Sacrificing The Big Bucks

When Tin Pei Ling (member of parliament, Marine Parade GRC) resigned from her business consultant job in Ernst & Young in June 2011, she had only four years of working experience. The question on every body's mind was what she could contribute to her "responsibilities as full time MP in her MacPherson ward." People queuing up for assistance at the meet the people sessions (MPS) to consult their MPs for advice about errant employers bent on exploiting labour will prefer one who also faces the same harsh realities of day to day subsistence. Wong Kan Seng in 2006 had this perspective that a full-time MP would "lose contact with people in business, lose contact with foreigners who come to Singapore."

Last month Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC MP ) resigned from her position as a senior banker at Standard Chartered after 19 years - last assignment was Global Head of Priority and International Banking - to "spend more time with the Ayer Rajah constituents on exciting projects”. Presumably she will share war stories from her "exciting and fulfilling journey with the bank, which has taken me across many functions, many businesses, and many countries." Plus, she still gets to sit in on her employer's meetings, albeit in a non-executive role in the bank. A finger on the pulse of the corporate world.

Baey Yam Keng (Tampines GRC MP) also left his day job before the end of the year. A curious move, since most Singaporeans will wait for the year end bonus before handing in their dear john letter. But then Baey did contribute to quite a bit of negative PR when he publicly empatised with Sun Xu, and asked our citizens to reflect on their canine attributes. His Facebook postings are classic examples of what not to write in social media.

Baey did contribute to solving the puzzle about the exodus of the PAP MPs from the working world, he says the move "means a cut in his total income of over 50 percent". Meaning, his MP allowance pays as much as his Managing Director post at public relations firm Hill and Knowlton. The committee to review ministers' salaries had recommended only a 3 per cent pay cut for Members of Parliament, resulting in a monthly allowance, a thirteenth month bonus and a Annual Variable Component (AVC) which adds up $192,500. Not bad for once a week MPS work as petition writer.

The interesting bit is that opposition member Chen Show Mao's name has been roped in to lend legitimacy for the "big sacrifice".  The big difference is that Chen, named one of American Lawyer’s 2010 "Dealmakers of the Year" in April 2011,  left the corporate world to throw his hat into the uncertainty of the epic battle at Aljunied. A fight that threatened the constituents there with years spent in repentance. Let's not compare pears with rotting apples.