I was surprised to read Mr Philip Sim Ah Tee's suggestion that we compare MPs' salaries against those of chief executive officers in multinational corporations ("Don't begrudge those in political office their salaries"; June 9).

Running a truly global organisation and competing against nimble rivals all over the world require vastly different skills and mindsets, compared with leading a town council and public agency in Singapore.

Recent news suggests that even the best from our public sector struggle to adapt when confronted with the realities of the marketplace - in this case, Mr Ng Yat Chung and Mr Desmond Kuek, who were army generals before they headed Neptune Orient Lines and SMRT, respectively ("NOL did not adapt fast enough, says CEO"; June 9, and "SMRT cuts pay of chief executive"; June 5).

While the idea to raise politicians' salaries could be sound, this has inadvertently resulted in very high expectations by citizens.

Joseph Khoo