THE elected president should be like the external auditor of a company – independent, and accountable not to management, but its external stakeholders instead.

Presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song, 75, used this analogy of corporate governance structure to make his point that the best man for president is someone without political affiliation, and “accountable not to the government, but to the people of Singapore”.

Speaking to reporters after an hour-long visit to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) at Hill Street on Monday (Aug 14) morning, he said most companies have both internal and external auditors.

He likened internal auditors to an “ownself-check-ownself” system.

While it is possible that an internal auditor does a good job, there is always the risk that it’s not good enough, he said.

“This is because the internal auditor reports to the top management, the CEO, and therefore it is common to see situations where the internal auditors hesitate to point out serious faults in the financial statements,” he said, adding that this is why external auditors are sometimes required by law.

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“When it comes to the position of the elected president who holds the second key to our reserves, it is important that the president should not have been part of the management. Because otherwise, the president will be constrained by what he did previously when he was part of management,” he said.

Apart from Ng, who was previously chief investment officer of GIC, the other three presidential hopefuls are former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam; George Goh, an entrepreneur; and Tan Kin Lian, the former chief executive of NTUC Income.

Ng added that as someone who is not associated with the ruling People’s Action Party, and also has the technical and financial competence in handling the reserves, he has the essential qualities to be a president.

He was accompanied by his fiancee Sybil Lau, 45, during the visit to SCCCI. There, they met the SCCCI council members in a closed-door meeting, and were also given a tour of the SCCCI Chinese Business Culture Hub, which showcased the chamber’s history. Ng presented a piece of calligraphy by Lau to representatives from SCCCI.

He also revealed that he had submitted his symbol of a palm with five fingers, which represent different races, for approval.

Each candidate will choose a symbol to represent them in the upcoming election.

“We are one country, one people. When one finger is hurt, the whole palm will feel the pain. This is what I aspire for – that our country, regardless of race, language or religion, will be united for our future,” he said.

Ng also said that he is confident of representing Singapore on an international stage and playing the president’s role as a chief diplomat, given his experience with the sovereign wealth fund GIC.

“In my time as the chief investment officer at GIC, I probably made more international trips than any of the ministers. So I know corporate CEOs, central bankers and ministers for finance. I will do Singapore proud on the international stage,” he said. THE STRAITS TIMES