Secrecy around the reserves, salaries of Temasek heads and high ministerial pay among the “burning questions” netizens have for the Govt

The lack of transparency about Singapore’s reserves, the secrecy about the salaries of key management at sovereign wealth funds like Temasek and GIC, along with justifications for high ministerial pay are among the “burning questions” some netizens have for the Singapore Government, ahead of the next General Election.

Reddit user u/marvinisarobot69 sparked a discussion on the Singapore subreddit when he asked what burning questions his fellow netizens have for the Government ahead of the next General Election.

The next election must be held by 2021 but analysts have speculated that the election could be held as early as this year or next.

Kicking off the discussion, u/marvinisarobot69 listed six “burning questions” he has for the Government. He asked:

“what is our reserves and why is it a secret?;

“what are the salaries of the key appointment holders of sovereign funds management companies like Temasek?

“why does the People’s Association’s activities seem so much like an extension of the PAP

“why did we have a selected President and why the restrictions on race?

“why do we select non qualified people with ex military background to lead commercial enterprises like SMRT, NOL etc when there are far more qualified people in the world we can select?

“Why are Ministers’ salaries peg to the top percentage of salaries earners? Why not peg them to a multiple of the median salary ? Why not peg it to performance of the economy and jobs?”

The netizen’s questions drew over 170 comments as others chimed in with their “burning questions”. One netizen asked why the Government does not install an independent elections department “if the PAP really has the support of the silent majority” while another asked how performance is measured and pay is justified in the civil service.

Another netizen asked what the success rate of the SGsecure initiative is while someone else asked a question on the PAP’s Internet Brigade (IB):

Another netizen asked whether “the government have (sic) any plans for ensuring local grads (ite/jc/uni/poly/olevel) get jobs when they leave school?” and someone else asked what the main problems were concerning political leadership succession and how the Government is addressing these problems:

One netizen asked four “burning questions”. He asked when Singapore will bring in automated soldiers so Singaporeans can stop serving NS and what actions the Government is taking to help young couples make babies.

The netizen added that the “transport minister’s remuneration should be negatively correlated to train breakdowns” and asked the Government, tongue-in-cheek, to actively invest in gene modifications:

Another question on the pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife Ho Ching draws, as Temasek’s CEO was asked while one netizen asked why a vote of no confidence was not called when only one person was found eligible to “contest” the last Presidential Election.

Another netizen asked whether the Government is “planning on additional measures to slow climate change, like building nuclear power plants, better recycling faculties and higher carbon taxes?”

Read the discussion thread in full HERE.