World’s highest-paid leader gets over $1M raise, pledges it to charity

The world's highest-paid leader, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, said Tuesday that he will donate the 1.4 million Singapore dollars ($1.1 million) annual increase in his salary to charity for the next five years.

"The Government will continue to pay me the salary provided for under the framework, which is how our system works. I will then donate the increase to suitable good causes," he said in Parliament, according to The Straits Times.

The pledge will apply as long as he remains prime minister.

His annual compensation, including bonuses, will rise from 2.2 million Singapore dollars to 3.6 million Singapore dollars.

The salaries of Singapore's political office holders, including ministers and the prime minister, will also rise.

The benchmark annual salary for an entry-level minister will rise to S$1.8 million from the current S$1.1 million.

Wong said he will review his decision at the end of the five-year period and consider the circumstances at that time. He said he does not want to make an open-ended public commitment or create an expectation that future prime ministers may feel obliged to follow.

Wong's predecessor, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, similarly pledged in 2007 to donate his salary increases to charity for five years.

In 2007, Lee's annual salary as prime minister was raised to S$3.1 million from S$2.5 million. It was later reduced to S$2.2 million in 2012.