The fact about Singapore, Zimbabwe & Saudi Arabia
Posted by cbernard on March 25, 2007
Robert Mugabe, King Abdullah, & the PAP? Who in the first place would bring them together under the same article? Other than the fact that they are the dominant features in their respective countries, I guess many can’t really see the a stark similiarity between them.
Let me put it this way. Robert Mugabe, King Abdullah and the People’s Action Party of Singapore embodies the patronage system in their countries.
A key feature of any politician and/or political party interested in consolidating its sphere of influence and power is the evolution of its patronage system. Robert Mugabe is finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to power and prevent dissent within his own party, Zanu-PF. This is because of a dire economic situation with inflation at 1,500% and it is expected to increase to 5,000% at the end of the year, and it is almost difficult to meet the monetary needs of his cronies and subordinates. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has no worries with regard to its ability to uphold the patronage system. Simply put, the huge revenues from oil production ad export keep the patronage system flowing and the country stable.
What patronage system are you talking about in Singapore, you might ask.
Indeed, Singapore runs on a patronage system as well. The civil service is the patronage system that I am referring to. And the mechanism that keep the top administrative and civil servants contended is none other than their salaries. The highest you can find in the world? Possibly.
The PAP argument has always been this. Unless we pay them well, they will leave us. The civil service will lose all its talented people to the private sector. In the words of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, “This is an urgent problem. We have experienced on previous occasions the painful consequences of responding too slowly when the private sector surged ahead.”
In the 1990s, the Administrative Service, the key service from which most public sector leaders are drawn, lost entire cohorts of young and good officers.
Looks like the PAP has a point here. However, as a simple heartlander, I would like to see it in another way. Rather than being afraid of losing these talents to the private sector, they are afraid of losing power to any other politicial parties and/or political figures. This is not because the opposition suddenly got so much stronger overnight. Rather, the patrons of the system withdrew all their support.
To you, it might sound ridiculous, but that’s my view and I am entitled to my own view.
Essentially, over the years since independence, the government has built up such an entrenched system of patronage through the rewarding of ridiculous amount of wages (Compare a MP’s salary with an old lady who is on Public Assistance Scheme) to the people that run the civil service and and this have kept the government in power at every election.
I boldly put this across. A reduction in the existing salaries of any civil servants would be deemed as a lack of trust given to them by the government that they have kept in power. They have been told that I will keep your coffers huge and comfortable. Thus, any move to reduce or keep wages at the existing rate would be deemed as a betrayal to some. The government is thus forced to increase the salaries of the civil service when the opportunity arises, to reinforce the patronage system that I am talking about. The very system that keeps them in power.
Do bear in mind that just a few months ago, the government was telling its people that they do not have enough money to finance future expenses and there was a need to increase the GST rate to help Singapore to grow. Hmmm.. looks like the government is not telling the truth. If we have enough money to finance the pay increments of our civil servants which is going to be greater than $400million dollars (The amount of money needed for workfare), was there a need to increase GST in the first place.
Where’s the spirit, where’s the spirit of service before self? If because of a few thousands of dollars in difference between their salaries and the salaries of the private sector that they chose to leave the administrative service, then I guess it’s time to question the soul of our public service and the selection process based on qualifications. One must ask, why do we need so many technocrats in the civil service, especially the 82 PAP MP in parliament, when one’s individual self is paramount to the interests of the public and the nation.
I would love the media to ask each and every single MP in parliament. Erm, Mr Ong Kian Min, would you leave politics since you just had a 10% reduction in your monthly salary?– from $12,500 to $11,250. If the reply from him and the other MP happens to be a yes, then I guess the promises of a committed and dedicated bunch of Singaporeans coming forward to represent Singaporeans is nothing but false rhetoric. To put it bluntly, looks like they serve the money they see every month and not the welfare of Singaporeans.
Pardon the heartlander for its comments, which may appear to be ignorant to the administration and its technocrats and possibly it may disgust some of the people behind the youngpap blog.
