Enter politics or the civil service in Asia's richest economies, where heads of government, ministers and top bureaucrats are showered with high salaries and lavish perks to draw top-calibre talent and deter corruption.

In Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, top officials earn more than their US or European counterparts, and analysts say it is no accident that they are also reputed to have Asia's cleanest and most efficient governments.

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was earning more than one million US dollars during an economic boom in 2000, making him one of the world's best-paid leaders, before salaries were cut in 2001 thanks to a recession.

But he still draws a gross annual salary of over $600,000 a year, excluding variable bonuses linked to the performance of the economy, which is projected to grow by at least three percent this year.

There was grumbling among ordinary Singaporeans when top officials were granted steep pay rises in 2000 under a formula linked to private-sector salaries, but the government defended it as necessary to woo the best and the brightest to public service, and keep them there.

"There is a direct correlation between economic efficiency and wealth and the professionalism and salaries of civil servants and elected officials," said Australian economist, author and Asia watcher Michael Backman.

"The old saying that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys is true everywhere, including in Asia, and monkeys are not good decision makers," said Backman, who believes Singapore government salaries "are not a dollar too high."

US President George W. Bush earns $400,000 a year, while the European Union's best-paid leader, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, pulls down about $262,000 annually, according to a recent European survey.

Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa earns some $800,000 a year, with his top secretaries earning around $500,000.

"Satisfactory remuneration is a prerequisite to combat corruption. If you can't make ends meet then the temptation to receive bribes is high," said Joseph Cheng, a political analyst at City University in Hong Kong.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reported an income of about $307,000 for the year to March 2002, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa $415,000, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda $282,750, and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma $273,000.

Contrast that with the Philippines, where President Gloria Arroyo receives an annual salary of $24,000 while cabinet members receive about $9600, exluding "discretionary funds" that can be drawn upon for various purposes.

Arroyo's ousted predecessor Joseph Estrada is currently on trial for allegedly plundering $80 million during just 30 months in power.

But he pales in comparison to former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, accused of amassing billions of dollars over two decades until he was deposed by a popular revolt in 1986. He died in exile before he could be brought to trial.

"These salaries are unrealistic, laughable and official hypocrisy and only indicates that corruption exists," said Nelson Navarro, a political commentator in Manila. "How do you reconcile your small salary with the imperial lifestyle you are supposed to lead?"

Another fallen Southeast Asian dictator, Indonesia's Suharto, is now said to be too ill to stand trial on corruption charges.

There has been no public disclosure of salaries and benefits received by top Indonesian oficials but a study showed that those in the top echelon could make between $22,000 and $33,000 a year inclusive of benefits, a substantial amount in the country.

Danang Widoyoko from the Indonesia Corruption Watch, a private watchdog, said low wages were only one of the factors encouraging corruption.

Top officials already make enough money to lead a "comfortable life" and the scale of corruption at high levels is "way too large to be explained by a mere wish to complement a low pay," he said.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is better off, earning more than $65,000 in annual pay while ministers earn around $43,000.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a self-made billionaire before he rose to power, receives an annual salary and allowance of $32,188, while ministers' pay hovers around $30,000.

Most Thai politicians are independently wealthy, however, and parliamentarians recently applied for a large pay increase, their first since 1992, claiming a 26 percent raise for MPs and senators.

In New Zealand an ordinary member of parliament earns $40,890 per year with a cabinet minister earning up to $73,477. Prime Minister Helen Clark earns $110,300.

In Taiwan, the president's annual salary is $178,752, the prime minister earns A$121,446 and ministers $71,500.

In Cambodia, cabinet ministers receive only a few hundred dollars for their services while members of Parliament recently voted themselves a pay rise which amounts to about $2000 a month each for an average member.

If a cabinet minister is also a member of parliament then his salary is dramatically increased but critics say this still does not explain the extravagant wealth that goes on display at public functions.

In Vietnam, the president's annual salary is around $1650 dollars while the prime minister receives $1640 and cabinet ministers $1350.

The government is currently working on a salary reform programme which is expected to be finalised at the end of this year or early next year.

"The problem in most developing countries is the presence of governments with an oversized but underpaid civil service," said Srinivasa Madhur, principal economist with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank's Regional Economic Monitoring Unit.

"Paying huge salaries does not necessarily stop corruption but certainly would be an incentive for civil servants not to indulge in corruption," he said, adding that legal and institutional deterrents must also be in place.

Eiichi Kato, professor of social engineering at Tsukuba University, said: "public servants in Japan, especially senior bureaucrats, are apt to avoid corruption because if they are caught cheating they will be deprived of not only their jobs, which they can hold on for life, but also handsome severance pays.

"They don't either want to ruin their chances of landing lucrative jobs in the private sector. But recent embezzlement scandals at the foreign ministry show that money can paralyse one's senses," he said.

                                                    Home