Daily Lessons from Life 10 September 2012 - Parliament abolishes Parliamentary Pensions Act

"Parliament abolishes Parliamentary Pensions Act - CNA 10 September 2012

SINGAPORE: Parliament on Monday passed a bill to abolish the Parliamentary Pensions Act. The move came after a review of ministerial salaries which recommended that the pension scheme be scrapped for office holders and Members of Parliament (MPs). This is in line with the principle of having a transparent wage system, where there are no hidden perks.

Under the Parliamentary Pensions Act, political office holders who have served at least eight years are eligible for a pension. The pension amount is dependent on the length of service of the office holder. The maximum annual pension is about 11 per cent of an office holder's salary prior to retirement.

The change will bring the remuneration of office holders and MPs in line with the Central Provident Fund savings scheme. Office holders appointed on and after 21 May 2011, when the new government took office, will not receive any pension.

Those appointed before 21 May will have their pensions frozen and be eligible only for pensions accrued up to 20 May 2011.The change affects all office holders, from parliamentary secretaries all the way to the prime minister.

MPs elected after 1 January 1995 are already no longer eligible for pension.

MPs who supported the bill said that being a politician cannot be seen as a job or a career promotion. Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Christopher de Souza said: "I believe most, if not all, of us present at today's debate would agree with me that political office is both a calling (and a passion). "Those who want to serve must have that sense of duty and, beyond that, passion to the nation, as well as a desire to contribute to the public good of Singapore.

"For MPs, we are in this because we believe in the ethos of sacrifice that public service entails, to serve our residents, meeting with residents, listening to them, caring for them, offering encouragement in times of difficulty and mapping out real ways of progress for them and their children -- that is fulfilling, that is politics.""

It is good to learn that this has FINALLY BEEN DONE!! After MUCH haggling by Singaporeans! Perhaps the last General Election voting triggered a ultimate push to DO IT!!

Lessons for me are:

1. indeed, being a national leader HAS to be more than just about money and a job! It MUST be drummed into the kids since kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, etc;

2. with the smartness and the bright, they can EASILY map out their financial freedom plan with their compensation package as MPs and ministers better than the average Singaporeans, one hopes. With this group of people, they can then be the model for other lesser Singaporeans so that they too know that they can lead a 1st world vibrant global city/nation quality of life with little money! :-);

3. to CHANGE the perception and the CULTURE and VALUE about 'politics is NOT about money', the government NEEDS to constantly talk about, show through TV/print/actual appearance and demonstrated behaviors, that 'it is NOT about money'! This combined with the actions in item 1 above will begin to change the culture of 'if you don't pay the best you will get monkeys' theory or gospel truth that had been drummed into the last and current generation of Singaporeans' mind by the last 2 governments.

May this be the beginning of my dram come true - the brightest in the land KNOW what it means to be a true politician - to create a great common good for the majority of the people in Singapore!