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Singapore - He might be the first backbencher in more than two decades to be parachuted into the post of a full-fledged Cabinet Minister, but Law Minister-designate K Shanmugam is keen to play down the hype over his fast-track political career.
“I believe in having my feet firmly planted on the ground and not get carried away with some of the things that have been said,” Mr Shanmugam, 49, told MediaCorp daily, Today.
The Allen and Gledhill partner, who will take the helm of the Law Ministry on May 1, was giving his first full media interviews since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled his new Cabinet line-up late last month.
In Singapore’s political system, the typical track for potential ministers is to serve as understudy for three to five years in a junior Cabinet position, during which they are tested on their ability to craft policies and connect with Singaporeans.
A rare departure from the norm came in 1985, when Dr Richard Hu became Trade and Industry Minister one month after he was elected as a Member of Parliament.
More recently, Mr Shanmugam’s rise to political office took some observers by surprise, in spite of the small pool of potential candidates — Mr Lee had indicated earlier that the Law Minister had to have legal training.
“I suppose it’s because I spent 23 years as a lawyer that it was thought that I can do the job at the Ministry of Law,” said Mr Shanmugam, an MP since 1988. On his second appointment as the Second Minister for Home Affairs, he said: “The First Minister would take primary responsibility. The Second Minister would, to a large extent, be helping him.”
While he has raised a variety of issues in Parliament, Mr Shanmugam has been vocal on the need to pay top dollar for ministers, since the White Paper was tabled in Parliament in 1994 to benchmark ministerial salaries to the private sector.
Last year, Mr Shanmugam spoke up for the policy for the third time in Parliament. “It’s not as if I was speaking for myself … I’ve been willing to take a very substantial pay cut. I’m not sure others will do so,” said Mr Shanmugam.
While he recognises that the growing income gap and inflation are serious issues that Singaporeans “have a lot of difficulties coping with day-to-day and these need to be dealt with”, he added: “But it’s also a fact that some people in the private sector are earning very substantial sums and the only way we can continue to solve our problems is to make sure the public sector has top talent. As we go further, are we sure that we can expect people to take a 50-, 60-, 70-per-cent pay cut or forgo such income by joining the public sector in the first place?”
As for himself, Mr Shanmugam conceded that the pay cut “was an issue that I thought about quite seriously”.
He said: "When I was asked by the PM, I thought about it and said yes. In the end, you've got to believe that you can do it and you can make a difference."
Still, the thought of becoming a minister one day never crossed his mind when he was invited to one of the People's Action Party's (PAP's) famed tea sessions for potential political candidates.
"I didn't even see myself as a politician," said Mr Shanmugam, who had said in a 1995 interview that he decided to join politics because he had "some personal views that I felt ought to be reflected within the PAP".
As for his work ahead, Mr Shanmugam said he "would prefer to comment only after I've gone in and understood the issues better".
But giving his take on the recent personnel changes in the Attorney-General's chambers, Mr Shanmugam described Mr Chao Hick Tin, who stepped down as Attorney-General and moved to the Court of Appeal, as a "very senior lawyer who is held in high esteem by the legal profession".
On Mr Chao's replacement, Professor Walter Woon, Mr Shanmugam said: "The incoming AG would be an excellent lawyer to work with." TODAY/sf
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