Should we pay political leaders more?

What's the justification for this huge pay rise? What, like, when was the last time that they got, I guess, a pay rise of this sort?

This doesn't happen very often, and that's because every time it does happen, it creates a huge outcry in Singapore.

Uh, the last time it did happen was back in 2007.

Uh, the previous prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, back then he raised, uh, salaries, uh, for ministers by about 60%.

Wow.

So that was quite a big...

Yes, that was a lot.

I would love that.

[laughs]

[laughs] I think a lot of us would like that.

Um, so that was a big thing.

Um, and in the election after that, uh, y- they, his party saw a rather big dip in, uh, voter percentages.

So, uh, the year after that, in about 2012, they actually slashed ministerial salaries and they haven't touched, uh, the amounts, uh, that these ministers are paid for years until now.

now.I guess that's why the, the big rise that we're seeing.

But we wanted to put this in context, uh, so we created this chart of global leaders and their salaries and how much more they're getting in comparison to an ordinary worker in that country.

So for those of you listening, the top of the list, as we've been talking about it, is Singapore.

Uh, 2.85 million US dollars.

That's 52 times the country's median income.

Number two is another financial hub in this part of the world, Hong Kong, but 720,000 US dollars.

So we're putting all of this in US dollars, uh, for the ease of comparison, but that's nowhere near in comparison to Singapore, for example.

Number three is Switzerland, about 600,000 US.

And then you have countries like Australia, US, Japan, UK, all between about 200,000 to 400,000.

And in this part of the world, Singapore's neighbors like Malaysia, Indonesia, they're paying about 50 to 60,000 US dollars for their leaders.

What's interesting though, China's almost at the bottom of the list.

Uh, 22,000 US dollars is what Xi Jinping is paid for.

What's the justification for this huge pay rise? What, like, when was the last time that they got, I guess, a pay rise of this sort?

This doesn't happen very often, and that's because every time it does happen, it creates a huge outcry in Singapore.

Uh, the last time it did happen was back in 2007.

Uh, the previous prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, back then he raised, uh, salaries, uh, for ministers by about 60%.

Wow.

So that was quite a big...

Yes, that was a lot.

I would love that.

[laughs]

[laughs] I think a lot of us would like that.

Um, so that was a big thing.

Um, and in the election after that, uh, y- they, his party saw a rather big dip in, uh, voter percentages.

So, uh, the year after that, in about 2012, they actually slashed ministerial salaries and they haven't touched, uh, the amounts, uh, that these ministers are paid for years until now.

now.I guess that's why the, the big rise that we're seeing.

But we wanted to put this in context, uh, so we created this chart of global leaders and their salaries and how much more they're getting in comparison to an ordinary worker in that country.

So for those of you listening, the top of the list, as we've been talking about it, is Singapore.

Uh, 2.85 million US dollars.

That's 52 times the country's median income.

Number two is another financial hub in this part of the world, Hong Kong, but 720,000 US dollars.

So we're putting all of this in US dollars, uh, for the ease of comparison, but that's nowhere near in comparison to Singapore, for example.

Number three is Switzerland, about 600,000 US.

And then you have countries like Australia, US, Japan, UK, all between about 200,000 to 400,000.

And in this part of the world, Singapore's neighbors like Malaysia, Indonesia, they're paying about 50 to 60,000 US dollars for their leaders.

What's interesting though, China's almost at the bottom of the list.

Uh, 22,000 US dollars is what Xi Jinping is paid for.