He cautioned that, “If future political leaders become blase about corruption, accepting it perhaps as part of the general cynicism of the New Normal, and value their occupation as similar to that of the well-paid investment bankers against whom their pay is benchmarked, rather than as an almost-sacred mission, then Singapore indeed will no longer be exceptional.” Interestingly, the situation described by Mr Ho is not one of the “future” but one which already exists in Singapore – the political leaders in Singapore are already the highest paid in the world. The Singapore prime minister is paid S$2.2 million, which is more than twice as high as what the next highest paid political leader earns or about four times as high as the American president. In fact, the ministerial salaries in Singapore are not benchmarked only to the “well-paid investment bankers” but also to the highest-paid occupations in Singapore. In this instance, to draw from Mr Ho, does this mean that Singapore is no longer “exceptional”? Does what Mr Ho describes as being a “future” scenario could possibly occur in the present today? Indeed, The Economist has ranked Singapore as 5th on the crony capitalism index, or the 5th easiest country in the world for the rich to get rich if they are politically affiliated. In Hong Kong, which ranks the at the highest on the crony capitalism index, a sustained swathe of protest over the past several weeks has been ongoing to, on the surface advocate for democracy but where the root cause lie in the rising income inequality in Hong Kong. Similarly, a sustained conflict is playing out in Ukraine and Russia, ranked 4th and 2nd on the index respectively. And in Malaysia, which ranks 3rd on the index, their last elections saw the ruling party lose its dominance in Peninsula Malaysia, as its citizens lose their patience against the ruling elites. This contrasts with what Mr Ho said, that “Asian electorates are increasingly intolerant about corruption in public office.” Where rising citizenry resistance is being seen in the countries ranked on the top four in the crony capitalism index, will Singapore which ranks 5th similarly face a rising impatience and resistance among Singaporeans?
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:24:40 +0000
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