The Kway Teow Man on Moral Authority and a million plates of ($2.2) kway teow to feed a hungry Minister

The Kway Teow Man recently did a guest article on the Singapore Angle.

I don't usually agree with his views, but this article really struck a chord with me.

Beyond going through the usual points on the matter he brought up the issue of the moral authority of a government to lead a country through thick and thin. His article is as follows (copied in full for archive purposes too):


Sadness over Ministerial Salary Increase

by The Kway Teow Man on April 3, 2007 9:46 PM

Ben asked the KTM why he said the debate over the impeding salary increase is sad. The KTM collected his thoughts and realized that it is sad for a number of reasons.

The KTM explains his sadness....

Cracks in the System

Governance is complicated. There are no right answers in public policy. Policy policy is always a trade-off in between various competing demands. The role of the administrators is to balance the competing demands and to decide on a course of action that is most beneficial to the greater good. While the definition of the greater good is often contentious, but someone has to make the call. In almost every policy, someone will get screwed over. To put it bluntly, the administrators get to decide who to screw over. How pleasant a job is that? :-(

In this light, it's tough. There are times where we will need to adopt tough and unpopular policies. The common man may not appreciate and/or understand why something has to be done (because many issues in governance are significantly more complex than what's commonly accessible), but what has to be done, has to be done. While the KTM still hasn't completely understood the rationale for increasing the GST by 2% to change the underlying taxation system, he can persuaded that perhaps the GST is good for the economy and it will lead to greater growth and thereby there will be trickle down effects and the Government can do some re-distribution to cushion the impact on the poor. Yeah, the middle class fellas get squeezed a bit, but tough luck.

The point here is the following: in order for the Government to push through tough policies, it does require moral authority, like it or not. The present pay increase is certainly a tough policy to sell as well --- but it's really cannot be compared to GST in the same breath. The Government says that without pegging the pay of the Ministers and top civil servants to the riches fellas in Singapore, the Government will collapse because all the talent will leave. While the KTM has been criticized for being pro-PAP, even the KTM doesn't buy this argument.

As PCK will say, "got no blain huh? People are still pissed that you just rammed through a 2% increase in GST down their throats and now you want to raise your own pay?" Brilliant. Such sensitivity. Lim Swee Say said recently that there's no good time to raise Ministerial salaries. The KTM thinks he's right. He also said there's no bad time to raise salaries. The KTM thinks that's bogus. If we need to give out medals for brilliance in choosing a bad time, the Government deserves a truckload.

And what's the worst thing about this brouhaha? This salary problem really isn't a big national crisis or concern at all in the KTM's opinion. We are facing significant challenges in terms of globalization, in how to revamp our education system, in managing issues of aging and healthcare, etc. etc. But no, we're wasting time getting all distracted over this one stupid issue.

Realistically, the total increases represents quite an insignificant portion of the Budget. Politically, it is a HUGE emotional problem with the masses. Ministers starving huh? Children got no money to go to school izzit? Why piss off practically the whole population over this?

Lousy Reasons

The claim here is that without the proposed increases, more AOs and talented Ministers will leave the Government to join the private sector. However, only the MR4 benchmark has really gone up. The SR9 benchmark has remained relatively stable. In fact, the SR9 benchmark is lower now than that in year 2000. Er, this means that the young AOs will actually be getting lower pay soon isn't it? Unless they are thinking of changing the SR9 benchmark. Are they?

Now, if they claim that the increase in pay is to keep talent, then there must be proof that pay is what is keeping people from leaving. There have been reports of young AOs quitting and getting cushy jobs outside. Good for them. Perhaps proves that the AOs are not as useless as some claim, but doesn't prove that pay is a factor either.

If you listen to what the young ex-AOs say about why they leave, NONE of them said anything about not being paid enough what. The KTM hasn't quite done his homework, so people are welcome to quote ex-AOs who left because of better pay and prove him wrong.

Next question: are the old fellows who are near the MR4 benchmark leaving the Admin Service in droves? How many Ministers have we seen in recent times quit to join the private sector because they didn't have enough to eat? Public policy must be made based on evidence. Please show us the data so that we can believe.

