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Goh Chok Tong says his Emeritus Senior Minister post comes with no pay

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong attending the 2018 National Day Parade. PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong attending the 2018 National Day Parade. PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Tuesday (18 September) that he doesn’t draw any salary for his current role.

In a post on his Facebook page, Goh clarified, “I shall use this opportunity to debunk public perception that I am paid a ministerial salary. ESM is merely a title 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑦.”

Goh referred to a separate post by Factually, in which the government website highlighted the “inaccurate reports about ministerial salaries circulating in recent weeks”. Factually’s post gave clarifications about the calculation of ministerial salary including that of Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong.

The Marine Parade GRC MP said, “Though retired from Cabinet since 2011, I continue to work for Singapore in various capacities and use my stature to help raise awareness and funds for different groups of disadvantaged Singaporeans. Instead of threatening to get up from my grave when things go wrong, I prefer to contribute while still alive but without getting in the way of the younger leaders.”

Last month, Goh sparked a heated debate on ministerial salary after a dialogue he had with South East District residents. During the dialogue, he said that ministers are not paid enough and also spoke about the difficulties in attracting top talent to join the government.

In his Facebook post, the 77-year-old former PM also debunked rumours that he might return to the political centrestage as a leader. Goh concluded his post with a smiley emoji and said, “Moreover, I have no plans to do a Mahathir (Mohamad)!”

Mahathir became Prime Minister of Malaysia for the second time after he led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory in the country’s general elections on 9 May.

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