I have been thinking about the S$46,000 French cooking class taken by one of our Permanent Secretaries. Interestingly enough, most of my friends (most of whom are high-earning professionals) do not have a problem with Mr. P.S going for the holiday - it is money he has earned legitimately and it is for him to do with it as he pleases. I tend towards the same view, though there is something in the back of my tongue - something sour about the whole thing that I could not really identify. I don't think it is envy - partly at least because I cannot even imagine earning so much money, and partly because well, I am quite happy with where I am in life right now - I don't really feel the lack, money-wise. I may be a lesser mortal, MP Chong, but no, I don't think the slight unease I am feeling  is  envy.

It was over Chinese New Year that I realised that the backlash is really from the grassroots - the retirees, the middle management, the small business owners (i.e. most of my relatives who are still in Singapore) - they were scathing about the whole issue, and sound almost betrayed. I have never ever in my life heard my father so furious over anything government-related. For the first time ever, my relatives were urging me to leave Singapore since I actually have the ability to do so - Australia, China were listed as places I should be looking at. Some of them are already planting into their children the idea that they should try to obtain PR in other countries once they are able and then sponsor their parents for PR as well. It was strange - very strange, especially in the earlier years they usually tell me to marry and settle down and stop dreaming of leaving Singapore because this is a good place to live and "all your family and loved ones are here."

I was having my daily dose of the New York Times just now, and I think I found a passage that perhaps explains this surprising change of heart (save one, my relatives had been stauchly pro-government as long as I can remember) - the quote below is in relation to the bonuses paid to Wall Street bankers despite their role in plunging the global economy into its worst crisis since the Great Depression, but it is applicable here as well.

"“This has been building for 20 years,” said Richard C. Ferlauto, director of corporate governance for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “Regular working people haven’t gotten ahead in the economy. They understand that tremendous wealth has been created, and they say, ‘Where’s mine?’ ” He continued: “These guys seem to be living in another universe. So the symbolism of the umbrella stand and the private jet is powerful.” The umbrella stand, of course, was a reference to the $15,000 umbrella stand that the former Tyco chief executive Dennis Kozlowski bought with company funds — and that is part of the reason he is now behind bars." (emphasis added)

To apply it to our circumstances - it is the symbolism of the cooking class that has hit most people - the idea that while people like my parents and relatives, who are all honest hardworking peasants who spent within their means and saved religiously, found that escalating costs of living meant that they will be reliant on their children for the rest of their retirement and in event of extreme poverty, may obtain less than S$400 per month from social assistance, whereas high-ranking civil servants and politicans can splurge on exotic holidays that cost more than what most ordinary peasants can earn in a year. These guys live in such a different universe from most ordinary Singaporeans - how can we expect them to understand, really understand, the challenges Singaporeans face in their daily lives and implement policies that are beneficial to Singaporeans? Better perhaps to leave while it is possible to do so, or if not, get the children out.

Scarcely has the whole ballyhoo about a top civil servant and his family going on a five-week cooking class in Paris that cost around S$46,000 (exclusive of lodgings, air tickets etc), died down, one of our esteemed Members of Parliament put his foot in the mouth. By the way, if you not Singaporean, take note that a gross annual salary of S$48,000 puts you in the 76.5 percentile of the population in terms of salary for 2007.

Just in case you are too lazy to click the link below and read, I quote:

"MP Charles Chong noted that Mr Tan didn't 'brag' about how expensive the trip was in the article.

'Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought maybe he was a little bit boastful,' he said. "Would people have taken offence if his wife (a senior investment counsellor at a bank) had paid for everything?'" [emphasis mine].

MP Chong, I will be grateful if you can clarify what you are actually trying to say. Are you by any chance saying that your pay package determines whether you are a "greater" or "lesser" mortal? Or are you saying that a permanent secretary is a "greater" mortal than everyone else lower down the hierarchy?  Does it take a genius to realise that a public servant writing in the newspapers about a five-week holiday that cost more than the annual salary of more than three-quarters of the population (most of whom are not entitled to five-weeks of paid leave) is in very very bad taste, even in a boom year?

Remember, at the end of the day, however flawed our system of democracy is, we the peasants, are the ones who vote for you, MP Chong (yes I am in your constituency and I am currently quite inclined to make copies of that newspaper report and spend the Chinese New Year holidays stuffing copies into every single letterbox in Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC with the above quotes underlined and highlighted for ease of reference), and are the suckers who paid for your monthly MP allowance of S$13,900 and Mr. Tan's (evidently) top-ranked salary as taxpayers.

Seriously, what is wrong with our MPs and our elite public servants nowadays? Even if they are not the public-spirited persons they hold themselves out to be (and seriously, I have lived 30 years in this world and am not that naive) for heavens sake, common sense people, common sense!!! We are not even talking about political instinct here!

( A Lesser Mortal )

P.S. Just to make it clear where I stand on this. I don't give a hoot where or how Mr. Permanent Secretary spends his hard-earned salary - he got it through his gainful employment and he is entitled to spend it as he deems fit so long as it is legal. The amount of salary he commands is a separate issue that as far as I am concerned, irrelevant in this context. The bone I had with him is the sheer lack of tact and startling lack of understanding of our society he has demonstrated by publishing an article where he wrote almost boastfully about the cost of such a trip and of his management skills and ability. Subtly, understatement, humility - have these values been cast aside and forgotten?

P.P.S.  Even though I did not vote for MR Charles Chong in the last elections, nonetheless I apologise as a constituent of the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC for inflicting him on Singaporeans.