $34500 to$41000
……………
indeed gonecase…ALL of our cpf’s savin$ hav been subdivided into minatures laudry account$..good to see liked limsiasuayed the zorro says..lottas of ZERO…
when we masuk into government semi nude hospital whether emergency or consultations(as though we enjoyed walkin into a hospital in the 1st place)
upon checkout/discharged..we must pay upfront the emergeny/consultation charges..WHY? so what is the point of payin our wage$ in ca$h for a medical insurances(not cheap hor) for something we cannot used when we are sick/treated
who got the answer? don’t looked @ former dr khaw..he just as blurred as ty
who is just as blurred as shortlegged x-minister
Indeed Mike – better not use this platform for personal conversation haha. congrats on being grandpa. My son is getting married this year.
ok back to topic – i agree on managing expectations on salary cut. though 500k that dr lim mentioned already drew a lot of flak from netizens. need to see how the figures are justified…anyway, thats it for me here – i really do not like to post comments. Never want to defend my writing or attack anyone – my opinion is layman’s no stats or research to show – just the opinion of a very ordinary person and that means it can be quite subjective. Would love to have seen ur grand daughters tho.
聽其言罷觀其行》
作者：快樂似神仙
我不是李明博，我不知道為甚麼他要幹總統，但是他不在乎薪酬，除了他可能銀行賬戶有的是錢之外，難道他吃飽沒事幹像我在這裡寫博一樣，做總統幹爽的嗎？
大選過了兩個多星期，我甚麼也沒想寫沒想說，蓋棺論定的局勢說甚麼都於事無補，波東巴西支持詹嫂的一部分選民曾聯署要求重選的選後小插曲，在我們看來，甚為滑稽。
民主選舉有它的規則要遵守，即便很多民眾都希望有多幾個反對黨進入國會，但是葡萄還未成熟時，就等等吧。
行動黨議員老爺、姑姐們個個如坐針氈，或像出洞的蟒蛇，一條條地爭著超級比一比，看誰接見的選民最多？有的一天80多，有的一晚200多，有的更作超時工作，深夜一點多才做鳥獸散。
網上更是熱鬧，現在的議員部長要見他們不必掛號，也不必寫信進去，一關又一關地排隊等候，寫信有時更沒人屌，寄去的信件早已被人“毀屍滅跡”。總之，現在你不見他們，他們還渾身不舒服，一不小心，再過幾年，收入就會通通不見，回去“吃自己”了。
有官職在身的議員這回的薪酬估計將會大幅度縮水，這個作官的薪酬啊，這麼多年來都和私人企業的總裁級的領導掛鉤比肩，是不是像李前資政曾經說的那樣，沒那麼高的薪酬，就會吸引不了人才從政？民眾這次看到的，已經給出答案。
顯龍總理說，美國總統雖然年薪不高，但他們卸任後還可享有年俸厚祿直到他們翹辮子，他也不認為像美國總統需要靠出書演講賺取知識產權費是好的作法。坦白說，好不好見仁見智，關鍵在於，卸任後的美國總統的年俸厚祿累積起來到底有沒有我們的總理和總統在任內的高？人家的總統只能最多做8年，我們的總理能做到多少年？20年還是30年？如果年年都拿那麼高的薪俸，那與美國總統卸任後的年俸總和相比較，價差究竟多少？
我們選出的是內閣制政府，美國的則是總統制政府，看我們的內閣推選出的總理人選，是內閣那幾十人就可以決定的，比較起披荊斬棘、闖關斬將的美國總統競選人，內閣制總理真的舒服多了。問題是，內閣的薪酬為甚麼要比美國的？比一比韓國的李明博總統的薪酬，是不是更有說服力？
李明博當總統前是首爾的市長，他在2002年當選首爾市長時發動了全市沿家挨戶的“說客行動”， 要求在清溪川附近的民間住所和用地戶進行搬遷，讓他可以拆掉縱伸清溪川上頭的高速公路，同時重新清理河川，恢復舊有的“漢城”美景。
當時有高達22萬清溪川商人攤販集體抗議，甚至有人威脅引火自焚，李明博於是親自與所有參與工程的工作人員，身體力行、不分晝夜和商人、民眾不斷溝通遊說共達4200多次，並解決了整千件的個案，而且規劃出一個總配套，協助搬遷戶相互交易與互助，奇蹟的是，在整個搬遷的行動中，政府一分錢也不必出！
報道說，李明博動之以情，說之以理，民眾看到的是他的誠意，更動容於他的魄力與魅力。結果李明博真的做到了，他讓首爾永久性的改變了城市風貌，隨後他成功地當上韓國總統，直到現在。
我們的政府說要內閣的薪酬能與私人大企業的大總裁媲美，人家李明博當年不也是韓國現代集團的總裁嗎？這位被譽為CEO大總統在他成功當選總統時，即刻宣佈把總統任內的薪金全捐獻出去，以作為津貼補助需要用錢的低層民眾。據說李明博在幹首爾市長時，也已經沒拿薪水很多年了。
我估計在韓國民眾看來，韓國總統的薪金根本就看不在李明博眼裡，問題是，既然看不在眼裡，那坐在總統大位上在他看來，意味著甚麼呢？
我不是李明博，我不知道為甚麼他要幹總統，但是他不在乎薪酬，除了他可能銀行賬戶有的是錢之外，難道他吃飽沒事幹像我在這裡寫博一樣，做總統幹爽的嗎？
我想那些行動黨人如果還是抱持著內閣薪酬必須與大企業總裁一樣待遇的心理的話，應該多讀一讀李明博的故事，或許就能更明白為甚麼民眾很不開心了！
以前的人都說“為國服務”、“為國捐軀”甚麼的，聽了讓人心生崇敬之意！今天再聽一些拿著納稅人的絕對高薪高喊著“為國服務”的時候，直叫人全身冒起雞皮疙瘩！
我們不需要那些議員們為了討好民眾，突然改變他們的作風，拼命的接見選民，對著媒體告訴人們他們改變了甚麼？
我們要看到的，是他們就以平常心，用平常心，努力地用心，在沒人看到的時候，在夜裡睡不著覺的時候，用他們的良心與愛心，為我們的老百姓做點事情！
我們不想看到那些很年輕的部長、次長甚麼的，在我們的面前跳舞“擺甫”，裝扮得好像很酷、很懂年輕人心裡在想甚麼似的，然後在社交網站前突然有很多話要跟年輕人說個不停，在我們看來，這更多的是在“作秀”，絕不是親民與聽民。
做官不容易，做父母官的更不容易，沒有用心來做官，真面目很快就會曝露出來，真性情很快就會敗露，但是如果父母官老爺太太們，覺得這樣做更能體現他們的“為國服務”的愛心，那我們也樂觀其成，聽其言罷觀其行，看能high多久，幹多久吧！
Posted by 快樂似神仙 at 星期一, 五月 30, 2011
With or without apologies, the truth of what is in their soul is now blurted out for all to see.
How many more of them have the same conviction, but smart enough to bite their tongue and shut their mouth…