Lousy Benchmark?

The KTM has no quarrels with the SR9 benchmark. He actually thinks it's reasonable. What seems to be a problem is the MR4 benchmark. Why is it a problem? Well, many reasons, but let's talk about a glaring one which dunno why nobody seemed to have picked out.

It turns out that although the benchmark has been set, the actual number that is used to compute MR4 has never actually been AT the benchmark for a long time..... which is why there's supposedly a need to play catch up now. This begs the question: how come like that? Given the army of scholars and engineers we have in the Government, why can we not come up with a benchmark that we can just follow every year. Why are we wasting time arguing over this year in year out? Not tired huh?

If the claim is that it was not political viable to follow the benchmark, then isn't it obvious that there's something seriously wrong with the current method of benchmarking and that perhaps we should go back to the drawing board and come up with a new one so that we can avoid wasting time in the future? Are our politicians very free, got no better Bills to pass and like to talk about pay?

The KTM is baffled that people can invent a formula that cannot be used. If the intention was to come up with a benchmark that yields bigger numbers and then adopt a smaller number to demonstrate "sacrifice" on the part of the Ministers, then the KTM must say that this strategy isn't working well at all. It isn't working period.

Truthfully, we shouldn't expect the Ministerial salaries to stay constant and the pay should be adjusted for inflation and perhaps even GST(!), but the KTM believes that this pegging to the richest dudes in the country is something that many Singaporeans seriously cannot stomach.

Singaporeans Should Decide How Much to Pay their Leaders

People say that Singapore is run like Singapore Inc. The KTM actually doesn't have any real issues with that. Efficiency is actually not a bad thing -- though our public service often takes the concept of "cost recovery" to the extremes.

However hor, even in companies, the management doesn't anyhow humtum their own pay when their shareholders are screaming away. Point here: even companies aren't run quite the same way and it's scary to say the least.

The free market economist in the KTM says:

The whole point about salary should really be about "how much is this job worth"? KTM believes in the free market. Singaporeans should be able to decide how much the want to pay their political leaders. If they pay too little and they get monkeys, that's their choice.

But seriously, the KTM doesn't believe that Singaporeans are unreasonable and truly want monkeys on the cheap. The existing numbers for example have generally been accepted, so why can't the Government be more sensitive? Or politically savvy?

The Sadness

Why is the KTM sad? He looks at what's happening and he is seriously concerned. Things are really not going well. It feels like the society is descending into chaos(?).

But the really sad part is, it doesn't have to be this way.

We are small and we are insignificant and we are a little red dot. Against all odds, we have come a long way and we can be proud of our achievements. BUT, the future is really not a bed of roses. If, as a country, we cannot get our act together, we have nowhere to go, but down. :-(

Pragmatism aside, a Government needs moral authority. Without that authority, how can it lead the people in facing the challenges of tomorrow? It's not "talent" that we need in Government today, we need leadership.

To conclude, let's play the Devil's advocate. Let's say the Government is right and we are grossly underpaying these Ministers and civil servants. Nevertheless, it should be clear that increasing pay, reduces moral authority to lead --- and therefore, in the grand scheme, boh pian just have to make that "sacrifice". Maybe every one just serve one five-year NS term and then move on to the private sector to make their big bucks loh. It's not clear to the KTM that we have anyone so incredibile bright and indispensible around.

Perhaps the KTM is being excessively pessimistic today.... There are good days and there are bad days. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Or maybe not.

Articles Archives

Article archive 01. Outstanding articles, keeping for storage.


Leaders and Managers by Insanepoly

For the past couple of weeks the singapore internet has been abuzz with chatter over the “proposed” pay hike for ministers and senior civil servants. Certainly more so than it would appear in the mainstream media. First, let’s just get a few things straight- one, the pay hike is pretty much a done deal, all the so-called debate is just a wayang show. Two, this pay hike is not a general pay hike for every single civil servant out there, mostly it will be the ministers and the senior grade civil servants who will be seeing a pay hike.

Its the same arguments on both side of the fence since the day the government decided to benchmark their payscale according to the private sector. I don’t think both sides will ever come to an agreement. It is what it is.

