Netizens Triggered to Know that Singtel CEO Pay Has Dropped to $3.5m a Year

Usually, usually, the prospect of a โ€˜salary cutโ€™ would mean a few things in general:

  • Instant noodles for the next month
  • No more dumzi dumzi (unless thereโ€™re guest lists and a couple of drinks involved)
  • Crying in front of the wall and bemoaning how your life sucks

But on very rare occasions, the prospect of a โ€˜salary cutโ€™ doesnโ€™t really mean the things above. And should you be wondering whyโ€ฆ

Itโ€™s because even after the pay cut, the salaryโ€™s still too damn high, as our dear Netizens would come to find out.

Singtel CEOโ€™s Pay Has Dropped to $3.5m a Year

According to TODAYonline, Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) chief executive officer Chua Sock Koong has had her annual package nearly halved in whatโ€™s believed to be a year hit by โ€œa perfect stormโ€, a notion that caused the telco to face a 44 per cent drop in net profit.

As such, Ms Chua had to contend with an annual package of S$3.5 million, inclusive of bonuses and benefits such as car benefits, medical coverage and club membership, a far cry (43 per cent) from the S$6.1 million she made just the financial year before.

According to Singtelโ€™s latest annual report, the amount excludes performance shares and share option expenses.

Just last month, Singtel recorded a net profit of S$3.1 billion for the 12 months ended March, its lowest annual net profit in 16 years. This was around 44 per cent lower than the S$5.5 billion it made a year ago.

Singtelโ€™s cybersecurity business Trustwave is believed to have sustained losses of around S$102 million before interest and tax for the financial year.

The Digital Life division also recorded losses throughout the year, with Amobee going through a pre-tax loss of S$42 million.

Netizens are โ€˜triggeredโ€™

When the news came out, netizens were quick to jump into the fray (of the comments section). And being the nice guys and girls they were, they naturally expressed their condolences for Ms Chua.

Image TODAYonline Facebook Page
Image TODAYonline Facebook Page

Yeah, our Netizens sure are nice. Sniff Singapore pride.

But of course, some had to ruin the party.

Image TODAYonline Facebook Page
Image TODAYonline Facebook Page

A tough move to make, considering the distress Ms Chua must surely be facing.

Image TODAYonline Facebook Page

Itโ€™s kinda ironic though; when you donโ€™t have a pay cut and you still earn like 0.000001% of what Ms Chua earns.

And thatโ€™s how the cookie crumbles, is that it?

And soโ€ฆ now what?

Well, for starters, I guess we better go back to work. Gotta earn that dough to make the cookie crumble, right?

And for secondsโ€ฆ

Letโ€™s lose the salt and start being more chivalrous alright?

A $2.6m pay cut is a lot.