‘S’poreans and foreigners need to learn to co-exist’
Presidential candidate Dr Tony Tan on Sunday stressed the importance of both locals and non-Singaporeans learning to co-exist in social harmony.
This came after he was asked to comment on the "curry issue" which has generated heated debate online and even had Law Minister K. Shanmugam jumping in to provide clarifications.
Although the issue has been settled, Dr Tan, 71, said it showed the importance of how both Singaporeans and foreigners need to adjust to one another.
In particular, he pointed out that the foreigners need to make an effort to adapt to the Singapore way of life.
"It was resolved but it shows importance of how Singaporeans have to learn to live with non-Singaporeans, but also at the same time non-Singaporeans have to make the effort to assimilate to the Singapore culture.
"They have come to Singapore, (and) we welcome them but they have to adapt to our way of life. And curry is our way of life in Singapore, I think foreigners will have to learn to live with it," said the former deputy prime minister.
During his walkabout at the Clementi Mall on Sunday afternoon with his wife and supporters, Dr Tan also opted to have a curry chicken dish for lunch at the NTUC Foodfare food court.
The 'curry' dispute arose after a Chinese family from China complained about the smell of curry cooked by an Indian-Singaporean family. After a mediation process, both parties agreed that the latter would only cook the dish when the Chinese family is not home.
After the issue was reported recently, it sparked heated debate among the online community and also the creation of an island-wide "Cook A Pot of Curry!" movement on Facebook that urged families to cook and share a pot of curry to "celebrate curries as part of our way of life" on Sunday.
The initiative has amassed more than 48,000 supporters since it was created on 11 August.
Entering the fray, Law Minister K. Shanmugam on Tuesday clarified that the incident took place seven years ago and that the solution to the dispute was not made by the mediator involved.
Instead, he said that it was "discussed by the two families amongst themselves".
Dr Tan also addressed the comments made by Dr Tan Cheng Bock that the president should not be involved in "day-to-day politics".
This came after the former PAP MP at Ayer Rajah constituency had singled out the remarks made by Dr Tony Tan on the possible need of preparing a second resilience package in view of the current global economic outlook.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock noted that the Cabinet should be the one to come up with the package for the elected president to assess whether to allow it to dip into the reserves, and not the other way around.
In his response, Dr Tony Tan said the comments on the resilience package was made in conjunction with his suggestion that because of the "grave" economic situation, it might not be too early for the government to draw up contingency plans to assist Singaporeans.
However, Dr Tan pointed out that he did not see this as being involved with government matters.
"I think we should learn from what we have tried. I don't regard this as interfering with day to day politics, it's up to the government to decide what has to be done," he said.
He also reiterated that, if elected, with his background and experience, he will be able to put forth "economic suggestions which are worth considering".
"But of course, it's up to the Prime Minister and Cabinet to make the final decision and I think that is the right thing to do. The president must work within the perimeters of the constitution.
"As I said, people must run for the post that exists today not for the post they might like to have. And you have to respect that and whatever comments you make have to be within that constraint."
