On what basis do you say that $5k a month is over-paid?

Banking jobs are limited. The demand to land such jobs far exceed the supply. Like everything that is limited, a system of allocation needs to be in-place. Our society has elected to use the system of meritocracy - We allocate limited resources based on merit.

Perhaps, only the brightest 1-2% of our generation land such jobs. The top graduates from our education system.

What is the cut-off point for public housing? $10k pm. ($12k if you consider EC). What is the proportion living in private housing? About 20%.

So 20% of households should be earning >$10/12k per month. Income disparity rises as you go up the scale.

What should the top 1-2% of our society be earnining? How much do top 1-2% of Doctors, Lawyers, Company management earn in our society? About $1-2 million a year according to PAP. So a starting pay of $5k pm ($60k pa) seems to be on the low side to me.