Is this person fit to earn $15,000 per month?

@scheng1 (24650)
Singapore
May 8, 2011 4:47am CST
The member of parliament in Singapore earns a monthly salary of $15,000 per month. In the recent election, a 27 years old, Tin Pei Ling, joined a term of veteran politicians from the ruling party to contest in a group constituency. As a result, she together with the veteran politicians were voted into parliament. All of them will earn a monthly salary of $15,000 for the next five years. Most of the non-ministers members retain their full time employment, so they have double income. When asked about her greatest regret, her answer was that she had not brought her parents to Universal Studios in Singapore. Her answer to the question of what policy she would change, her answer was that she did not feel strongly against any policy. Her election campaign was on stability and hard work. She could not answer what stability and what areas she wanted to work hard. Is she fit to earn $15,000 per month as a Member of Parliament? Would you expect the Member of Parliament in your country to be of a higher caliber? Her only achievement so far was her marriage to the Principal Private Secretary to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
4 responses
@dream_ozn (1754)
• Singapore
8 May 11
Hi Scheng1, I too live in singapore and can relate well to who you are refering to. I find TPL definitely someone who is unfit to be earning that amount of income. I further believe that she do not have the caliber to govern singapore at all. she does not have the ability to govern her GRC. If not for SM Goh, I doubt she would be able to win. It is really a wrong choice for the PAP to put her as a candidate. Perhaps it was her only achievement which gave her the chance to be a candidate.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
9 May 11
Hi Dream_ozn, that is why the whole Singapore is ablaze with angry people. Since the newspaper tells us how stringent the selection process is, the question really is: How can PAP select her out of more than three hundred candidates? If the ruling party selects people because of special relation to somebody, then something is seriously wrong. Even in a family run business, the useless son will not get a high paying post. Many family businesses prefer to hire outsiders to do the actual work, and the family members just form part of the committee to govern the management team.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
10 May 11
Hi Dream_ozn, she should have proven her worth before the election. Even Goh Chok Tong starts to blame her for the lower percentage in term of votes already. If she cannot even handle media, how can she cope with the stress of being a MP? If she cannot even mention a single policy that she wants to change, or improve, what use is this kind of person in parliament? I think if she is not the wife of the private secretary of Lee Hsien Loong, and is just a normal grassroot member, she would never get a chance!
@dream_ozn (1754)
• Singapore
9 May 11
For that, i have no idea. You gave me a point to think of too. The PAP has so far been good at selecting candidate. With their stringent policies in place, they definitely will choose someone with caliber. Perhaps we should really give her a chance.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
8 May 11
She doesn't seem to know much about the job--is this an election by the people? I thought the people of Singapore were more intelligent than that. It reminds me of our 2008 presidential election...the voters elected a man who talked a lot but said nothing, who made people feel good but had no concrete plans on how to achieve his lofty goals. Sounds like you guys fell for the same crap. No, she doesn't deserve her salary.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
8 May 11
Hi Dragon54u, actually nobody wants to elect her. The structure is at fault here. We have a group constituency thing. That means the whole group of five members fight for the control of the group constituency. If the people elect, they have to elect the whole group.
@dream_ozn (1754)
• Singapore
8 May 11
YES, nobody wants her to be elected. But the people in the area have no choice. because it was a group representative constituency. LIke what you mention scheng1, it's the structure fault.
@UmiNoor (4483)
• Malaysia
9 May 11
I wonder if the PM and SM Goh thought that TPL was worth the loss of BG George Yeo. The GRC system is at fault, definitely. PAP thought that they could get new blood in by inviting these new faces to join forces with veteran politicians. I guess their plan backfired when they lost Aljunied. And to think that SM Goh blamed the small difference in votes his GRC received over the opposition to the presence of TPL. He allowed TPL to join his team and when his team got a not so satisfactory number of votes, he said "TPL is a factor". I wonder how TPL feel about being blamed for the poor performance of SM Goh's team. This shows that those in power realize that TPL isn't MP material but because they only wanted to fill the parliament with YES men/women, TPL was the perfect choice. We should pity her because she's just a pawn in this political game played by the government. And the $15,000 a month that she will be getting is just a pittance considering that she's going to become the scapegoat and will be blamed for everything when anything wrong happens in the future. Mark my word.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
9 May 11
Hi UmiNoor, if not for her relationship with the private secretary of Lee Hsien Loong, she would never get the chance. While I can see her good qualities, such as her respect and love for persons older than her, and her love for her parents, i cannot see how PAP can be so blind as to choose her. TPL and Mah Bow Tan are the two factors for the drop in votes. If Mah Bow Tan announces his retirement, PAP will get better votes. Comparing TPL to Nicole Seah, is like compared hell and heaven. Nicole is younger, from humbler background, yet she is so wise and mature.
@millertime (1394)
• United States
14 May 11
It sounds like your politicians are as corrupt and overpaid as ours here in the U.S. It must be nice to rake in 15 grand per month for a job that she sounds unqualified for. It sounds like she got the position by riding the coattails of other politicians so maybe she got the position as a political favor or who she knew and qualifications had little to do with it. What a waste. It seems as if politics is politics no matter what country you're in.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
14 May 11
Hi Millertime, that is why the votes for the ruling party is the lowest in history. Singapore government used to have a reputation of integrity. Now it seems that the ruling party is getting substandard people into parliament. The people here are furious about it. Over 35,000 online petitions for this useless person to resign. The government takes no notice. In one ward, the candidates for the ruling party were voted out. The candidates included two ministers, one of them the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is not their fault at all. They are good people, but the opposition party makes it a national battle, and the people choose opposition party. The people are sick of the government sucking so much money from us, when the government is so rich.