No day-to-day politics for President: Tan Cheng Bock
While other Presidential candidates have raised ideas for a a second Resilience Package or pension for senior citizens, Presidential candidate Dr Tan Cheng Bock believes these are "day-to-day politics" and out of the President's job scope.
He said it is the job of elected Parliamentarians to come up with such policies. His focus will be on safeguarding the reserves, which should only be drawn upon in a "real serious recession" when Singaporean workers face "great danger".
On Friday, Presidential candidate Dr Tony Tan laid out his vision for a second Resilience Package should Singapore fall into an economic crisis while fellow candidate Tan Kin Lian suggested a pension for seniors above 70 on Saturday.
"I think it's the other way, the Cabinet must come up with a resilience package for me to study and see whether I want to allow them, in case they want to dip into the reserves, whether it's justified," said Dr Tan Cheng Bock.
"I'm quite surprised actually, why they say such things," he added, referring to the suggestions.
He also responded to views about his suggestion to move the Prime Minister's Office out of the Istana with a written statement. It is about institutionalising good practices and Singapore's political structure for future generations, he said.
Dr Tan was speaking to the media at the food court at Orchard Cineleisure, where he wanted to reach out to the young, on Saturday evening after his walkabouts at several locations including Redhill, Tiong Bahru and Jurong.
On comments by former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian that he does not have enough financial experience as a non-executive chairman of investment company Chuan Hup Holdings, Dr Tan Cheng Bock described Chuan Hup Holdings as a "little Temasek (Holdings)" with investments in many portfolios.
He also pointed to his past appointment as independent director of ING Asia Private Bank and his involvement in a US$4.5 billion (S$5.5 billion) project to buy MRT trains.
Making a comparison between a co-operative and public listed company, Dr Tan added, "As a co-operative, you don't face any shareholder. ... For me, for 20 years, I've got to answer to shareholders about the performance of my company."
At a forum on Thursday, Dr Tan, responding to a query on women in politics, said politics is a "difficult area for women in Singapore because the commitment is really very heavy. So you got to get the permission of your husband."
When asked about his earlier comments, Dr Tan said he was referring to the need for family support when either the husband or wife enters politics.
"The first thing we do, we seek our wives concurrence," he said.
