Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong deepened efforts to counter voter grievances by agreeing to a pay cut this week, as higher taxi fares and subway failures fuel discontent over living costs and government efficiency.
Lee, 59, tightened rules for foreign workers and implemented measures to cool housing prices after his People’s Action Party won the May 2011 general election with the smallest margin of popular votes since independence in 1965. The efforts have been overshadowed by a series of unprecedented subway breakdowns, floods across the island and costlier cab rides.
“We still have problems with flooding and transport,” said Joseph Teng, a 62-year-old retiree in Singapore. He said the ministerial pay reduction is “a good start and sounds like a hefty cut, but if you look at the final sum, why is it still so much?” Full story
