SINGAPORE: The Opposition parties are not letting up on the issue of ministerial salaries, as they continued to shine the spotlight on what Government ministers are earning, on a day which commemorated the efforts of working men and women.

As Singapore marked Labour Day on Sunday, Opposition candidates called for a reduction in ministerial pay and took aim at the People’s Action Party (PAP) Government’s rationale of pegging the remuneration of Cabinet Ministers to the top six professions.

Suggesting that the ministerial salaries should instead be benchmarked at 30 times the median salary of the Singaporean worker — thus working out to almost S$1 million a year — the Singapore Democratic Party’s Michelle Lee said: " That would ensure it is in their interest to make sure your salary increases as well."

Also calling for greater scrutiny of the performance of the ministers and their ministries, Ms Lee, a candidate for Holland—Bukit Timah GRC, said: " CEOs are fired for their mistakes. Businessmen take risks and losses. So how can the private sector be a fair benchmark?"

Ms Lee had last Thursday criticised the " new PAP" for not matching up to its predecessors. On Sunday, she said: " It’s time for some corporate governance in our Parliament. The Government should answer to us. The old PAP knew this but the new PAP seem to have forgotten who they work for."

Mr Steve Chia, the National Solidarity Party candidate for Pioneer SMC, claimed the ministers " have lost their way" . Said the former Non—Constituency MP: " Their focus is on themselves and their bonuses their focus is not on (Singaporeans)." He proposed scrapping the GDP growth—linked key performance indicator (KPI) for ministers, and including other factors such as per capita income.

Workers’ Party chief Low Thia Khiang took a dig at the shortage of candidates willing to jettison their corporate suits for the PAP’s white—on—white garb — a point conceded by the PAP leaders themselves — despite the attractive remuneration for key office holders.

Only eight of the 24 new PAP candidates hail from the private sector, the same fertile ground from which the Opposition has unearthed a bumper crop for this General Election, Mr Low noted.

" So what happened to the high quality people from the private sector that the high salaries were supposed to attract? If high quality people from the private sector are turning to the Workers’ Party and other Opposition parties, it is a sign that good government does not necessarily require high salary," he said.

#G8  gOvernment dOes  nOt  reqUIre  hIgh  salarIes ? ? ? ?#

Singapore Democratic Alliance candidate for Pasir Ris—Punggol GRC Sidney Soon suggested that the number of ministers be cut and that the money saved on their salaries be used to raise the wages of the rank—and—file in the Civil Service.

Calling for ministerial salaries to be reduced, Reform Party candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC Arthero Lim alluded to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s comments during his PAP rally speech on Friday.

Said Mr Lim: " (The ministers) say they should be paid so much because they are the elite. But even the Prime Minister had admitted that the Government has made mistakes so it shows they are not that great." (additional reporting by Ansley Ng, Christopher Toh, Ng Jing Yng, Tanya Fong, Lin Yanqin) —

SINGAPORE : Transport Minister and PAP candidate for East Coast GRC, Raymond Lim, has accused the Workers’ Party (WP) of not looking out for the welfare of its voters.

He said, at the Bedok Stadium on Sunday, that the opposition party is asking voters to vote them in, not to secure the future of the residents but to secure the Worker’s Party’s own future.

Mr Lim said that by calling for more alternative voices in Parliament, the Worker’s Party would create a divisive Parliament that would stop the country from moving forward.

SINGAPORE: The influx of foreign workers was a common thread at the National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) rally in Geylang East on Thursday night.

Speaking on the issue was the party’s star attraction, Ms Nicole Seah, who said Singapore’s population had increased by 26 per cent over the last decade, attributing the growth to the Republic opening its doors to foreigners.

The squeeze, she added, was felt most on the public transport system.

Reminiscing about her primary school days when she saw mostly Singaporeans on the train, the 24—year—old quipped: " Now, every time I take the train, it feels like I’m in a different country. It is like taking a holiday, I don’t even need to bring my passport."

The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) candidate also touched on jobs and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), reiterating that NSP will fight for Singaporeans to have priority in employment and for the GST to be reduced to 5 per cent if her party was voted into Parliament.

Speaking at the rally earlier, Tampines GRC candidate Gilbert Goh also zoomed in on the issue of foreign workers.

He asked if his listeners felt their lives have improved from five years ago, if they have better salaries and if they were affected by the sight of more foreigners on the MRT trains.

Mr Goh said he had spoken to some 500 Singaporeans during his walkabouts and met some who were jobless for as long as three years " because jobs were going to foreigners" .

" One in three jobs (here) is performed by a foreigner," he said.

Mr Ivan Yeo, the NSP’s team leader in Marine Parade, hit out at the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) " buddy" system for the GRC.

The PAP anchor, for the GRC, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong had recently announced that members of his team will be paired with each other and do cross—wards Meet—The—People Sessions at each other’s wards so as to gain experience and receive guidance from the more experienced MPs.

Addressing the crowd in Mandarin, Mr Yeo said: " After so much of the country’s resources have been invested in them ... of course we hope they can serve us independently.

" The NSP does not believe in the buddy system." Mr Yeo also referred to comments SM Goh had made about the NSP team leaving everything to Ms Seah. Mr Yeo said, contrary to SM Goh’s impression, the NSP is strategically placing Ms Seah as a spokesperson to target the youth in Singapore. —

TODAY

The National Solidarity Party's Nicole Seah, the youngest candidate running for this election has sure generated lots of buzz online since she was introduced as a candidate last week.

She is now Singapore's second most popular politician on Facebook, only falling behind MM Lee Kuan Yew. At current count, she has over 33,000 likes on her Facebook page.

The 24-year-old advertising executive will be contesting in Marine Parade GRC. The NSP team of Cheo Chai Chen, Abdul Salim Harun, Ng Chung Hon, Yeo Tiong Boon and Nicole will be going up against the PAP team of SM Goh Chok Tong, Seah Kian Peng, Fatimah Lateef, Tan Chuan-Jin and Tin Pei Ling.

Dubbed the Internet darling by the media, Nicole has impressed netizens with her well thought and comprehensive responses to questions posted by the media.

Our photographer on the ground, Bob Lee, trails Nicole as she went on her campaign trail today, starting from Paya Lebar MRT where she distributed flyers. The last stop for the afternoon is at Nicole's 5-room flat in Tampines where she lives with her parents and two brothers.