Singapore— Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) move to restructure its media business into a not-for-profit entity prompted writer Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh to speak up on “the culture of elite governance in Singapore”. And he doesn’t speak highly of the SPH chairman and the CEO.
SPH recorded a substantial financial loss in 2020 and expects the media business to continue to lose money.
At the press conference on Thursday (May 6) discussing the new direction of the company, SPH chairman Lee Boon Yang, said: “SPH shareholders are not likely to tolerate the continued negative impact that the media business has on the company’s financial prospects.”
Dr Lee added that had it not been for the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), the company’s losses would have been even greater.
Mr Vadaketh, however, points out that under the JSS, even the extremely well-paid management of SPH benefited at the expense of Singaporean taxpayers.
He then traced the trajectory of Dr Lee’s career, as well as that of SPH’s CEO Ng Yat Chung.
Mr Lee, a former politician and Cabinet member, went on to became chairman of the board of Keppel Corporation, where his annual salary was S$750,000, and then on to SPH, where he receives S$216,000 per year.
“It is not clear what qualifications Lee had to lead the board of a global conglomerate with offshore, marine and other interests, or the board of Singapore’s biggest media company. (Subservience?),” wrote Mr Vadaketh, pointing out that both Keppel and SPH have performed poorly under his chairmanship.
As for Mr Ng, “a former chief of defence with zero prior experience in the media industry,” as the writer puts it, his annual salary is well over a million dollars ($1.79 million).
Mr Vadaketh then went on to compare the salaries of the people behind SPH’s The Straits Times (ST) with those from The Economist Group (TEG), taking care to disclose that he is “a (tiny) minority shareholder in TEG, which is privately held”.
Long story short, the salaries of SPH/ST’s chairman, independent directors, CEO, and editor-in-chief are all higher than their counterparts at TEG.
He also compared individuals’ experiences, noting that the experiences of SPH/ST’s chairman, independent directors, CEO, and editor-in-chief pale in comparison to those of TEG.
Mr Vadaketh wrote, “Think about the skills gap, and then think again about the salaries.
Do appointments and salaries at SPH reflect merit and talent—or political allegiance?
“Which other sectors are the elites slowly running into the ground?
“Remember, Ho Ching and other elites love to lecture ordinary Singaporeans about improving ourselves to face global talent competition.”
He then went on to ask whether Dr Lee and Mr Ng are really the best persons for the positions they were placed in.
He pointed out that this is “symptomatic” of a bigger problem with the current set-up of Singaporean business and politics: Overpaid elites with God complexes and too much to lose lording over underpaid, under-appreciated underlings.
/TISG
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SPH to restructure media business into not-for-profit entity