"Two hundred thousand foreigners and permanent residents (PRs) might leave Singapore during 2009-10, reducing its population by around 160K to 4.68mn.

The potential drop in employment and population would have far-reaching implications for the economy. Private consumption could contract in both 2009 and 2010, the unemployment rate could reach 5.6% in 2010, and residential property prices could drop by over 40% from their peak in 2008."
Credit Suisse

"You have to pay the market rate or the man will stake out and join Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs. You would have an incompetent man and you could lose money by the billions."
Words of wisdom from Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore PM's salary stuns White House official

A senior White House official on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 admitted he was floored by the news that Singapore's prime minister earned five times more than US President George W. Bush. "I'm going to emigrate and run for office in Singapore," the official said on condition he be identified only as "a senior administration official who sits in disbelief after reading that story."

Who gets what (without performance bonuses)

President Nathan, a Japanese collaborator during WWII.

• Singapore Prime Minister's Salary $US2.47 million, or about six times more than the U.S. President, who currently takes home US$400,000.
• The monthly pay for a Singapore Member of Parliament (who does virtually nothing) is S$12,000 (US$8,600 ) per month or S$144,000 (US$103,200 ) per year tax free.

Note: At age 55, Singapore Ministers collect both a salary and their full pension.

United States
President Barak Obama: US$400,000, with US$50,000 expenses
Vice President Joe Biden: US$202,900
Cabinet Secretaries: US$157,000 - $186,600
Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) - $186,600

United Kingdom
Prime Minister: $US279,000

Australia
Prime Minister: $US229,000

Hong Kong
Prime Minister: $US516,000

Japan
Prime Minister: $US243,000

Canada
Prime Minister: $US246,000

Germany
Prime Minister: $US303,000

France
Prime Minister: $US318,000

In addition to their inflated salaries,
the Singapore elite gets extra pay as appointed company directors!

1. Relatives of senior government leaders,
2. former senior government officials,
3. former senior military commanders,
4. current senior government officials,
5. current and former ruling party politicians.
6. Indonesian millionaire crooks reportedly safe in Singapore.

More Money for People Closely Connected to the government!!!

1) Relatives of senior government leaders:

Former Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong was removed because he attempted to determine the location and amount of Singapore's reserves.

SingTel paid Lee Hsien Yang, the Prime Minister's brother, S$4.56 million (US$2.86 million) in cash and stock in the last fiscal year, the company's latest annual report showed.

Frasier and Nieve now pays the 50-year-old Mr Lee $1.25 million a year - relatively high by Singapore standards - to act as a consultant and chairman.

Director of DBS Group Holdings

Member of the Legal Service Commission.

Chairman & Managing Director, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd & ExxonMobil Oil Singapore Pte Ltd.

Very shy about photos - why? Doesn't want to be spotted?

Mrs Lee is also the senior director of Stamford Law Corporation (Singapore). She chairs the Asian Civilisations Museum board and is also a member of the advisory board to Singapore Management University's school of law.

Mrs. Lee is also a Director of SembCorp Logistics. Director of China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd, plus a joint venture with US firm Shearman & Sterling, got her start at Lee & Lee (naturally).

Vicom Ltd - Chairman

He will be resident in Singapore.

Unable to find any photo
Possible ISD agent?

Goh Yong Hong joined the Board of Asia Pacific Breweries in 1993. He serves in the Audit and Remuneration Committees of the Company. Presently, he also sits as an independent Director in listed SC Global Ltd, Guocoland Ltd and Dragon Land Ltd. He was also Commissioner of Police from 1979 to 1992, and Executive Deputy Chairman of Singapore Turf Club until 2002. He was also Vice President of the Singapore National Olympic Council and Singapore Sports Council. He is currently Chairman of Seletar Country Club and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Raffles Town Club Pte Ltd.

Ms. Audrey Lee joined the Info-communication Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) as Director for Interconnection in November 2000. She was responsible for formulating the interconnection & access policy in a fully liberalized, multi-operator environment in Singapore. She was instrumental in developing the Reference Interconnection Offer and was also responsible for mediation & dispute resolution between telecom operators. Audrey currently heads the Competition & Market Access division and the Infocomm Policy division in IDA responsible for formulation of infocomm policies & the management of competition in the telecoms and postal markets. She is also responsible for investigation & enforcement of anti-competitive conduct, economic regulation, approval of Merger and Acquisitions in the telecommunications market, price regulation of the Dominant licensees, ensuring minimum quality of services in the telecoms and postal markets. Prior to IDA, she was the head of Regulatory with a major competitive telecoms player in Singapore. She was responsible for regulatory strategy relating to interconnection, market entry, regulatory compliance as well as negotiating wholesale and interconnection agreements with the incumbent telecom operator. Audrey graduated with honours in Economics from University of Strathclyde Glasgow (United Kingdom) and has a Masters of Science in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York (United Kingdom). She also obtained a Distinction in the certificate course in Telecoms Regulation from City University London.

