The eagerly awaited (by both elites and heartlanders) salary revisions are finally unveiled today. I watched the news thrice (chinese version @ 9pm, english version @ 9.30pm, and the channelnewsasia version @ 10+pm) to cover as much ground as could be gleaned from TV, and well, though we do not belong to one of the schemes that lag significantly behind the private sector, there's still going to be some morsels of spoils for us to sweep and store. 3-5% increase in annual salaries, performance-based payment for us.
Up to 16% for those in Home Uniformed Services. Whew... I'd better not disclose here, the salaries of our top civil servants, lest the computer go ka-boom up in flames. But then again, there's this famous saying that goes - you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. (Then again, someone called TT D recently/not-so-recently changed the meaning of 'peanuts', didn't he?) Top money for the top brains, this is the argument. You should have watched the verbal sparring that was aired on tv, between Mr Hougang Minister and Dear Revered MM. The TV screen almost sizzled smoke and hung itself.
Tomorrow, the 2nd half of debates over salary revisions. I may just catch the 3 different versions again.
4 comments:
Eh can update me here? I no time to read newspapers leh... thanks hah!!
hey fish, sorry! info overload, dunno which part of straits times to jot down for u. there were like at least 4 full pages of font size 8 words to read, each day for the past 2 days. =P
anyways, the top news (wrt salary revisions) yesterday was that Mr PM announced that he would donate his salary increments for the next 5 yrs to charity!
today, didnt managed to get the papers. only heard from tv parliament snippets.. apparantly, they have moved on to other topics..
perhaps, dear ikan, u can click on ST archive for some bedtime stories? =)
got lah, these two days got follow. coz came back to lab after dinner to do more stuff which required incubation (which also allows multitasking of expts... but tonight i felt my heart rate increase... better start to slow down man).
anyway, i don't get it. if it's already concluded that their salaries will increase (from the onset), they debate so much for what?
hey ms fishspeaks
if i may be kaypoh ... in 'normal' parliamentary systems, proposed policies/laws get their stamp of approval 'from the people' through the debate and vote process by 'the people's elected reps' in parl. So our system eh... special lor ... we are 'young' democracy mah...
as much as a fait accompli it is, the debate is still worthwhile though .. because the habits of debate and the effects it generate on society will hopefully build up a culture that will make such decisions less of a fait accompli in future.
but i recall someone saying that when this issue was first debated in 1994, there was heated debate ... then in 2000, less heated debate ... now in 2007, heated ... we s'poreans unpredictable lah .. haha
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