Competitive ministerial pay in Singapore is one of the factors that helps deal with the problem of corruption in the country, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Singapore fourth least corrupt in the world

PM Lee was responding to a question by American billionaire and philanthropist David Rubenstein at an online dialogue held on Tuesday, July 28, by U.S. think tank Atlantic Council.

Rubenstein had asked about the high ministerial salaries in Singapore as compared to relatively lower salaries of government officials in the U.S.

Saying that the country still has the problem of corruption, PM Lee said the government has come across such officials from time to time, some of whom hold quite high positions, who succumbed to temptation.

For those cases, the government had to act against them zealously, even though it might be embarrassing or awkward, he said.

Otherwise, that is the end of the system, he added.

Singapore was ranked the fourth least corrupt country in the world out of 180 countries in 2019 by Transparency International, a global non-governmental organisation that tries to combat corruption.

It is the only Asian country ranked in the top 10, alongside Denmark, New Zealand and Finland.

A system that "works for Singapore"

Although he acknowledged that it is not without its controversies, PM Lee said it is a system that works for Singapore.

He said it is "best to pay the person according to what he is worth, and according to what he is contributing".

He said:

"If you don't do that, either you compromise on the quality of your civil service, or people will find ways to make up and compensate, camouflage forms of compensation, or you have a revolving door and you have something when you go out, after you retire, and that will lead to other kinds of big problems."

PM Lee also it is important for the country to be open and honest on this very difficult problem, but also to make sure that public officers are paid comparatively to the private sector.

He further said those holding political leadership roles are paid "a significant discount" as compared to the private sector, but not such a huge discount that it becomes "unwearable", he said.

Wants to hand Singapore in good shape to successor

PM Lee answered a few more questions on Singapore's domestic politics as well.

On political succession, PM Lee said while he has hoped to hand over the position by the time he is 70 years old, his plans were derailed by the Covid-19 outbreak, which he said has "taken us all by surprise".

He said he will have to "see Singapore through and hand over Singapore in good shape into good hands".

He also said while his party did not win as much of the popular vote as they would have liked, they have been given a "clear mandate" to lead the country.

Government had to shift its position on wearing masks as signs became "clearer"

When asked if there is any controversy on wearing masks in the country, PM Lee said wearing of masks is mandatory in Singapore.

Explaining the shift in the government's stance towards wearing masks, he said the country discouraged people from wearing masks at first as the government thought the signs did not suggest it was necessary.

Furthermore, making the wearing of masks mandatory might alarm people, he said.

But as the signs became clearer, the government had to change its position, he said, which explains why it is now a requirement for everyone to wear masks.

Singapore works hard to make a success of itself in the world

When asked what Singapore's secret to economic success is, PM Lee replied "hard work and paranoia".

He continued:

"We have no resources. We know we have to work hard. And we are small, we can see the world at our doorstep and all the threats in the wide and dangerous world around us.

And so we put our minds to it, and we've been able to work together, and fortunately with good leadership and with a united people, we've made steady progress, and we've kept on going in the same direction for a long time."

PM Lee shared a snippet of his interview as well, where he talked about what he would like the average person in the world to know about Singapore if he only has a minute or two.

He said Singapore is "a small country which wants to make a success of itself in the world" by making itself useful to its neighbours and others, who decide it is in their interests that Singapore survives and does well.

You can watch the entire dialogue here, where he talked more on tensions between China and the United States, and Singapore's hopes for the two major powers:

Top image via Prime Minister's Office, Singapore/YouTube