Former president does not have to return money: report
Former Singapore president S. R. Nathan will get pro-rated pay for service last year and will not have to return money to the government, according to the Public Service Division (PSD) in a statement on Wednesday, reported The Straits Times.
In a report released last week, the committee to review ministerial salaries recommended that the president's salary be cut to S$1.54 million from S$4.27 million as originally set aside in the budget for 2011.
ST quoted the PSD as saying, "Proper adjustments and pro-ration will be done, and the final amount paid to Mr Nathan will be based on the committee's recommendations."
The newspaper said it is understood that Nathan had not gotten bonuses in full.
Nathan had reportedly said before that he would adopt the new salary retroactive to 21 May last year when ministers were sworn in, although he had served until President Tony Tan took office on 1 September last year.
Aside from recommending the 51 per cent cut in the president's annual salary, the ministerial salary review committee said ministers salaries should be cut to S$1.1 million and pension benefits stripped. It recommended that the Singapore prime minister's salary, the highest of all government leaders in the world, be reduced by 36 per cent to S$2.2 million.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the government would adopt the recommended cuts effective retroactively to 21 May for the ministers and 1 September for the president.