I can understand the need to pay a fair wage. Afterall, this is what everyone is working for isn’t it? But how do you decide what is fair wage? The world has become a topsy turvy world. Our priorities are all screwed up. I mean, an american soldier fighting in iraq, who puts his life on the line everyday, what does he get in comparison with Kevin Garnett or LeBron James. Those 2 guys who plays a children’s game will get paid more playing one game of basketball than a soldier probably ever will in his lifetime. Even within the same profession you can find people who sometimes due to luck and circumstances are paid far more than what they are worth. David Beckham who makes more money than anyone other football player is probably not even in the list of top 10 football players in the world. So is that fair?

Yet, our ever pragmatic government has decided, they must be paid a fair wage and they have all the facts and statistics to back them up. If you look at it purely from a pragmatic and economical viewpoint, I am sure its pretty much impecable and ironclad. I am not so unreasonable as to not see the logic within their argument. But ofttimes, in this world of ours, things usually go beyond black or white, right and wrong. There are always shades of grey. Sometimes being too pragmatic and logical can be detrimental to yourself.

The leaders in the government wants to be paid like executives. So is it any wonder that singapore is being runned like a corporation. Singapore Inc. Well, its hard to feel anything for the country when you find yourself being treated more like an employee than a citizen. At times, I wonder if the people within the government even knows the difference. They can talk all about national pride, loving your country and making sacrifices, but all it is is just empty talk and hollow rhetoric if they continue to treat people like economic units.

I no longer harbour any illusions about singapore. I know I am appreciated and tolerated as long as I am economically productive, but the day wil come when I will outlive my usefulness. What then? Already the government is talking about shipping the old and elderly out to nearby countries. Hey, its all about being pragmatic isn’t it. Out of sight, out of mind.

If you ask me today, will I lay down my life for singapore, I might ask you to fuck off if I am in a good mood. Where’s my sense of patriotism? Well, I am just being pragmatic like Lee Hsien Loong. Afterall why should I lay down my life for this country. Whereas, once I wouldn’t think twice about it, now, I know better. Our “leaders” have shown the way for the rest of the nation, who am I to say different. If they think being paid $1.2 million for their troubles is too little, who are they to start asking me to make sacrifices. They are looking out for number 1, so why shouldn’t I?

And if I call them leaders of the country, I am just being overly generous. They may think they are leaders, but all they are is just managers. They don’t lead the country, they manage it. There’s a difference. Think leader, think Leonidas in 300. Leaders will make you willingly do the things you don’t want to do. Leaders will inspire you to be better than you are. Leaders will make you want to put your life on the line for a greater cause. Leaders will give you courage when before you have none.

Look at the people in the government, anyone strike you as particularly leaderlike? I can understand zyberzitizen when he says he don’t feel inspired when looking at the current generation of leaders. These guys aren’t leaders, they are managers. Managers are people who you listen to because you have to, not because you want to. Managers are people who you don’t give a fuck about once they are not around. Managers are people who you obey only beause you have to and not out of respect. Not every manager is a leader. And not every leader is a manager. Sometimes a leader can simply be your peer, but who commands some much respect that you can’t help but want to be led by him.

Somewhere along the line I think Lee Hsien Loong has confused management with leadership. So I guess, we ought to start paying him like a manager, just don’t ask me to look at him as a leader. Sometimes you just can’t have it all.



Why're we like that? by zyberzitizen

It is quite depressing to hear what has been said lately – by government officials and some others – about how so many are leaving the civil service, how we must essentially seduce them with money, and how much exactly (down to the last dollar) we should be paying them to stay in service of their country.

As I said in my blog, one glaring aspect missing in this whole discourse is the question of what kind of leaders we have and we want to have, actually.

My mom, who is in her 70s, is not highly-educated. She only has primary school education. But she speaks more sense than most people I know. So, she asked me the other day, after watching the news:

“Why’re we throwing money at every problem we face? We have traffic jams, we increase ERP. We don’t have enough teachers, we throw money to increase their salaries. Not enough nurses, we throw money. Helping the poor, we increase GST. Old age population? Increase GST. People going to JB to fill up petrol, we fine them. Don’t flush toilet, fine them. Now, want people to serve their country must have millions of dollars salaries. Why are we like that?”

