Pritam Singh Donating Half of His Extra $16K/Month Increased Allowance After Discussion With Wife

In case you’ve missed it, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh has been formally inducted into the big boys’ club as the Opposition Leader, or Leader of the Opposition (LO).

While he won’t be given a white Volvo to ride around in, he’ll be given a room in the Parliament House, money to hire some assistants and a substantial amount of money.

A substantial amount that he will only be keeping half of.

Pritam Singh Donating Half of His $32K/month Increased Allowance After Discussion With Wife

Within a single day, Mr Pritam Singh has hit the headlines not once, but twice.

The first was, of course, details about his new position, along with the pay and privileges.

And the second was his announcement to donate half of his salary away.

No, not to the Presidential Challenge, but to:

• Assist low-income residents in the Workers’ Party SMC and GRCs through the WP Community Fund and/or the WP Grassroots Committee
• Fund community programmes in Hougang SMC, Aljunied GRC and Sengkang GRC
• give to charitable or worthy causes
• Workers’ Party-specific needs

Mr Singh will receive a package of S$385,000 per year, which comes out to about $32,000 per month, essentially double the allowance of a normal MP.

So by giving half of the increased amount away (after taxes, which works out to be about $16,000/2 = $8,000 a month), he’ll literally be taking on extra duties in parliament with just a bit more cash on hand.

Part Of The Allowance Should Be Used For “The Greater Purpose”

This next part might make you feel that we have our own Dumbledore.

Mr Singh said that after putting “his girls” to bed, he and his wife discussed his unexpected appointment and increment, as well as what that means for his family.

Both of them agreed that part of the allowance increase has to be “used for a greater purpose”.

But just because he’s taking on the position of LO and deciding to work at it with the allowance of a normal MP doesn’t mean he thinks it’s nothing extra.

He’s aware that the new appointment means he will have to put in more hours and spend less time with his family.

The appointment of LO, he added, carries with it a lot of additional responsibilities.

Nonetheless, he said, he is honoured that he and his colleagues are given a “chance” to serve Singapore, and the “road ahead will not be easy”.

LO Privileges:

In case you’re curious about his other privileges, here’s what being an LO in Singapore means:

Parliamentary privileges.

In Parliament, the LO will generally be given the right of first response among Members of Parliament (MPs) and to ask the lead question to the Ministers on policies, Bills and motions, subject to existing speaking conventions. The LO will also be given a longer speaking duration for speeches, equivalent to that given to political officeholders (i.e. longer than MPs like Ah Hua Jie).

Briefings on issues of national interest.

In addition to the government data or information available to other MPs, the LO will receive confidential briefings by the Government on select matters of national security and external relations, and in the event of a national crisis or emergency. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

But those additional workloads would require more resources, and so the LO would receive these:

LO’s Allowance.

The LO will receive double the allowance of an elected MP. The LO’s total norm annual package will be $385,000, inclusive of his allowance as an MP. That’s about $32k a month, and all of a sudden, I feel like quitting my job and applying to be an LO.

Staff Support

The LO will be provided with an office and the use of a meeting room in Parliament House. He will also receive allowances to hire up to three additional Legislative Assistants. This is in addition to the allowances all MPs receive for one Legislative Assistant and one Secretarial Assistant. The LO will also be provided with a secretary to support him administratively with Parliamentary business.