But authorities have only just begun to restore public pension contributions that were slashed in 1998. We will endure if our leaders endure with us. The irony is that before our incomes could see any appreciable increase, those in high office have had their increase first. The rises add to growing income disparities. The government holds that high salaries attract the brightest to the civil service, stop them leaving and discourage corruption.
Private assessments rate the civil service highly.
We are in an era of high growth, with fortunes being made by the enterprising. Do not believe that we have escaped the problems that have plagued the region . . . Our market-based pay and allowances will give no excuse for any slippage. Just a few defections could cost the PAP a degree of face that its leaders consider important. The government must call an election by mid-2002.