Singapore presidential election 2023: candidates air their views on TV forum

SINGAPORE — The three candidates taking part in the Singapore presidential election participated in a televised forum on Monday (28 August) amid their campaigning period.

Organised by CNA, the forum posed questions to the trio of Ng Kok Song, Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Tan Kin Lian, as they voiced their opinions on how they intend to play the President role should they be elected.

Here are their answers to some of the forum's key questions, ahead of the Polling Day on Friday:

Beyond what the Singapore government tells you, what factors would you consider before using second key to past reserves?

Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The second key is useful only where you cannot see the end of a crisis and you can't see the bottom to the crisis. The money has to be spent wisely, and that means not just helping people to survive, but to build strength in a crisis so that we emerge even stronger. If you're using our reserves in a crisis, and we're going to spend monies on Singaporeans and firms, it's got to be distributed fairly. So, if you're saving jobs, you've got to make sure we have low-income and middle-income Singaporeans build up strengths for the recovery. Don't just favour the big firms, don't just favour those who already have it good. Be fair.

Tan Kin Lian: I've two key factors. The first is: Is this use of the reserve in the interest of the people? The second factor, Is this a proper use of the reserves? I think the president should have the ability to understand what is proper use, and what is wrong use of the reserves.

Ng Kok Song: The critical thing is to understand that our past reserves should benefit the present generation, as well as future generations. So how much to save and how much to spend is a very important decision. So I would like to know from the government, what's the total size of our reserves? How much are you asking to spend up to the reserves? What are the assumptions that the government is making regarding the crisis? Another question which I would ask is: have you exhausted the possibility of raising revenues from other areas before asking me the president for permission to draw on the past reserves? And also, quite importantly, what are the assumptions that the government is using in regards to the expected returns on our reserves for the future?

How would you convince voters that you are not politicising the election, and will exercise your powers without fear or favour?

Tan: The most important consideration is: What are the problems facing the people, and do we understand the problems? I do not believe in politicking, because it's taking away time that should be going into understanding the problems and solving them. I think we should se all available resources and knowledge to see what's the best way to solve the problems that faces the country and the people.

Ng: I do not belong to the People's Action Party. I do not belong to any opposition party. So there's no better safeguard than to have candidates who do not have any political affiliations. If you have candidates who are supported or endorsed by any political party, there's a danger that the President cannot act without fear of failure, because the President might have an influence in serving the political agenda of the political parties concerned.

Tharman: This is a contest between individuals who have to be assessed on their character - whether they have the spine, whether they have a track record, whether they will be able to keep the trust of the people who are electing them. If we go with the label of whether you've been a member of a political party or not, I think that's extremely simplistic.

What role would you play as President to build a more inclusive and compassionate society?

Tharman: That's been my whole life purpose, from my days as a student activist to my 40-plus years of government. I intend to be an active president supporting ground-up initiatives. It's got to be about upliftment. Focus on the kids in the earliest stages of their lives. Focus on those who are going through mental stress, mental wellness issues at all ages of life. Build second chances, third chances for those who made a mistake and want to get back up and need the social trampoline. Help the elderly, particularly those living alone. So every ground-up initiative that can help everyone stay together is going to uplift our spirit as a society.

Tan: I will continue the wonderful tradition of the President's Charity, because it involves large numbers of people contributing to worthy causes. I will certainly want to examine which of the charities we should continue. I would also like to promote looking after the elderly people, especially those above 80. It's not just looking after them, but also taking the burden off their children. That will be my focus, to (ensure) there are government efforts to look after the elderly population.

Ng: The role that I would play is to encourage Singaporeans to understand that our most fundamental identity is that we are all Singaporeans, and therefore we should be helping one another. An important issue today is that many people are very vulnerable. So I would like to see more efforts being given to supporting volunteers and caregivers who spend much time looking after the the less-fortunate members of our society. I would also like to see a more inclusive society, embracing everyone who lives in Singapore, for example migrant workers and domestic helpers.

Beyond your ceremonial and community roles, how do you intend to be a unifying figure for the nation?

Ng: I think the emphasis in the past has been to do much more caring for our own racial or religious communities. But it'd be wonderful if we can move into the next step of encouraging members of one's communities to care for members of other communities. The second thing is to constantly remind Singaporeans that we are a united nation. We must develop this empathy, this compassion towards people, other communities. Our deepest identity is that we are Singaporeans.

Tharman: Singapore is an unusual place - multiracial, multicultural, multi-religious, but peaceful. We have to go beyond celebrating our diversity and respecting differences, towards deepening that multiculturalism. I believe we can deepen the Singapore identity by participating in one another's cultures - not just respecting differences and tolerating them, but become more Singaporean together. Secondly, our democracy is going to become more diverse in its views, but I have found that there are very few differences which cannot be bridged. Even if you can't agree on everything, respect the differences of perspective and find common ground. I intend, as a president, to advocate that very strongly.

Tan: I think the most important factor is that people should feel financially secure. Therefore, sorting out the economy situation is very important. The key problem now is that people find that the cost of living is too high, housing is too expensive, job is too insecure. If we can solve this problem, then people will have more time to think beyond themselves into the community and society at large. Let's make life easier for people, so they can be more dignified, and then they'll be more inclined to look after other people.

What major challenges will Singapore face, and how will you - within the powers of the President - help Singaporeans to cope?

Tharman: The world is becoming a very divisive place, a place where the big powers are not seeing eye to eye and there'll be efforts made by big powers to get us to be on one side or another one. We've got to avoid that. We've got to create space for Singapore internationally, with both today's friends as well as those who could be tomorrow's friends. Secondly, we've got to deepen the unity among Singaporeans, and I intend to be very active in promoting that. But certainly, never lose sight of the fact that the biggest challenge facing the world and every country in the world is climate change. We've got to start preparing to adapt, to respond to climate change. It may require some new finances. It may require the use of reserves for long-term investments, and the President has to be on top of understanding that challenge.

Tan: The major challenges are the global geopolitical tensions, the trade frictions which affect us badly, and also climate change. But beyond that, we have also our own internal problems. We are too costly a place to live, and too costly to do business. We must find ways to bring down our business costs so that we can be competitive. I would like to discuss with the government how we can work towards making Singapore a more competitive place, so that we can have more job opportunities for our people.

Ng: Singapore faces two challenges, one domestic and one international. I think our society, particularly our younger generation, is getting more cynical about government. This is quite worrying for me. so one very important thing is for the government to restore trust. We have to correct whatever has gone wrong, in terms of our standards of trust and integrity. Internationally, there's geopolitical conflict, but as long as we stay united as a nation, we will be able to deal with the risk of the international environment. Staying united is more important than ever, and the President has got to play that unifying role.

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