Kee chui all those who believe that Nathan gets paid monthly his presidential pension? And that is based on the millions he got paid every yr for being S’pore’s top security guard?
When Nathan stepped down as president, I tot to myself, “On top of the millions he got paid as chief jaga, he now gets a pension. In a place where supposedly there is no free lunch especially for the elderly poor**, this guy gets more free meals for lunch and dinner than he can ever eat. He deserves the chronic diseases he is suffering from.”
Well I was wrong.He didn’t get a presidential pension. And BTW Tony Tan isn’t entitled to one.
In a comment on my piece on Devan Nair, the Jedi knight, a reader wrote in response to a comment by another reader that ex-presidents are entitled to pensions:
You are wrong in your view that ex-presidents are entitled to pensions. They never were so entitled. Prior to the passing of the Parliamentary Pensions Act on 9 November, 2012, the Constitution provided for Parliament to provide for his pension whenever they feel the need for giving a pension. There is therefore no entitlement as such. Even such provision has been abolished with the passing of the Act, which by the way, also abolished MPs’ pensions. As for your assertion that even widows of ex-presidents are entitled to pensions you are certainly incorrect. Remember the case of Puan Noor Aisha, the widow of President Yusoff. Parliament was specifically asked to provide for her lifetime maintenance because there was no such entitlement. It was, and still is, terminable upon her re-marriage.
And
You can refresh your memory by reading the Hansard. For Devan Nair, the sitting on 31.8.1985; for Puan Noor Aishah, the sitting on 30.12.1970. Note that the Civil List And Pension Act was amended to specifically allow for a pension to widows of Presidents as President Yusof died in November 1970. For the removal of pensions for President and their widows, read Teo Chee Hean’s speech in Parliament on 10.9.2012. To answer your question about Sheares and Nathan, Teo has stated that ” No former President has ever been granted a pension by the State.”
I missed Teo’s comments. Well our constructive, nation-building media missed a trick in not publicising the fact that presidents are not entitled to pensions.
BTW, this post is dedicated to the person I quoted above. I have to be more careful: I lazily wrote that Devan Nair was “quietly pensioned-off” and the above resulted.
Related post: http://atans1.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/president-nathan-an-ordinary-sporean/
—-
*Fact that he accepted a pay cut as his term was ending showed that he didn’t think he deserved the millions he was paid. Yes, yes, I know the stories that he donated millions on the quiet to charity. But is that a fact? Or only a Hard Truth? Or its half brother, a Heart Truth? To tell the truth, I believe he donated millions but belief is not evidence.
**Ask VivianB.
Cynical Investor
*The writer blogs at http://atans1.wordpress.com/