ESM Goh says he does not receive ministerial salary
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has reiterated that he does not receive a ministerial salary.
"I shall use this opportunity to debunk public perception that I am paid a ministerial salary. ESM is merely a title with no pay," he wrote in a Facebook post yesterday, two days after government website Factually debunked online claims about ministerial pay.
The former prime minister said that since retiring from Cabinet in 2011, he continues to work for Singapore and use his stature to help raise awareness and funds for different groups of disadvantaged Singaporeans.
"Instead of threatening to get up from my grave when things go wrong, I prefer to contribute while still alive but without getting in the way of the younger leaders," he said, referencing a quote by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
"Moreover, I have no plans to do a Mahathir!" he added.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad made a comeback in May when he led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory at the general election.
Some people had asked him to do the same, ESM Goh had said at the annual Marine Parade National Day Dinner last month.
But Singapore does not need a former prime minister to come to its rescue, he had said then, citing how the country "has not done too badly" on international indexes in terms of healthcare and housing, among others.
At a separate residents' forum last month, ESM Goh had commented on ministerial salaries.
He said, in response to a question, that while giving more help to the elderly is not wrong, cutting ministers' pay to do so would make it harder to attract good people to join the Government in the future.
His remarks reignited the debate on ministerial salaries.
Website Factually debunked a claim that the prime minister is being paid $2.2 million a year as a base salary, excluding bonuses, and that he earns a total of $4.5 million. - ROYSTON SIM
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