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Missing the Point.

It is painful to read that there are people out there who scrutinises how much bonus other people should get. In an open letter to the Mayor of Northwest CDC, a blogger expressed his concern on the rumored eight-month bonus (including one-month AWS) which a Northwest CDC staff received in 2008. It is painful because I feel that considering that he is so concerned about the welfare of Singaporeans, his energy can be directed at other more meaningful activities which will benefit the mass.

Besides the fact that he had acted upon rumors, I think there are a few questions to be asked:

1) If it was not a recession, would he (or some reader) have questioned the amount of bonus a Northwest CDC staff should get? - Does it mean that at times of recession, everyone should suffer together? If one earns more than others, he/she should feel guilty and give up his/her wealth?

2) Does being civil servants mean getting less bonus because they their salaries are from tax payers' monies? - Bonuses are rewarded according to performances of staffs, the department and organisation as a whole. If his/her individual performance is really outstanding, then he/she should be rewarded accordingly. Being civil servants do not undermine the value of their work or deem them to be cheap labour. On the other hand, they should only be rightfully rewarded when they dispense their job with the best interest for the country, society, and beyond expectations of their performances. The hallmark of a meritocratic system. Moreover, it was bonus for performance before the recession.

3) Who is in the best position to judge how much the staff should get? - Does anyone of us know what his/her job entails? Is it a difficult job? How much effort does he/she put in his job? Do you know better? Why do you think you have the rights to question?

4) Who have the right to question how much a government body gives for bonus? - I suspect our society will be in a great mess if everyone calls upon themselves to scrutinise the bonus of every civil servant and write open letters if he/she feels it is unfair. Our society is run by law and order, and there is a check and balance system. We do our job, let the system do its job.

This is clearly not another case of
TT-Durai. Since the recession, this is just one of the many incidents (remember the S$15,500 Paris Le Cordon Bleu cooking lesson incident?) which civil servants come under the scrutiny of the public for money related matters. While some of the more vocal folks expressed their dissatisfaction, I am guessing the general public are more understanding. Is this a case of corruption or just another case of a civil servant being less than tactful about his/her bonus? I think the lesson for us is that, it is important to be mindful that money matters (such as salary and bonus) should be kept confidential, to avoid embarrassments or such incidents. In the bad times of recession, it is understandable that some people will feel unbalanced. Sometimes, we may get too critical about things and miss the point.

The recession seems like the perfect reason to stop rewarding employees and now there is another compelling reason to pacify some folks out there. But shouldn't we be rewarding our people even more (within our means), to work harder during the tough times?

Hopefully I did not offend anyone with my humble opinion or in turn caused any pain for them... :-p Here is another case of missing the point...

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