The Perks of Becoming an MP (with the winning party, of course!)

There are clear calls urging MPs to take their jobs seriously and devote themselves to MP-hood full-time.

TODAYonline | Voices | Draw a clear line between private and public, MPs

‎"I asked some business leaders from Australia whether it was common for MPs there to serve on boards of listed companies. They struggled to name a single MP sitting on a listed company board, and said that if they did, it may make it much more likely that they would lose their seat at the next political election as constituents expect their MPs to devote most of their time to their jobs as MPs." 

~ Associate Professor Mak Yuen Teen, NUS Business School

In Singapore, in addition to his/her own day job and MP duties, some MPs take up multiple directorships on the boards of different companies. If you look at the number of hours available on a per year basis, it is humanly impossible that any such MP could be paying much attention to the needs of their constituents.

So if one is so busy (and already making loads of money), why does one bother to take up MP duties?

What an MP gets in return

Apart from the intangibles and less visible (e.g. social status, rubbing shoulders with VVIPs, getting onto board of directors in private companies etc) which can lead to more (monetary) benefits, each MP minimally receives:
See Wikipedia entry for details.

(A) A monthly allowance
(B) Non-pensionable annual allowance (the 13th month bonus)
(C) An annual variable component that is paid in July and December each year.
(D) GDP-linked bonus
(E) Assistant(s) Allowance
(F) Pension (after 9 years of service)

(A) Monthly Allowance
The monthly allowance is tied to 56% of the salary of an Administrative Service officer at the SR9 grade – the entry grade for Singapore's top civil servants – which is itself benchmarked at the salary of the 15th person aged 32 years from six professions: banking, law, engineering, accountancy, multinational companies and local manufacturers.

By January 2008, the monthly allowance package is at SGD13,170 a month.
Total MP package amounts to about SGD225,000 per year.

This part-time income package alone places the MP in the top 5% of income-earners in Singapore. Imagine how much higher in that scale each MP is when his/her day job and directorships are taken into account.

(D) GDP-linked Bonus
A gross domestic product (GDP) bonus payable to civil servants is also extended to MPs to link their annual remuneration to the state of the economy.

If GDP growth was 2% or less, MP Bonus = 0
If GDP growth crosses 5%, MP Bonus = 1 Month
If GDP growth is at least 8%, MP Bonus = 2 Months

Hence, since Singapore GDP grew by 14% in 2010, the MPs will be getting 2 extra months of bonus.

Therefore, it can be said that MPs are primed to support and make pro-GDP growth decisions.

(E) Assistant(s) Allowance
MPs are also given allowances to engage legislative and secretarial assistants at SGD1,300 and SGD500 respectively.

(F) Pension
Persons who have reached the age of 50 years and retired as MPs and who have served in this capacity for not less than nine years may be granted a pension for the rest of their lives. The annual amount payable is 1⁄30 of the person's highest annual salary for every completed year of service and 1⁄360 for every uncompleted year, up to a ceiling of two-thirds of the Member's annual salary.
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In other words, being an MP is like being on the board of yet another company AND MORE. If you hang around long enough, you get a pension.

It's a damn good deal for the number of hours invested as a part-time job.
And even better when the definition of 'part-time' is ambiguous.

Meanwhile, little workers in factories and offices are scolded daily for a myriad of reasons, e.g. not clocking in and out on time, talking to their children on the phone, skiving on their jobs, taking tea breaks etc, causing 'losses' to their organisations. WAH! So serious leh!