Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Abolish SM, MM and Minister in PMO positions

Abolish SM, MM and Minister in PMO positions

The recent expansion of the cabinet with the addition of one more Senior Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office simply beggars belief. As Wayangparty wrote earlier, why does Singapore need 2 deputy prime ministers, 2 senior ministers, 1 minister mentor, and 3 ministers in the prime minister’s office?

1. Senior Minister

The plain fact is that this position was created solely for Mr Lee Kuan Yew to occupy after leaving office in 1990. Apparently he thought (and still thinks) that he is so valuable that he must remain in the government to oversee his successors.

I cannot find a single official description for this job. What does a “Senior Minister” really do? The government has claimed that the office holder has plenty of experience and is an advisor to the current leadership. But why can’t Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Jayakumar offer their “valuable” advice free of charge? Why must we pay $3,043,300 each for this extra advice that no Singaporean asked for in the first place?

2. Minister Mentor

This is the most ridiculous position in the government. This position was created so that Mr Lee Kuan Yew can still remain in government even after vacating the Senior Minister seat for Mr Goh Chok Tong. The MM commands a salary almost the equivalent of the PM. So who is ruling the country, the MM or the PM?

Who is the Minister Mentor supposed to mentor? I also cannot find any official job description. I only see Mr Lee Kuan Yew giving talks and travelling the world at taxpayers’ expense to have photo opportunities with foreign leaders. Then why do we pay the foreign minister $1,593,500 for?

Singaporeans are wasting $3,043,300 on a power-hungry man’s personal vanity project so that he has an audience to give nonsense predictions about a “golden age” or “first world government”. Mr Lee Kuan Yew should just retire and leave the running of the government to the present leaders.

3. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office

There are 2 (soon to be 3) ministers in the prime minister’s office, Lim Boon Heng and Lim Swee Say. Lim Boon Heng has been in office since 1993. He is also in charge of aging issues. But isn’t the health minister being paid his $1,593,500 to handle that?

Lim Swee Say has absolutely no duties specified at all. He also “happens” to be the NTUC Secretary-General at the same time. So why is he holding a political appointment when he is contributing nothing politically? Are we paying him $1,593,500 to boast that he “feels rich” each time he gets his monthly CPF statement? We don’t, especially since we don’t get it every month.

With 2 redundant ministers already “shaking leg”, we are going to have a third one with the latest appointment of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua. PM Lee has been stressing that she is the first female full minister, something that we should be proud of. But what is she supposed to do? So far, there has been no information on what her duties exactly are.

The Prime Minister’s Office is self-explanatory. It should only contain the Prime Minister, not other ministers sucking millions for doing absolutely nothing.

There are also other unnecessary and wasteful positions such as “Minister of State” and “Senior Minister of State”. I think Singapore is small enough for a single minister to take charge of a portfolio.

When we abolish the positions of “Senior Minister”, “Minister Mentor”, “Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office”, “Minister of State” and “Senior Minister of State, we will reduce the size of the cabinet and save millions to help our poor.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=25517.1

No comments:

Post a Comment