Here's How Much Our Members of Parliament (MPs) Are Paid

We are always curious about how much the government is being paid, as their big responsibilities do come with rather attractive salary packages.

The salaries of the country’s leaders are also always a hot topic among citizens.

We’ve heard a lot about the salaries of our Prime Minister.

We’ve also heard about the salaries of our President.

Now, what about our Members of Parliament (MPs)?

They are the ones whom we’ve seen most regularly, shaken hands with, and with photos taken together in our neighbourhoods.

TL;DR: Here’s How Much Our Members of Parliament (MPs) Are Paid

Currently, there are 100 MPs in Parliament, which includes 88 elected MPs, 3 Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs), and 9 Nominated MPs (NMPs).

The main role of MPs is to act as a bridge between the community and the Government, ensuring that the concerns of their constituents are heard in Parliament.

This includes the Meet-The-People sessions, where weekly sessions are held at local constituency offices for the MPs to meet residents, to understand concerns on the ground level.

Elected Members of Parliament (MPs)

Elected MPs, as its name suggests, are elected during GE.

They have a dual role:

1. A legislative role – being able to influence decisions in Parliament, or enact or amend legislation.
2. A community role – looking after the needs of their constituents, and also raising any concerns to the Parliament

Allowance of MPs

MPs are currently paid an allowance in a part-time manner, rather than a full-time role.

With the MPs’ role including political aspects, they should technically be pegged to the salary of political appointment holders, such as Ministers.

However, they do not have an executive role.

As such, they are given a monthly allowance, 13th-month bonus, and an Annual Variable Component (AVC).

The allowance of an MP is therefore $192,500 annually.

This amount is pegged to 15% of the salary of the MR4 (Ministerial) benchmark.

This amount is based on the assumption of 1 month of AVC, with the annual MR4 benchmark salary to be $1.1 million.

As compared to 2010, there is a drop in allowance of $6,700 (or 3%), due to the removal of GDP Bonus.

In addition, MPs who are elected after 1 January 1995 are no longer eligible for pensions.

For MPs eligible for pension (elected before 1995), these MPs have their pension frozen as at 20 May 2011.

Note: The Prime Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and political appointment holders will also receive MP allowances as they also hold the roles of being MPs.

Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs)

NCMPs are members who were not voted in at a General Election but are voted seats in Parliament.

This would be occupied by the losing opposition candidates. This is to ensure that there is a minimum number of opposition candidates are represented in parliament.

Up to 12 NCMPs from opposition parties can be appointed, to ensure a wide representation in the Parliament.

Nominated Members (NMPs)

NMPs are appointed to ensure a wide representation of community views. They are not affiliated with any political party or constituency, and contribute to independent and non-partisan views in Parliament.

As compared to MPs, NMPs are not allowed to vote on matters which relates to the following:

• Constitutional amendements
• Supply bills
• Money bills
• Vote of no confidence in the Government
• Removing the President from office

NMPs represent varied interests of a wider group of Singaporeans, bringing up issues that might otherwise be not as prominent in the House.

For instance, they can provide a voice on topics like arts, environmental or social issues.

Allowances of NCMPs and NMPs

The allowances of NCMPs and NMPs are different from that of MPs, as they do not have community roles, due to not having constituents.

In addition, they also have a smaller legislative role due to the limitation in voting matters.

Therefore, their annual allowance is pegged to 15% of an MP’s annual allowance.

The annual allowance is structured the same way as an MP’s.

This means that their allowance is $28,900 annually, which is a reduction of $1,200 (4%) as compared to 2010.

What It Takes to Be an MP

In case this article has sparked your interest and you’re like:

You might be interested to know how to qualify as one.

In short, you gotta be:

1. A Singapore citizen
2. 21 and above on Nomination Day
3. Registered as an elector in the current Registers of Electors
4. Resident in Singapore for more than 10 years
5. Not subjected to any disqualifications specified in Article 45 of the Constitution of Republic of Singapore
6. Possess a sufficient degree of proficiency in spoken English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil

And of course, a sharp intellect and a likeable personality. 😉

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