MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT (Ex-gratia payment)

Mr Ling How Doong asked the Prime Minister if he will name the 47 Members of Parliament who will receive the ex-gratia payment and how many of them were Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Parliamentary Secretaries and Political Secretaries.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng) (for the Prime Minister): Sir, the 47 retired Members of Parliament who will receive the "ex-gratia" payment are listed in the Annex (Cols. 1489 - 1492) which I have asked the Clerk of Parliament to distribute. Annex - MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO WILL RECEIVE THE "EX-GRATIA" PAYMENT (Cols. 1489 - 1492)

Of these, 20 will also receive an "ex-gratia" for their office-holder service. Ten of them last held appointment as Ministers or Deputy Prime Ministers, four as Ministers of State and six as Parliamentary Secretaries.

There are some other former MPs who have held office but will not receive the office-holder "ex-gratia" because they did not have the adequate service to qualify for an office-holder pension.

Mr Ling How Doong (Bukit Gombak): Sir, would the Minister tell the House the amount of gratuity and monthly pension that they received?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, the pension received by the former Ministers and MPs is paid according to a formula under the Parliamentary Pensions Act. I do not have the information here but if the Member is interested he can work it out from the service that the Member has done and find out how much a person would have got in terms of gratuity or pension.