Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim not taking salary, while LHL happily enjoys a fat paycheck of S$2.2m courtesy of taxpayers' monies
SINGAPORE — Yesterday (24 Nov 2022), the Malaysia King finally announced that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would become Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister. Mr Anwar was sworn in at 5 pm in the late afternoon yesterday.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara said the appointment of Mr Anwar, Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, was made in accordance with Article 40(2)(a) and Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution.
The King urged all the Members of the Parliament of Malaysia to join hands for the country’s future.
Anwar has reiterated that he would give up his entire prime minister's salary so as to show solidarity with the people during these tough economic times.
At a rally, Anwar said he was taking the initiative because he felt ashamed to learn that the common folk were struggling with soaring prices while their salaries remained the same.
“How could I in good conscience be paid RM80,000 (S$24,500) a month when the Orang Asli villagers I visited find it difficult to earn even RM400?” he remarked at Taman Orkid.
Anwar added that in order to strengthen the faith of the people who assumed all politicians are the same and are only interested in enriching themselves, he is determined that he and his family members will therefore not be privy to government contracts.
Anwar further expressed his intention to downsize his Cabinet and lower the salaries of ministers.
Grace Fu: Lowering Pay Makes It Harder For Anyone Considering Political Office
Meanwhile, in Singapore, People’s Action Party (PAP) politician Grace Fu told Singaporeans that lowering politicians’ pay would make it harder for anyone to consider political office.
In 2012, when the government decided to cut the salaries of ministers and political appointment holders in response to the lowest percentage of votes the ruling PAP ever garnered at the 2011 GE, Ms Fu posted some rather unsettling comments on her Facebook page.
She wrote, “When I made the decision to join politics in 2006, pay was not a key factor. Loss of privacy, public scrutiny on myself and my family and loss of personal time were.”
“The disruption to my career was also an important consideration. I had some ground to believe that my family would not suffer a drastic change in the standard of living even though I experienced a drop in my income. So it is with this recent pay cut,” she added.
“If the balance is tilted further in the future, it will make it harder for any one considering political office.”
The issue of Ministerial wages was brought up again in 2018 when Emeritus Minister Goh Chok Tong told the residents that if these underwent significant cuts, Singapore will end up recruiting “very, very mediocre people” as officeholders.
But certainly, in other first-world countries, their political leaders do not think that they should be entitled to be paid high salaries.
For example, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is only paid an annual salary of US$281,047 or around S$386,521.
Contrast this with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who enjoys a paycheck almost 6 times as much, at S$2,200,000 annually.
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