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Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the first upward adjustment to ministerial salaries in 15 years, raising his own annual pay package by 64% to S$3.6 million, cementing his position as the world's highest-paid political leader. The move revives debate over Singapore's practice of pegging top government pay to private-sector benchmarks to attract talent. The announcement drew comparisons with compensation for other world leaders, most of whom earn a small fraction of Wong's package. Officials defended the increase as necessary to remain competitive with the private sector, though critics have periodically questioned the optics of such high public-sector pay.