COVID-19 Budget: President, political office holders to take 3 months pay cut — DPM Heng

·Editor

Updated 26 March 2020 at 5:10 am·2-min read

Heng Swee Keat presenting Budget 2020 in Parliament, 18 Feb. (Source: Screen shot from MOF video)

SINGAPORE — The President and all political office holders will be taking a total pay cut of three months in a show of solidarity with Singaporeans amid the immense challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Thursday (26 March).

The announcement by Heng, when he unveiled a $48 billion Resilience Budget to combat the pandemic in Parliament, comes almost a month after he revealed that President Halimah Yacob and all political office holders would take a one month pay cut in his Budget 2020 speech on 28 February.

Heng said on Thursday, “The government and the political leadership are in this with Singaporeans. We share the worries and anxieties of Singaporeans, and we will do our best for them. We will walk with every Singaporean, through every up and down.”

Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin along with Deputy Speakers Charles Chong and Lim Biow Chuan will also be taking a three-month pay cut, said Heng.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

COVID-19 Budget: Cash payouts for Singaporeans tripled to $300-$900

COVID-19 Budget: President Halimah gives approval to draw on reserves for relief package

COVID-19 Budget: SGUnited Jobs Initiative to create 10,000 more jobs over next 1 year

COVID-19 Budget: $145 million set aside for those who lose their jobs

COVID-19 Budget: $800 monthly grant for those jobless due to pandemic

COVID-19 Budget: $120 million to help taxi and private-hire car drivers

COVID-19 Budget: Study loan payments suspended for 1 year for uni, poly students

BuzzFeed
31 Non-Sexual Things Men Do That Are Are A Huge Turn-On For Women, And I Agree With Every Single One Of These
"Women LOVE when you pay attention to this."
The Daily Beast
Trump Didn’t Bother Telling Mel Gibson About His New Job
Mel Gibson is just as surprised as you are. The controversial Hollywood star apparently found out about his new diplomatic posting at the same time as the rest of the world when President-elect Donald Trump announced he would be appointing actors Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Gibson as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. In true Trump fashion, he said the new roles were part of his effort to the American film industry “bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
The Independent
American killed fellow Goldsmiths student ‘after she urged him to take an STI test after sex’, court told
Joshua Michals is accused of leaving partner and fellow student Zhe Wang to die in a ‘pool of blood’
The Independent
Trump names and shames 11 people on his White House blacklist for second administration
The list includes some of Trump’s well known ‘enemies’ who served in his first administration
Cinema Online
Li Jing says sorry for blurting out identity of Jeannie Hsieh's child's alleged father
The TV personality says she thought that the man's identity is public knowledge
SETHLUI.COM
Singapore’s only Chinese-American restaurant since 1990 ceasing operations on 1 Mar 2025
The post Singapore’s only Chinese-American restaurant since 1990 ceasing operations on 1 Mar 2025 appeared first on SETHLUI.com.
The Independent
'Zip it!': Tui flight attendant praised for reaction to racist remarks as flight erupts into chaos
The flight attendant said she would call the pilots and the police if the chaos continued
People
Mom Washes Dirt Out of Sons' Mouths and Vacuums It Off Her Floor. Days Later, She Learns It Wasn't Dirt (Exclusive)
The mom of three turned her back for just a minute
The Telegraph
Hapless Antony coughs up a miss of the season contender against Southampton
He’s been the £80 million signing who has turned into a figure of fun among football fans – but Antony’s Manchester United career hit a new low with this contender for miss of the season in the victory over Southampton.
The Daily Beast
Trump’s Inauguration Invites Are Huge Middle Finger to Biden
Donald Trump has fired a defiant riposte to Joe Biden’s parting warning that a tech titan oligarchy is threatening America’s democracy. The president-elect has invited the world’s wealthiest billionaires to join his family and former U.S. presidents in prime positions on the dais for Monday’s inauguration ceremony. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Shou Zi Chew will take pride of place outside the Capitol in a clear show of money power behind the new administration.
The Telegraph
Joshua Zirkzee was a monumental misfit reduced to tears – now he is a game-changer
He did not score. He did not even come close to scoring. It was emphatically hat-trick man Amad Diallo who was Manchester United’s matchwinner. But it was Joshua Zirkzee who was the game-changer against Southampton. What a difference from the last time he was on the pitch at Old Trafford just 17 days ago.
INSIDER
No one does daring fashion like Zendaya. Photos show the boldest looks she's worn.
Zendaya has become a style icon. Here's a look at the most daring outfits she's ever worn, from see-through dresses to silver armor.
The Independent
A 13-year-old student in New Jersey fathered a child with his teacher, 34, authorities allege
Laura Caron, 34, a former college basketball star, was arrested Wednesday and charged with abusing a student from the age of 11 years old while they lived with her at her home in Cape May, NJ
Reuters
Nvidia CEO says not attending Trump's inauguration
Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang said on Friday he will not be attending U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, but will instead be "on the road" celebrating the Lunar New Year with employees and their families. Asked by reporters outside Nvidia's new year party in Taipei whether he had talked with the incoming Trump administration about the new artificial intelligence export control rules the outgoing Biden administration unveiled this week, Huang said, "not yet". He also said he had met C.C. Wei, the chairman of Nvidia's main supplier TSMC for lunch where they talked about ramping up production of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips Blackwell.
Cosmopolitan
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness's Divorce Is Getting "Messy" Thanks to No Prenup and a "Huge Amount of Money"
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness's divorce is getting super messy thanks to their lack of prenup and a "j\huge amount of money."
The Hill
Democratic senator on Biden’s farewell plea: ‘Now he tells us’
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said statements in President Biden’s farewell speech came much too late in a Thursday statement, raising question with the commander in chief’s parting remarks. “Now he tells us. Biden speaks out against dark money, for climate action, and for SCOTUS term limits. I pressed four years for this speech,” Whitehouse posted…
The Telegraph
Transgender girl stabbed by Snapchat gang, court hears
A transgender girl was repeatedly stabbed by a group of masked youths after lying about her gender and then performing a sex act on a boy, a court has heard.
The Hill
Journalist disrupts Blinken press conference: ‘How does it feel for your legacy to be genocide?’
Two journalists disrupted Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s last press briefing Thursday with criticism over his handling of the war in Gaza. “Your father-in-law was an Israel lobbyist. Your grandfather was an Israel lobbyist. Are you compromised by Israel? Why did you allow the Holocaust of our time to happen?” Max Blumenthal, editor of the blog Grayzone, asked…
People
Mom Says Daughter Was Invited on a Friend's Family Vacation — Then She Received a Huge Bill from the Parents
“I assumed they would only charge us for her food and activities like zip lining. Nope,” wrote the surprised mom in a post on Reddit
Hello!
Dua Lipa is the ultimate party girl in nude bralette
The Levitating singer shared a tribute to Simon Porte Jacquemus - see more

Latest stories