PM Wong, Chan Chun Sing to deliver ministerial statements on government's response to political office holders' salary review

SINGAPORE: The review of political office holders' salaries will be in focus when parliament sits on Tuesday (Sep 8).Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong as well as Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing will deliver the government's response to the review of salaries for political appointment holders and members of parliament. The ministerial statements will be debated under standing order 44 on Thursday.Under the standing order, no amendments are allowed and the motion will not be put to a vote. In January, Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing said that an independent committee had been convened to review the salaries of political office holders.The salary framework covers the pay of all political appointment holders as well as MPs and NMPs.In May, Mr Chan said that the committee had completed its work, but the government had decided to defer consideration of its recommendations due to the uncertainty caused by the Middle East conflict. The government will release the committee's report together with its response at an appropriate time, he said then. The salary framework and political salaries have not been adjusted since they took effect in May 2011. The current salary framework was established by a review committee in 2012, with the government agreeing with its recommendation that the framework would be reviewed by an independent committee every five years.A subsequent committee was formed in 2017 to review the 2012 framework. It found that the framework remained sound, and that political salaries should be adjusted annually in line with the movement of the benchmark salaries.Nevertheless, the government decided not to make any changes to political salaries then.In 2023, the government decided to defer the scheduled review given the uncertain external environment, and the downside risks in the global economy at that time.SIA-AIR INDIA DEALMP Kenneth Tiong (WP-Aljunied) filed a question on whether losses from Singapore Airlines' foreign associates have been assessed against its capacity to provide essential transport services, given that it is a designated operating entity under the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act 2009. He also asked whether such losses, or a continuing pattern of losses, would trigger the Act's notification requirement, under which a designated operating entity must inform CAAS of any event that could materially impede its ability to provide an essential transport service.Scrutiny over SIA’s investment in the airline has grown after a Reuters report last month cited sources as saying that Air India is seeking a further US$1.5 billion in support from owners Tata Sons and SIA, just months after it posted a record annual loss.SIA owns 25.1 per cent of Air India. Following the report, an SIA spokesperson said that the board would "carefully consider any requests for additional capital from Air India, taking into consideration the group's other capital requirements and Air India's business strategy".Temasek, the majority shareholder of SIA, has also backed the airline’s investment in Air India, but did not address whether it would support any capital contribution by SIA to Air India. On Sep 5, Mr Tiong defended his criticism of SIA's investment in Air India, saying his concerns were "purely commercial".This came in response to comments by Senior Minister K Shanmugam, who condemned "shameful" racist and xenophobic online comments related to the Nepal-Tibet disaster and SIA’s investment in Air India.