Political appointments get 8.8% raise

Tucked beneath a most innocuous headline:

Despite inconclusive climate change talks in December, the Republic is nonetheless pushing ahead with more spending for a greener Singapore. Within the Government's expenditure estimates, which were released yesterday, green schemes featured notably as part of the new spending commitments in the year ahead.

Salaries for political appointments - ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries - are estimated to be $58.28 million, or 8.8 per cent higher than last year.

Either that headline is poorly written or deviously devised to make it sound like another boring headline in boring Singapore. But wait, what did our "political appointments" achieve to deserve an 8.8% pay raise, which in money terms made the salaries paid a cool $58.28 million?

We are now number 2 in the world when it comes to income unequality. That's an achievement, right? Or take your pick from a very comprehensive list provided here. And let's not even talk about paper losses borne by GIC and Temasek. They're, after all, only paper losses.

Such great achievements surely deserve its own headline rather than hidden away into an inconsequential article about climate change.

(h/t: Mr Brown)