As with any business, state-controlled or otherwise, there is a tendency for managers at the top to appoint people whom they have shared a common past with. Since many past and present officials lead GLCs, these people tend to appoint other past or present officials to key positions in the GLCs. For example, Mr Liew Mun Leong was Chief Executive of SISIR from 1988 to 1992 when Mdm Ho Ching served as a Member of the SISIR Board. He is now Chief Executive of CapitaLand, the property arm of Singapore Technologies. Ms Leong Wai Leng was Deputy Chief Executive of SISIR from 1990 to 1993. She is now Deputy Chief Executive of Raffles Holdings, the hotel arm of Singapore Technologies. Mr Anthony Seah was a Division Head of SISIR from 1988 to 1991. He is now Chief Executive of PREMAS International, the property management arm of Singapore Technologies. Colonel Tham Kui Seng was General Manager of a SISIR subsidiary from 1991. He is now Chief Executive of CapitaLand Residential. Given the perceived shortage of talent in Singapore, Colonel Thamm?s experience as the Army's logistics chief is presumably valuable in efforts to develop premier, high quality homes around the world. Colonel Kee Teck Koon was Director of SISIR from 1991 to 1993. He is now Chief Executive of The Ascott Group, the serviced residence arm of Singapore Technologies. With nine years in the Armed Forces behind him, Colonel Kee leads Asia Pacificc's largest serviced residence company, building a luxury brand that projects an elegant, meticulous lifestyle that appeals to top executives and offering the ultimate refinement in served accommodation. Lieutenant-Colonel Ed Ng was General Manager of a SISIR subsidiary from 1990 to 1991. He is now Executive Vice President of CapitaLand.

If the government withdraws from business, a prestigious and lucrative destination for senior government officials would be taken away. Senior managers of GLCs are compensated at globally competitive levels. Many of them are also shareholders of the GLCs they manage. Non-executive directors are paid regular director's fees and are even given stock options, which can be substantial. The stipends are not pittance. They may lose out if the government gives up ownership of GLCs.

3) Former senior military commanders

DPM Lee, his wife, and his brother established their careers in the Ministry of Defence. DPM Lee was with the Armed Forces for 13 years, rising to Chief of Staff General Staff (Deputy Army Chief) before becoming a politician. His wife Mdm Ho Ching, whom he got to know in the Ministry of Defence, was with the Ministry for 10 years, rising to senior positions in Defence Science Organisation and Defence Materials Organisation before joining Singapore Technologies. His brother, Brigadier-General Lee Hsien Yang was with the Armed Forces for 15 years, rising to Director of Joint Operations and Planning Directorate before joining Singapore Telecom. The following table lists a number of their colleagues in the Ministry of Defence who have also moved on to GLCs or are holdings key appointments in GLCs:

The proprietary interests of certain former senior military officials are not insignificant. For example, Colonel Quek Poh Huat, President of Temasek Holdings, owned 823,228 ST Engineering shares and 36,890 SembCorp Industries shares, among other interest in GLCs as of March 2001. Lieutenant-Colonel Tay Siew Choon, Chief Operating Officer of Singapore Technologies, owned 54,598 SembCorp Industries shares, 1,479,578 SembCorp Industries options, 171,000 Singapore Computer Systems shares, 80,000 Singapore Computer Systems options, 270,000 Singapore Food Industries shares, 400,000 Singapore Food Industries options, 53,850 CapitaLand options, and 100,000 STT Communications options, among other interests in GLCs as of year-end 2000.

The policy of early retirement for senior military men enables them to offer their innate and acquired abilities to GLCs. Former Commandant of SAFTI Military Institute, Brigadier-General Chin Chow Yoon, who is now Chief Executive of Bintan Resort Management, brings with him a lifelong experience of overseeing living environments such as the Officer Cadet School and leisure establishments such as the Singapore Discovery Centre. Colonel Goh Chee Kong, Director of Corporate Communications for SMRT Corporation, can draw on his experience talking to officer cadets and their trainers, as he was previously Commander of Officer Cadet School.

4) Current senior government officials:

Senior government officials are holding key appointments in GLCs while still in government. Some of them receive not just directorss fees but also stock options. For example, Lieutenant-Colonel Boon Swan Foo, Managing Director of Agency for Science, Technology and Research, owned 224,433 ST Engineering shares, 2,005,000 ST Engineering share options, 28,800 Chartered Semiconductor shares, 14,250 ST Assembly share options, and 53,850 CapitaLand share options among other interests as of year-end 2000. Colonel (Prof) Lui Pao Chuen, Chief Defence Scientist of Ministry of Defence, owned 161,444 ST Engineering shares and 12,950 SembCorp Industries shares, among other interests as of year-end 2000. Mr Liow Voon Kheong, Assistant Managing Director of Economic Development Board, owned 80,000 stock options in Chartered Semiconductor as of year-end 2000. The following table lists a number of officials who are at the same time directors of GLCs:

Oh, we just love your hair, Tommy!

5) Current and former ruling party politicians

The situation could be further complicated by present PAP MPs holding key posts in GLCs. The non-executive directors receive not just directorss fees but may also have shares and share options in the GLCs they direct. For example, Mr K Shanmugam, MP for Sembawang GRC, owned 70,000 SembCorp Industries share options and 30,000 Chartered Semiconductor shares, among other interests in GLCs as of year-end 2000. The following table lists non-ministerial MPs holding senior management and directorship positions in GLCs:

The governmentts efforts to co-opt its politicians from the private sector

The PAP has often looked to GLCs for potential candidates as MPs, parliamentary secretaries and ministers. GLCs provide a uniquely effective way for the party to assess potential candidates outside of the civil service. Without being able to own businesses in the private sector, the ruling PAP government might find it more difficult to find people whom it has worked with and whom it can trust. The following table lists a number of present PAP MPs who were selected as electoral candidates after working in a GLC:

"Re-educating the Mrs

His motto, "Beat your wife every day. You may not know why, but she will know!"

No photos on the web.
ISD agent?

Einstein said it so well: Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the smaller ones.

The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society.

This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population.

Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.