Anyways, payroll is not the major reason the govt is 'going broke'...
Agree in principle that paying the public sector leadership well makes a lot of sense... the complaints in the UK whenever someone suggests MPs should be paid more drives me mad. It is so obvious we should at least double the pay and halve the number of representatives.
But I never get the sense here that there's a prestige associated with working in the administration like there is in Singapore. And that's even before it became entirely toothless over the last 12 months. Shoes have been shined to the point there's nothing left to shine.
Last edited by Coolboy; 07-12-2020 at 11:31 AM.
It used to be more prestigious in the past (the colonial era), because a local getting into the civil service means he or she can essential get a job for life with cushy pay and benefit. They don't have to worry about being laid off or being unemployed with no income for prolonged periods of time, as being in the government means they are shielded from the changes in economic fortunes that everyone else is exposed to.
After the handover however, pay and benefits have been cut drastically for civil servants. The newer junior ranks also don't get the same iron rice bowl that their seniors enjoyed. Plus the fact political demands now often trump professional competence, and the net result is that the civil service is a lot less attractive than the pre-handover era.
Last edited by Coolboy; 07-12-2020 at 11:42 AM.
Yes, that's the case for the junior ranks. But for the senior ranks, private companies do hire them after they retire or leave the civil service. The firms like the fact these ex-senior officials understand the ins and outs of government administration as well as connections to powerful figures in government. They want to use that to their advantage, for example, when they compete for a tender to provide product and services to the government.
Yes, there is supposed to be reviews over conflict of interest and the officials are supposed to undergo a period where they cannot be hired immediately after leaving the civil service. But the perception remains that certain firms have too close and rather unhealthy ties to government thanks to these ex-officials sitting on their board.