Harpreet Singh: Singapore is not short of accomplished people willing to forgo large sums to serve
SINGAPORE: After political salaries were increased in Singapore for the first time since 2011, Harpreet Singh weighed in on the matter, focusing on something Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said when he spoke on the issue in Parliament last week.
“I want to examine one premise underlying the increase: that higher pay is needed to reduce any disincentive to top private-sector talent entering politics,” wrote Mr Singh, a Senior Counsel in Singapore and a Workers’ Party member who contested in last year’s General Election.
He noted in a social media post that Mr Wong had talked about how he approached chief executives and senior business leaders before GE2025, but none agreed to contest. However, none of them refused to stand in the election due to salaries, and the Prime Minister said he would not have wanted them anyway had money been their main motive for contesting.
Mr Singh then went on to discuss the practice in Singapore’s Supreme Court of drawing from “the very top of the Bar,” pointing out that the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice designate, and Judges of Appeal and High Court judges had been among the “most sought-after Senior Counsel and top law firm partners in the country.”
“Notwithstanding, judicial pay remains well below top lawyers’ pay, the best of the Bar still come. What the judicial example establishes is this: Singapore is not short of accomplished people willing to forgo large sums to serve,” added Mr Singh.
He acknowledged that judicial and political roles are not the same, but pointed out that in other developed countries, top talent enter the political arena and vie for cabinet seats where national policy is shaped, and individuals have unmatched proximity to heads of government and leaders of global industry.
Mr Singh then asked, “So, what is it about the Singapore context that seems to hold back top private-sector talent from joining politics?”
Based on his experience, individuals in senior positions have a number of important questions before deciding if a move is worth taking.
“Does the organisation's vision and direction align with my core values? What does its culture reward, and how open is it to meaningful change? And who sits in the inner circle - will I have real influence with them on the issues that matter?” he wrote, adding that the ruling People’s Action Party government may want to reflect on these questions.
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“If a capable outsider’s perception is that the PAP’s circle of real influence is small and tightly drawn, and that a certain conformity of thought is the price of admission, no salary revision will address that. The best and most independent-minded candidates the Cabinet needs will decline, and they will be too polite to tell you why,” wrote Mr Singh./ TISG