SG Complains

TO STAY among the front ranks in the fight for talent, the military has raised starting salaries for officers and specialists.

Fresh entrants to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces could get anything between 3 per cent and 16 per cent more, starting this month.

This includes those who join as combat military officers, non-uniformed defence executive officers and military specialists, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Although the move affects those who sign on from June 1, Mindef said that personnel recruited in recent years and currently serving may also receive salary adjustments.

The exact pay packet will depend on factors like the position applied for and applicants’ educational qualifications.

For example, a lieutenant who graduates with a good honours degree will start at $3,860. This is $120 more, or a 3.2 per cent increase.

The biggest jump, according to the figures provided by Mindef, will be for accountants with a good honours degree.

Previously, they started at a monthly pay of $2,740. From June 1, the non-uniformed officers will get $3,180, or 16.1 per cent more.

The starting salaries for those who join the ranks as military specialists – from recruits to third sergeants – will also increase by 5 per cent.

Increments will also be given for those who have performed national service, the ministry said.

Mindef explained that the ‘adjustments…are part of the continual effort to ensure that salaries in the organisation remain competitive to attract quality people to join Mindef and the SAF’.

The news comes soon after wage revisions were announced in April for the Civil Service, to make it more attractive to fresh university graduates.

Calling the pay hike a logical move, Mr Sin Boon Ann, an MP for Tampines GRC, said: ‘Having invested so much of our resources in hardware, we cannot lag behind in having people who are less than qualified to operate our machines.’

The adjustment will attract those sitting on the fence to give a career in the military a second thought, he added.

One of them is 20-year-old full-time national serviceman Evan Lim who was commissioned as a second lieutenant earlier this year.

‘The money is another lure,’ he said, ‘but if I sign on, it’ll be for the long-term, and for that, passion is very important.’