I’ll add in my two cents as I literally just went through what you are going through.

I was adamant that I did not wish to provide my payslips as I did not want my salary to be pegged to my past pay. However, the company made all sorts of excuses as to why they needed my past payslips before they could proceed to give me an offer letter.

In the end, you can say that you have the right to not give them your payslips but really, they’ll just drop you and go to someone else.

I have spoken to friends who are in recruiting/HR and they’ve told me that some companies won’t even bother arguing with you and will just drop you and move on. Yes, these are shitty unfair practices but until MOM passes a law, we are at the mercy of HR.

My advice: ask them to give you a verbal offer before you furnish them with your payslips. If they say they can’t do that, then you really don’t have a choice. The current climate is not in your favorite either.