It’s a simple question – “Why’re we like that?” – but it got me thinking about fundamentals.


The earlier leaders

Recalling the generation which my mom grew up in, our leaders then were men and women of real passion, drive, humility and nobility – with nothing more than a desire to help their fellow men survive. Of course, our separation from Malaysia and being thrown into the “deep end”, as it were, without any natural resources to exploit economically, no doubt contributed to the very human desire and instinct to survive. Thus, our leaders then had to dig deeper within themselves to succeed. And they did so admirably.

So, there is one thing which I find missing between our present leaders and our pioneering leaders of the 60s and 70s.

And that is : The ability to inspire.


The present leaders

Personally, I find no inspirational leaders in our present cohort of leaders or ministers. Compare this to our earlier days when we had quite a few: the younger and earlier Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, S Rajaratnam, Goh Keng Swee, Hon Sui Sen. (Come to think of it, even Quah Kim Song, Samad Alipitchay, Junie Sng and others in the sporting world were more inspiring than our present leaders!)

When we speak of national leaders in government, we must have people who can reach into your psyche and inspire you from within.

The question to ask is therefore: How many of our present leaders can do this?

It is all fine and good to be able to provide data, figures, charts and numbers to back up a policy or an argument. Nothing wrong with that, really. But when we talk of leaders, we must also keep in mind that they must be quite different.


Fire in the belly

The proverbial “fire in the belly” comes to mind. Even Lee Kuan Yew himself was concerned that new PAP leaders do not have that – because they do not go through the ‘baptism of fire’ during an election.

And that, in my opinion, is where the crux of the problem is.

While we may think that civil servants leaving the civil service is a matter of dollars and cents, I prefer to see it as a political issue. How so?

The fact that the PAP – both as an all-encompassing government and as the biggest political party in Singapore – finds it hard to get people to join them tells me that there is something inherently wrong with our political system. My guess is that Singaporeans may not want to join the PAP or the government, but they will do so if the system is different.


Selfless Singaporeans

Men and women can be inspired to step forward without even thinking of monetary compensation. (Lets not go into the issue of them being paid “adequately” because there is no question of that.) Even though we are a country which is perceived to worship the God of M (Money), I do not believe that our people cannot be inspired to step forward in spite of that.

Indeed, the government itself had praised Singaporeans for stepping forward during the SARs outbreak, when the New World Hotel collapsed in the 80s. Many Singaporeans stepped forward to help the Indonesians when the tsunami hit. There are also many Singaporean volunteers in diverse areas such as the environment, aged homes, homes for the disabled, and so on.

And look at the hundreds of thousands of NSmen serving the country. And also look at the opposition parties’ members who do what they do for nothing more than a belief.


A gaping chasm

Compare all of the above people with those in government and you see a huge gaping chasm. Consider this:

“If the system can remove as many impediments as possible, then the political system will be able to get more people to join.” - PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan

And this:

“Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics.” – Goh Chok Tong

And this is where the problem is. “Leaders” who want , essentially, to have the road paved for them, and all “impediments” removed before they step forward.

And when this cycle of thought continues, as it has and does, we have a whole set of leaders who have this same belief. That is, they are looking for new “leaders” who do not want to step forward until and unless “as many impediments as possible are removed”.

Ironic, isn’t it?

“Leaders” who are afraid to put themselves forward – but who want multi-million dollar salaries.


A political problem

It is a political problem. It is a political problem which, long term, can only be solved with changes to the political system. And yes, I am talking about the GRC system, the media, the electoral process and all other attending issues.

We need a leader who can inspire others to step forward in the noble idea of doing something for their country. We need leader(s) who truly dare to change the system – because it is necessary for the country’s survival, even if it means diminishing the power of his/their own party.

But in order to have such a leader, the leader himself must be put through the baptism of fire. And there is no better “baptism of fire” than the electoral process – one which is robust, rigorous and competitive, one which is fair – and seen to be fair.

