Singapore’s ministers are already among the world’s highest-paid politicians, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong earning more than four times US President Donald Trump’s annual government salary,
CNN reports.
Now, Wong has been given a $1 million pay bump, with the wealthy city-state giving a big boost to ministers’ salaries for the first time in 15 years.
Announcing the pay hike in parliament Tuesday, the Singapore leader said the salary adjustment was necessary to attract talent to the public service, particularly as the gap in compensation between political leaders and private-sector executives has widened in recent years.
Wong’s annual pay package will rise nearly 64%, from S$2.2 million ($1.7 million) to S$3.6 million ($2.8 million), while other ministers will receive increases of up to 9%. Wong has pledged to donate his pay increase to charity for five years.
The Southeast Asian nation has long justified its generous political salaries as an important measure to curb corruption, which is rampant among some neighboring countries.
Singapore ranked third in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption. In comparison, the United States was placed 29th.
The announcement sparked backlash on social media in a country where high ministerial salaries are a sensitive topic, with the median monthly income at S$5,775 ($4,500) last year.
