Tan See Leng reflects on leaving private sector amid ministerial pay debate: 'I just felt I had to give back to the country'

A gradual and growing inner realisation that his private sector experience could perhaps be put to good use — beyond building an organisation and changing lives — led Minister Tan See Leng to consider giving back to Singapore.

"I just felt I had to give back to the country and the people who had given me so much," he said during the parliamentary debate on political salaries on Thursday (Sept 10), as he reflected on the personal and financial sacrifices in leaving the private sector for public service.

Among the minister's sacrifices was remuneration.

"No realistic level of ministerial salary could have matched what I was earning before I joined the government," said the former practising doctor, who went on to take up top leadership positions in the healthcare sector.

According to publicly available records, Dr Tan received an annual remuneration of RM34 million (S$10.6 million) as group chief executive officer and managing director of IHH Healthcare Berhad in 2018.

In comparison, a ministerial political office holder at the MR4 grade has an existing annual wage of $1.1 million — unchanged since 2011.

Following the Government's acceptance of a new benchmark level proposed by the independent committee — that reviewed the salary structure of political office holders earlier this year — this now becomes $1.2 million, if a full one-off adjustment of nine per cent is applied.

Sacrifices and costs

The 61-year-old minister, who entered politics in 2020, also pointed out that it could be challenging to attract young professional executives who have spent years, or even decades, building their careers and providing for their loved ones if entry into the public service comes at too high a personal cost.

He noted that entering public service requires considerable changes to their lives such as future opportunities and personal goals.

Then, there is also privacy and the sacrifices involving their families and loved ones, Dr Tan added.

But he also caveated that there is no question that public service should not, and must never be motivated by money.

Putting the matter into perspective, the minister said that the debate is about whether Singapore can continue to have people of ability, experience and integrity from every walk of life in political service.

"If we make entry into the public service come at too high a personal cost for too many capable Singaporeans, then over time, we will indeed narrow the pool from which our country can draw its leaders from, and members of the House.

"That would be a far greater cost than any salary we debate in this house," he cautioned.

Responsibility to Singapore's future

Doubling down on the point, Dr Tan emphasised that their responsibility in the debate is to make sure that it does not become unnecessarily harder or progressively more difficult for younger Singaporeans in the private sector to step forward.

"At the end of the day, the strength of our government depends not on what we pay those who serve, but on whether we can continue to recruit the best people to serve," he said.

Dr Tan's reflections were echoed by Dr Haresh Singaraju, also a physician by training.

He noted that through the past 61 years, Singapore has been led by people who are able to make hard decisions in the interest of the Republic.

In turn, two of the most challenging questions have been who leads the country next, and how they are paid.

And while salaries do not make such people, it decides whether enough of them come forward, said the Nominated MP.

陈思龙部长逐渐意识到，他在私营部门的经验或许可以得到很好的利用——除了建立组织和改变人们的生活之外——这促使他考虑回馈新加坡。

“我只是觉得我必须回报这个国家和人民，他们给了我这么多，”他在周四（9 月 10 日）议会就政治薪酬问题进行辩论时说道，同时反思了离开私营部门投身公共服务所带来的个人和经济牺牲。

部长做出的牺牲之一是放弃薪酬。

“任何部长级的薪水都不可能与我加入政府之前的收入相提并论，”这位前执业医生说道，他后来在医疗保健领域担任了高级领导职务。

根据公开记录，陈医生在 2018 年担任 IHH Healthcare Berhad 集团首席执行官兼董事总经理期间，年薪为 3400 万令吉（1060 万新元）。

相比之下，MR4 级部长级政治官员的年薪为 110 万美元，自 2011 年以来一直保持不变。

政府接受了独立委员会提出的新基准水平——该委员会于今年早些时候审查了政治官员的薪酬结构——如果一次性调整 9%，则该基准水平现在变为 120 万美元。

牺牲和代价

这位 61 岁的部长于 2020 年步入政坛，他还指出，如果进入公共服务部门的个人代价太高，那么吸引那些花费数年甚至数十年建立事业、养家糊口的年轻专业高管可能会面临挑战。

他指出，进入公共服务领域需要对他们的生活进行相当大的改变，例如未来的机遇和个人目标。

谭医生补充说，此外，还有隐私问题，以及他们的家人和爱人所做出的牺牲。

但他同时强调，毫无疑问，公共服务不应该，也绝不能以金钱为动机。

部长从宏观角度分析说，这场辩论的焦点在于新加坡能否继续让各行各业有能力、有经验、有操守的人在政治服务领域发挥作用。

“如果我们让太多有能力的的新加坡人付出过高的个人代价才能进入公共服务领域，那么随着时间的推移，我们确实会缩小我们国家能够选拔领导人和国会议员的人才库。”

“那将比我们在这个议院讨论的任何薪水都要高得多，”他警告说。

对新加坡未来负有责任

陈博士进一步强调，他们在辩论中的责任是确保不会让新加坡私营部门的年轻员工面临不必要的困难，或者说，不会让这些困难逐渐加剧。

他说：“归根结底，我们政府的实力不在于我们给公职人员支付多少薪水，而在于我们能否继续招募到最优秀的人才来为国效力。”

Tan 医生的想法得到了同样受过专业训练的医生 Haresh Singaraju 医生的赞同。

他指出，在过去的61年里，新加坡一直由那些能够为了共和国的利益做出艰难决定的人领导。

反过来，两个最具挑战性的问题就是谁来领导这个国家，以及他们的薪酬如何。

这位指定议员表示，虽然薪水并不能造就这些人，但它决定了是否会有足够多的人站出来。