It is a proud boast of Singapore that this very small but immensely wealthy city-state is the least corrupt and best place to do business in the world. And a chief reason for that, at least according to the politicians, is that they themselves are by some way the highest-paid elected officials in the world. Why would a minister bother with corruption, so the argument goes, When he can take home S$i.6m ($i.3m) a year for just keeping on the straight and narrow? Maybe. But most Singaporeans feel that their representatives have stretched that argument too far. Anger boiled over during last year's general election, with many opposition candidates questioning whether it was really necessary for Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister, to trouser up to S$34m a year (compared with Barack Obama's $400,000), especially at a time when many Singaporeans were struggling with rising prices. Surely Mr Lee did not need that much to keep him honest? The salary issue helped to push the ruling party's share of the vote down to its lowest-ever level.
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