Fwah! She's Definitely Smarter Than Your Average Bear!

_ Gayle Goh. 17 years old but write with such confidence, feels like she's been around longer than 99 percent of the population here.

Excerpt:

The defence the PAP has always launched against the accusation that their salaries are too high is to say: "We must do so in order to prevent corruption." I have always found that to be a thin excuse. What, after all, is corruption? The use of one's position in order to profit illegally. High ministerial salaries simply permit the PAP to use their position in order to profit legally. A simple analogy: it is illegal for someone to shoplift a gold necklace from a jewelry store. But this thievery would be perfectly legal if we had no laws against shoplifting in the first place. One could profit in an arguably unethical manner without breaking any laws. Similarly, it would be illegal for the Prime Minister to siphon away $2 million a year. But as a politician in power, instead of siphoning it away, he simply ensures that he can receive $2 million a year in a perfectly transparent and above-board manner. That's what they really mean by the concept of high ministerial salaries removing the need for corruption. They don't need to be corrupt: we just hand over the money anyway.

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