Presidential candidates attend dialogue, hold townhall on fourth day of campaigning
PRESIDENTIAL candidates Ng Kok Song and Tharman Shanmugaratnam appeared at dialogues on Friday (Aug 25) evening, while former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian announced plans for an online rally on Aug 30.
Friday marked the fourth day of campaigning for the Sep 1 election.
Ex-GIC chief investment officer Ng sat down with assistant professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah for a dialogue session with members of the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) graduate club.
Among other topics, Ng spoke about his motivations to run for president. One contributing factor was when he realised that not many Singaporeans may understand how the reserves work, while filming a documentary on the topic. “(There was) definitely a feeling that not enough has been explained to the people,” he said.
NUSS is holding another such session on Saturday, where Tan will speak about his aspirations and hopes for Singapore.
This is ahead of his planned online rally next Wednesday night, just before campaigning ends and the cooling-off period starts. Several “prominent people” are expected to speak, said Tan in a Facebook post, without elaborating. The rally will be hosted live on Zoom, TikTok and Facebook.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
On Friday, Tan greeted patrons at Geylang Serai Market, where he also re-introduced his wife, Tay Siew Hong, to the media. He said he did this so that Singaporeans can “have a choice” of First Lady, and noted that both he and his wife are born in Singapore.
Meanwhile, former senior minister Tharman hosted a townhall at Pasir Panjang Power Station on Friday night. About 650 members of the public registered for the “election meeting”, for which a police permit was obtained.
Tharman said of his campaign: “For me, it’s not about nine days, it’s not even about one month. It’s about the journey through the decades.” Spending time with people from all walks of life has deepened his sense of purpose, he said. Beyond material progress, Singapore’s next phase of development should pay attention to “issues that we can’t measure”, he said, such as whether people feel that they are treated equally.
Reiterating his campaign slogan of “Respect for all”, Tharman said that he is optimistic for a Singapore without bigotry. “Nobody in Singapore should feel that they are nobody.” This can be achieved not just through policy, but community action, he added. “We can become a people with a much deeper sense of solidarity... and a people who uplift each other, because we are always lending moral support and active support to each other.”
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
