Daddy Big Bucks

Daddy's civil service salary is paying for all this

Court records in Manhattan Supreme Court show that Melissa Chin, a scholar in molecular biology at Boston University, and IT consultant husband Steve Choi have dropped their case against David Tutera, U.S. celebrity wedding planner for her US$300,000 over-the-top bash at Singapore's 5-star Shangri-La Hotel on 22 Aug 2010.

“Chin herself asked for publicity but requested that the dollar amount her family spent was not made public in respect to her father’s political position,” said Tutera, detailing that he bailed because Chin's dad griped about the bloated budget when he called about a missed payment. "There is no more money," the dad supposedly said. "Don't get on the plane." Tutera was promised a US$100,000 deposit, 4 round-trip tickets from New York plus 6 six nights at the Shangri-La.

The civil servant in the affair presumably was reminded of the brickbats Permanent Secretary Tan Yong Soon received for bragging about his S$45,000 holiday, cooking pastries with wife and kid at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. His boss had to apologize for his political insensitivity, "Taking 5 weeks' leave from work is not as difficult as one thinks." Even MP Charles Chong was mired in the crossfire with his own odious remark, "Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought he was a little boastful." Lesser mortals at Joo Chiat please take note. Outgoing MP Chan Soo Sen's fan base at Ho San Kong Hoey clan may need help with the translation.

The unidentified civil probably was not in danger of being bankrupted by David Tutera's final bill, not unless he was planning to out spend Burma's Senior General Than Shwe in the 2006 ostentatious wedding for his daughter, Thandar Shwe. A recent Forum letter writer from Colorado penned, "We have had a government ranked among the highest for being corruption-free." There is certainly no need to grease any wheels in Singapore to get things done, not when the grease comes ready packaged with the job appointment. One can almost see the rehash of an old Italian joke in the works. How do you get a free oil change and a grease job? Answer: run over a fat Singapore civil servant.

Sadly, the joke is ultimately on us. The back page of today's ST is listing top salaries in the private sector. Which means the greedy buggers are already hinting that they are underpaid, never mind if they are cost centers and the bankers are profit centers.