Many things doesn’t make sense with how the government argues to pay themselves high salaries. Let’s take a look at 10 logical fallacies about their want for high salaries.
(1) Why would the government fight to pay the highest salaries to themselves in the world but would not fight for the wages of Singaporeans, but would allow Singaporeans to earn the lowest wages among the high-income countries?
(2) The government says that we need to pay them high salaries so that they won’t be corrupt. But they would pay Singaporeans low wages. If Singaporeans do not need to earn high wages, yet we can be honest, doesn’t that mean that there’s no need to pay the government such high salaries?
(3) If we are paid low wages, does that mean Singaporeans are a dishonest lot? If we are not, then can the government earn lower salaries and still be honest?
(4) If we have to pay the government such high salaries so that they can honest, doesn’t that mean they are corrupt in the first place?
(5) If we need to pay the government high salaries so that they are willing to do the work, shouldn’t we fire them and bring in someone who’s willing to be honest and do the work at lower salaries?
(6) If the government wants us to pay them high salaries to improve their performance, but the income inequality and poverty in Singapore has now become the highest among the developed countries, and Singaporeans earn the lowest wages and have the lowest purchasing power among the developed countries, doesn’t that mean that the government hasn’t improved Singapore? If so, shouldn’t we pay the government much lower salaries or shouldn’t the government step down?
(7) If the government is willing to keep themselves on the highest salaries in the world, even as Singaporeans have been earning the lowest wages among the high-income countries for many years now, shouldn’t the government also reduce their salaries in the face of the stagnating wages among Singaporeans? If the government is not willing to do so, doesn’t that mean that they are being dishonest?
(8) If the heads of the Nordic countries can earn $300,000 and are able to turn their countries into one of the most equal in the world, where their citizens are able to earn one of the highest wages and have one of the highest purchasing power and happiness in the world, then why are we paying the Singapore prime minister 7 times more to create the most unequal society among the developed countries, where we earn the lowest wages among the high-income countries?
(9) If the government wants us to pay them high salaries so that they are able to be honest and perform, but if they have proven themselves to be dishonest and unable to perform, doesn’t that mean that we should reduce their salaries drastically or fire them?
(10) If they do not want to return us our money, what are they doing with our money?
Roy Ngerng
*The author blogs at www.TheHeartTruths.com