Only then perhaps, would our leaders – duly elected – find that serving the people is something which is indeed noble and totally satisfying to the human desire of seeing to his fellow men’s well being. And his personal example would inspire a whole generation of Singaporeans. Just as Lee Kuan Yew did.

And that, I would say, is more of an accomplishment than a multi-million dollar paycheck.

Just ask our pioneering leaders.

But first ask ourselves:

“Why’re we like that?”



Wurk Wurk by a XenoBoy in SG

During the days before WarCraft became MMORPG, you played God, built a fortress, built an economy, raised an army and basically then crush the opposition, the enemy. The most basic unit then was the peon, the peon who automatically collects gold from the mine, chops the trees for wood, construct the buildings and repair stuff. When you clicked on these peons, they had this range of very cute auto replies "yes master?", "wurk wurk".

Peons were very important even though they were infinitely less sexy than an ogre mage or a death knight which had replies like "who u wanna kill?". These wurk wurks collected the stuff that made it possible for God to achieve his final objective of territorial domination. If you played LAN multiplayer WarCraft then, one strategy to strangle your opponent was simply to ghost some mages near the enemy's gold-mine and cast some tornadoes or hexes around the area where the endless stream of peons enter and exit from. The peons died fairly quickly. They did not really have much life-points. So, kill the peons, gain a strategic advantage in resource building. No one can wurk wurk. And you win the game.

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In the time before the British came to SEA, wars between different kingdoms, for example the Thai and the Burmese, were interesting conflicts. Forget for a moment the romanticised image of thunderous charging elephant armies and wild carnage. Whenever an army succeeded in conquering a city, they sacked it. They took the treasures (an example is the famous Emerald Buddha residing now in Bangkok) and then they took the people. In those pre nation-state days, there was no point really in holding on to land. Boundaries were non existent. Forest and jungles lay between jewel cities. Land was abundant. But people were not. Each conflict, whatever the lofty justifications, was an exercise in mass kidnapping. Exodus wars.

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Came into Changi last week amidst the glow of the Budget. It was quaint, flipping through an actual copy of the Straits Times. Speed reading through a book of Hallmark cards labeled Hope and Inspiring. Info-graphics, numbers, choice quotes in an almost surreal holographic presentation. The paper glowed. The poor are saved. No more leaping on the MRT tracks. The paper was heavy with happiness. Heavy with glow. Walking towards immigration, a huge embracing sign "workcome home" beckons. Workcome to Singapore.

Two percent GST increase. To save the poor. It almost makes sense now.

Two percent corporate tax cut. Its an actual tax cut in a climate of a major consumption tax increase and hand-outs to the deserving poor. Two percent. Corporate tax. You see rising transport costs, rising cost of living and there is a God-given two percent corporate tax cut. Happiness.

Corporate tax decrease Goods Services Tax increase the Deserving Poor are Saved.

Workcome to Singapore. wurk wurk.

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In the taxi, the driver is not very happy. In Hokkien, hor li kway tui, gia doe deng kway. Gives you a drumstick but takes back a chicken. Followed by that same old same old chuckle. Anger? Resignation? Frustration? lies dormant. Or is this hollow chuckle just dormant lies? This same old chuckle, hapless happiness perhaps.

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Recently received a snail mail that was not from a bank. It was an aerogramme. A piece of paper that you can write something on, fold it into an envelope and send to wherever in the world. When having pen-pals was in. The aerogramme contained CNY greetings and this line "... remember water pump we build down hill? It broken now. :-) but ok, we know to make pump ok next month. Now we pump water with leg haha ..." This aerogramme glowed too. Made it much lighter than a gramme.

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When you play WoW or DOTA now, peons no longer feature. They did away with this unit. Re-ordered the game economy. Made it faster and more real. No more wurk wurk. In DOTA and WoW just jazz up your heroes. Hurl the sacrifice troops. Keep the heroes alive and all will be fine. You win.

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It was a relatively quiet CNY this time round. Same questions about wurk wurk from the retired parents. The inevitable slant towards Singapore, but even then, the anger, once expressed with countless classical Chinese analogies, seemed to have become slightly more empty, more hollow. Anger remains but despair has perhaps set in. Helplessness probably.