Monday, March 12, 2012

More Money For Police

Last week has to be a week to remember. Everybody got pay rises. NS men, bus drivers, road sweepers, even domestic helps who will take the extra money in lieu of the mandatory day off per week. As usual, those excluded from the windfall will recall the quote about how the PM will "spend  my time thinking what's the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters votes".

The best deal was for the Home Team, a.k.a. the boys in blue. Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry Mr S Iswara announced new a starting salary of up to $2,370, while those who did not serve NS will be paid $2,140. In addition, a sign-on bonus ranging from $8,000 to $10,000 has been introduced, in the style of Wall Street bankers. To encourage staff to stay on, a uniformed officer can look forward to a handsome retention package of $34,000 to $50,000 under these revised payment schemes, surely a variant of the golden parachutes enjoyed by top performing CEOs. Let's hope these guys put the money to good use, such as investing in self improvement courses.

A friend received a scary letter, complete with threat of hefty fines and other punitive measures, for making nuisance calls to the police help line. It turned out that the Emergency Call applet of his Android smart phone was overtly touch sensitive, a mere brush against shirt or pants pocket will dial the emergency line. Just Google "Remove Emergency Call Button" and you'll get a idea of how pervasive the problem is. Obviously our highly compensated Home Team can't discern an accidental occurrence from malicious criminal intent. Hence the suggestion for more education, particularly in IT awareness. What was unaccountable was how the default number dialed, programmed in firmware as 112, ended up as 911.  After patiently explaining to the officer who penned the threatening missive, the response he got from the technology challenged retard was, "Okay. But next time don't do it again."

6 comments:

  1. Here's an idea for recruitment ad that should read "Now Hiring. Must Have A Clue".

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  2. Have nothing against the uniformed personnel paying a bit more, but again when you looked at the recent security lapses, just not sure what had gone wrong.

    This Is Nothing To Do With Pay; The Fact Is Things Are Starting To Get Rot Up There!

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  3. So we are just going to see the same kind of history repeat itself , just like we did 10 yrs ago when the political leaders argued for the highest pay , the same reason the public sector/cs are asking for private sector pay..but minus the accountability. You will never get the transparency and accountability because of OSA. The best system to go corrupt and none the wiser.

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  4. I am supportive of any form of reward for the good work done by my fellow Singaporeans.

    But the Mas Selamat saga does give me pause.

    So where to start?
    There is an old Greek saying, "A fish rots from the head first. It starts at the top."

    http://www.amazon.com/Fish-Rots-Head-Boardrooms-Developing/dp/186197616X

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  5. In line with what that smartarse MP was asking where the money is going to come from, despatch riders and lorry drivers better be aware there may be more traffic summons to be paid to pay for their salary increases.

    Just be careful that they don't get a chance to burn a hole in your S$850 monthly salary!

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  6. Despite $850 salary still can afford a flat wah...only in sg..the best "secret sauce of our success"...just like this dewy-eyed journalist who drank the cool-aid can continue to perpetuate.

    http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/7684213/secrets-of-singapore.thtml

    ReplyDelete