The world’s best-paid politician is getting a $1 million pay rise

Singapore’s ministers are already among the world’s highest-paid politicians, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong earning more than four times US President Donald Trump’s annual government salary.

Now, Wong has been given a $1 million pay bump, with the wealthy city-state giving a big boost to ministers’ salaries for the first time in 15 years.

Announcing the pay hike in parliament Tuesday, the Singapore leader said the salary adjustment was necessary to attract talent to the public service, particularly as the gap in compensation between political leaders and private-sector executives has widened in recent years.

Wong’s annual pay package will rise nearly 64%, from S$2.2 million ($1.7 million) to S$3.6 million ($2.8 million), while other ministers will receive increases of up to 9%. Wong has pledged to donate his pay increase to charity for five years.

The Southeast Asian nation has long justified its generous political salaries as an important measure to curb corruption, which is rampant among some neighboring countries.

Singapore ranked third in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index , which measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption. In comparison, the United States was placed 29th.

The announcement sparked backlash on social media in a country where high ministerial salaries are a sensitive topic, with the median monthly income at S$5,775 ($4,500) last year.

“Given the economic uncertainty and the imminent technological disruptions at workplaces, (the) announcement could come across as being tone-deaf or even self-serving,” said Eugene Tan, a political analyst and associate law professor at Singapore Management University.

Tan added that while most Singaporeans recognize that ministerial salaries cannot rival top private sector pay, they still struggle emotionally to accept their leaders earning such high salaries.

Even before the increase, Wong’s paycheck eclipsed the $400,000 given to the US president annually before taxes, and far exceeded the second-highest paid leader, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s $719,000.

Wong acknowledged that it is a “difficult and emotive issue” which will attract close scrutiny.

“We cannot avoid this issue simply because it is politically difficult, and this is not just a matter of pay,” Wong said on Tuesday .

“It is ultimately about whether Singapore will continue to have the quality of political leadership we need to take our country forward and to serve Singaporeans well in the years ahead.”

When asked for further comment, Wong’s office referred CNN to an earlier government report on the review.

Wong’s ruling People’s Action Party has maintained an unbroken grip on power since 1959. The party is often lauded for steering the tiny nation toward economic prosperity but has also been criticized for suppressing dissent.

However, in 2011, rising living costs and discontent over inequality prompted pay cuts for ministers after the party’s share of the popular vote fell to its lowest level of any general election.

The newly announced sharp increase in pay is based on an independent committee’s recommendation, which benchmarks the top 1,000 Singaporean income earners in its calculation.

Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said it is unclear why political salaries should be pegged to such a small number of high earners.

“That sort of linkage could link the perspective of politicians more closely to the richest segment of Singapore society,” he said.

While graft cases in the public service are extremely rare in Singapore, suggesting that high salaries may help reduce incentives for corruption to some extent, Chong said they are “not completely foolproof.”

In 2024, former transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran was jailed for accepting more than $300,000 in gifts while in office.

“Very high levels of compensation may blunt the public service element of serving in political office, which should be key to elected officials,” Chong added.

新加坡的部长们已经是世界上收入最高的政治人物之一，其中总理黄循财的收入是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普年薪的四倍多。

现在，黄之锋的薪水增加了100万美元，这个富裕的城邦国家15年来首次大幅提高了部长们的薪水。

新加坡领导人周二在国会宣布加薪时表示，调整薪酬对于吸引人才加入公共服务部门是必要的，尤其是在近年来政治领导人和私营部门高管之间的薪酬差距不断扩大的情况下。

黄英贤的年薪将上涨近64%，从220万新元（170万美元）增至360万新元（280万美元），而其他部长的薪酬涨幅最高可达9%。黄英贤承诺将在未来五年内把涨薪部分捐赠给慈善机构。

这个东南亚国家长期以来一直将其慷慨的政治薪酬视为遏制腐败的重要措施，而腐败在一些邻国却十分猖獗。

在透明国际发布的2025年全球清廉指数中，新加坡排名第三，该指数衡量公众对公共部门腐败程度的感知。相比之下，美国排名第29位。

该消息在社交媒体上引发了强烈反弹，因为在新加坡，部长级高薪是一个敏感话题，去年部长级月收入中位数为 5775 新元（4500 美元）。

“鉴于经济的不确定性和工作场所即将面临的技术变革，（这项）声明可能会显得不合时宜，甚至是自私自利，”新加坡管理大学政治分析家兼副法学教授陈永健表示。

陈先生补充说，虽然大多数新加坡人都明白部长级官员的薪水无法与私营部门高管的薪酬相提并论，但他们仍然难以接受自己的领导人获得如此高的薪水。

即使在加薪之前，黄之锋的年薪也超过了美国总统每年税前 40 万美元的薪水，远远超过了收入第二高的领导人——香港特首李显龙的 71.9 万美元。

黄之锋承认这是一个“棘手且容易引发情绪波动的问题”，必将受到密切关注。

“我们不能因为这个问题在政治上难以回避，这不仅仅是薪酬问题，”黄周二表示。

“归根结底，这关乎新加坡能否继续拥有我们所需的高质量政治领导层，以带领国家向前发展，并在未来几年更好地服务新加坡人民。”

当被要求进一步置评时，黄之锋的办公室让 CNN 参考此前政府发布的审查报告。

黄之锋领导的人民行动党自1959年以来一直保持着执政地位。该党经常因带领这个小国走向经济繁荣而受到赞扬，但也因镇压异议而受到批评。

然而，2011 年，由于生活成本上升和民众对不平等的不满，该党在普选中的得票率降至历届大选的最低水平，部长们被迫减薪。

最新宣布的大幅加薪是根据一个独立委员会的建议做出的，该委员会在计算中以新加坡收入最高的 1000 名人群为基准。

新加坡国立大学政治学家张嘉彦表示，政治人物的薪水为何要与少数高收入者挂钩，这一点尚不清楚。

他说：“这种联系可以将政治家的观点与新加坡社会中最富裕阶层的观点更紧密地联系起来。”

虽然新加坡公共部门的贪污案件极其罕见，这表明高薪可能在一定程度上有助于减少腐败的动机，但钟先生表示，高薪“并非完全万无一失”。

2024年，前交通部长苏布拉马尼亚姆·伊斯瓦兰因在任期间收受超过30万美元的礼物而被判入狱。

“过高的薪酬可能会削弱担任政治职务的公共服务性质，而这对于民选官员来说至关重要，” Chong补充道。