Dispell Magic

Lim Wee Kiak, as an afterthought on facebook :

"Minister's pay issue is a sensitive one. There must be a balance. After all, capable individuals who are willing to come forward to serve should not do so because of pay and perks," he replied to a user's question about his quote.

He added, "On the other hand, they do have families and dependents and need to consider for retirement, etc."
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Lim wee Kiak, as an after-afterthought after no doubt getting bitch-slapped for his
"poor ministers need monies to feed their starving families and retire humbly to that little country cottage" remark:

UPDATE

Member of Parliament Lim Wee Kiak of the Nee Soon group representation constituency has apologised for his remarks linking ministerial pay with the "dignity" of politicians.

In a note on his Facebook page on Friday, MP Lim said he would like to clarify the comments he made to Lianhe Zaobao and reproduced in LianheWanBao. The comments had been quickly slammed by netizens.

He had been quoted by the Chinese paper last week as saying, "If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals. Hence, a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity."

In his Facebook note, the MP said, "I withdraw those remarks and apologise for making them. Dignity cannot be and must not be measured purely in monetary terms."

He said he agreed that the example he gave and his comment that there may be loss of face if the minister's salary is low "is inappropriate and incorrect".