An Insaitable Urge for Peanuts

Google's Brin, Page, and Schmidt work for a base salary of $1. Our Dear Senior Minister and Minister Mentor get salaries of five peanuts each, about equal to that of our Prime Minister. Brin, Page and Schmidt are running a corporate entity, for whom profit is a legitimate raison d'être. The SM and MM are involved in running a country, which, whatever your economic theories may be, should certainly, at least, be more than just a profit-seeking corporate entity. Brin, Page and Schmidt are still working at Google; the SM and MM were doing the PM's job before but had handed the post over to someone else some time ago.
Of course Messrs Brin, Page and Schmidt receive income in other forms, for example equity investment in their own company. But these things are entirely dependent on their company's performance. And, besides to repeat for the sake of emphasis, they haven't retired yet, so it is perfectly fair they should be receiving some sort of compensation for their work.
The SM(s) and MM posts are, on the other hand, posts for people who have left the more conventional portfolios in the Cabinet, but who just don't want to leave for some reason. Do you really have so little faith in your successors, that you insist on remaining in a formal position of power even after you've handed over the Prime Minister's post? Or perhaps you just really wish to remain to offer advice. Or, perhaps, others in the Government wish you to remain to offer advice. In which case, why do you insist on drawing such a ridiculous salary for it? Besides, there is no need for you to remain formally in order for you to continue to guide the current leadership in times of need.
How small a proportion of government expenditure the fifteen peanuts combined--two SMs and a MM--form is not a issue. By that logic, the Government could surely spare another one million a year, since it is such a small proportion of the national expenditure--not even two peanuts, for crying out loud--, and credit it to my bank account on my birthday? It would increase my welfare immeasurably, and be extremely competitive compensation for my service on Tekong. Of course, that is absurd. Similarly, the issue at hand is why you are drawing the large salary in the first place, not whether the country's finances can afford it.
Despite your title you are not a minister: you do not have a clearly defined area of responsibility or portfolio. You're more like an extremely experienced consultant. Of course consultants deserve renumeration for good advice. But how do we know all the your advice you have given or will give as a SM or MM is good? What if it is not? And it is bizarre in the extreme for any company, even more a country, to pay a consultant so much for advice that is not always solicited.
It is bad enough that you remain formally in the Government. By doing so you are sending a message that you have no faith in your successors, or that they have no faith in themselves, that they will never do as well as if you continued to guide them from within. It is even worse that you are drawing a salary for it equivalent to the Prime Minister's. By doing so you are telling us that you don't really care for your country and are only doing it for the money, or, more likely, that you are plain greedy, and even though your original intentions in remaining as SM or MM may have been less unnoble, you can't see why you should stop drawing those five peanuts a year, just because you can.