Tan Kin Lian announces he will be running for President in the upcoming polls. (AFP photo)Former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian has thrown his name into the hat for the post of President of Singapore.
In a short message on his blog on Tuesday, Tan said, "I have now decided to contest the Presidential Election (if I am given the Certificate of Eligibility)."
He will issue a full statement later on Tuesday.
Tan, 63, first announced his interest in contesting the Presidential polls, due by 31 Aug, last Friday after his friend collected the Certificate of Eligibility forms on his behalf.
He was then undecided then as his wife, fearing a "possible smear campaign" had initial reservations about his participation. He also mentioned the fact that he also came from a humble background, and as such, was not sure he could fit the "ceremonial and diplomatic role of the Presidency."
However, in his blog post entitled "Safeguarding the reserves" on Tuesday, Tan appeared more determined and said he had taken note of two main concerns that Singaporeans shared via Internet postings regarding the post of President.
One was whether their money in the Central Provident Fund is safe, and whether the government is able to make payouts at the withdrawal dates.
The other was whether Singapore has enough reserves to protect its economic security in the challenging global financial environment.
He noted these concerns were worsened by the decline in trust in the government in recent years and a lack of transparency on the reserves.
To improve transparency and assure people, Tan suggested the Elected President's office produce an annual report on Singapore's reserves, with the financial assets of relevant organisations stated at its book values and market value.
"It is important to avoid focus on the market value as it is highly volatile and is not appropriate for long term investments," he noted.
Tan Kian Lian confirms his bid on his blog. (Screencap)
The annual report should show the obligation of the government and include people's balance held in the Central Provident Fund as well as the bonds and guarantees issued by the government.
Physical assets such as military hardware and infrastructure may be excluded from the annual report so long as there are adequate measures to ensure these items can be properly accounted for, said Tan, citing the need to preserve national secrets and the practical difficulty in listing the items.
"Some people may worry that it will be quite a challenge to produce this annual report. This is not the case, as it is what multi-national corporations have to do now," he said.
"I believe that the publication of this annual report would improve transparency and give the assurance to the people of their financial security. The reserves held by the Singapore Government are among the highest in the world on a per-capita basis. There is really no need for the people to be concerned," he added.
Tan also said, he would prefer Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Temasek Holdings) to adopt a "conservative approach", by avoiding speculation on market timing and asset selection, when investing assets.
Stanley Yang, a fan of Yahoo! Singapore's Facebook page welcomed Mr Tan's decision to run for President.
He wrote, "Men-on-street, NTUC, middle ground, opposition supporters, PAP supporters, sandwiched class all can relate well with TKL. This is excellent news."
Mr Tan joins Dr Tan Cheng Bock, a former PAP member and Ayer Rajah MP, in officially confirming his bid to run as a candidate for the President's post.
An independent panel still has to decide if the duo meet the strict criteria required to become an official Presidential candidate.
Among the criteria is candidates must have served for at least three years in a senior leadership role in government or chief of a company with a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million.
If both candidates are eligible to stand, it will only be the second time a Presidential Election is contested since 1993.
Former Foreign Minister George Yeo has also said he's mulling over a Presidential bid. He said on Monday he will announce his decision in a fortnight.
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