Veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon has reiterated concern over high ministerial pay, in a new Facebook post published on Wednesday (Dec 4).
Exactly a year ago, Mr Tay had expressed on Facebook: “The high pay for ministers stems from LKY’s dim view of human nature that people are crass. There is no such thing as idealism.” Sharing the post on his page again this week, Mr Tay commented, “That’s the toxin that is poisoning this society!”
Mr Tay, the architect behind iconic structures in Singapore like KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Golden Mile Complex and the People’s Park Complex, presently serves as Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Architecture.
Mr Tay has expressed opposition to the high pay Singapore ministers earn frequently.
In January, he called on the Government to take on a “drastic self-initiated pay cut” to restore the trust and moral authority he felt it had lost.
He said then that the Government needs to install a “new type of 4G leadership, not the same old defunct “people are digits” types.
“A more down to earth and human inspiring leadership is needed to regain lost moral authority and trust.”
In July, Mr Tay said he was struck by the “incremental nature” of the 4G leadership’s ideas and asserted that there is “no fundamental review or rethink on the basis of long-standing policies on housing, education, inequality etc.” from the new slate of leaders.
Mr Tay believes the “4G is aware that the ground is sour” and the Government needs to deal with “the loss of trust derived from declining moral authority due to grossly inflated remuneration at the top and grossly depressed remuneration at the bottom.”
Calling on the 4G leaders to cut salaries in the public sector commensurate to any drop in the GDP, Mr Tay had said: “As a guide, if GDP drops by say 40% all salaries in the public sector should reflect this too. Such a radical move will restore moral authority that signals commitment and dedication.”
Last month, Mr Tay again said that he believes the “loss of moral authority created by the minister’s high pay” is one of the “crises” Singapore faces.
In the same post, he said a government is good when times are normal and is not necessarily the right government that is needed to face crises.
Singapore Prime Minister’s annual salary jumps from $42,000 to $2.2 million within 50 years