Bluntly speaking, you don't join the public sector for bonuses. You join for the stability. Given appropriate qualifications and good performance, you can expect a stable rise in salary, alongside benefits, alongside a bonus which also slowly increases over time. If you want a sudden influx due to high bonuses, then remain in the private sector as that's the place to be if you're a young, hungry, Type A sort of person.
I never understood why its called "discrimination". It's not - it's literally numbers and data. Objectively speaking, those from the top universities will perform better.
if you have relevant work experience but you graduated recently the increment can be substantial. It depends on the position at work, years worked, and performance at work. For example, Person A worked as an Admin Assistant for 2 years while completing a Bachelor of Commerce. This lets me know they can multitask. If I call the reference and it's a good recommendation, then I know they are a good worker as well. In this situation, I'm justified raising the salary by 500 to 600 a month.
The Honours system does matter, but mostly for the public sector. The private sector don't care that much I've found. For local universities, however, even top honours would only allow me to warrant maybe a 200-300 increase in monthly salary. This is due to the relative reputation of the university combined with the "idea" of how easy it is to get the honours from that university.
However, summa cum laude-type honours (ie. very limited places per cohort) are always looked upon very favourably regardless of university. If you are from a local university like SIM, the only way you stand on the same level as say, an
NUS graduate with 2nd uppers, is with something like valedictorian qualifications. Or, way more work experience.