Don't be seduced by notion politicians can work without allowances: Vivian

SINGAPORE — Waving aside the notion that politicians can work without allowances, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan of the People’s Action Party (PAP) said yesterday that only two kinds of people can serve the people at zero cost — those who are wealthy, and those who are corrupt.

(CORRECTION (28 Aug): Our earlier headline and story on the National Day Rally public forum organised by REACH misquoted Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. He did not use the word “incentives” when responding to a participant’s question on an MP’s annual allowance. His actual response was as follows: "Tell me who can afford to work for you for zero. There are people who can afford to work for you…apparently at zero. There are two kinds of people who can provide you services apparently at zero. Number 1: I’m already very rich. My bank account is full. I come back, I tell you I want to serve. Other kind of person: Why will that person actually cost more? The word is called corruption. That’s the word.” )

Speaking at a National Day Rally public forum organised by government feedback arm REACH,Dr Balakrishnan was responding to a participant who questioned the Member of Parliament (MP) allowance, which stands at S$192,500 annually.

Dr Balakrishnan, who is Environment and Water Resources Minister, said: “Don’t be seduced. The danger with elections is it’s an auction. Everybody would promise you the moon. Everybody would say they don’t need pay on the assumption either they don’t need to deliver, or things will go wrong.”

The PAP, he said, believes the moment dishonest politicians are in Parliament, “it’s the beginning of the end”. “It’s not making me popular, but I will insist on honesty … on declaration of conflicts of interest … on declarations of related party transactions. I will insist that ... if you’ve cheated before, come clean,” he said.

Adding onto the debate, which touched on justifying the MP allowance for part-time MPs, REACH chairman Amy Khor said that, as an MP, she felt she had more to contribute if she remained working in the industry.

“You have to look at it more broadly. Is the MP contributing as you expect? In fact, if I can do that, and I still can add value because I have a better understanding of what’s going on outside in the real world, isn’t that giving you more value?” said Dr Khor, who is also Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health.

Other issues brought up at the forum included concerns about the raised income ceiling for Build-to-Order flats, and the burden on Small and Medium Enterprises if they were to offer the additional one week of paternity leave.

Responding on the paternity leave issue, Dr Khor pointed out that the one extra week would be paid for by the Government, and it was also voluntary and up to businesses to offer.