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‘Tough but kind-hearted’: Tan Cheng Bock pays tribute to S R Nathan

Tan Cheng Bock (Photo: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo Singapore)

The man who almost succeeded S R Nathan as president has paid tribute to the late former president as a ‘kind and caring’ man.

In a Facebook note on Tuesday (23 August), former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, 76, thanked Nathan’s family for his many contributions to Singapore.

Nathan, 92, died on Monday evening (22 August), a month after suffering a debilitating stroke.

Tan recalled that he got to know Nathan during his time as a Member of Parliament, when Tan was in the Government Parliamentary Committee for defence and foreign affairs and Leader of the Singapore Asean Parliamentary group.

Nathan invited him to many meetings with ASEAN state leaders, said Tan. “At these meetings, l met former Presidents and other leaders. His interaction with the leaders was genuine and cordial. I could sense the deep respect that his guests had for him.”

Tan added, “His involvement with and suggestions on how to help the disadvantaged when he was President also revealed his kind and caring side.”

In 2011, Tan ran for president and lost to current president Tony Tan by a mere 7,382 votes. Six months ago, he declared his intention to run for office again.

During the National Day Rally on Sunday (21 August), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that he had accepted the main recommendations of the Constitutional Commission on the Elected Presidency (EP).

The government will publish a White Paper on the forthcoming changes to the EP.

Tan told Yahoo Singapore in June that he sees no reason for the Commission to disqualify him as a presidential candidate.