PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Tan Kin Lian has refuted the idea that he does not have the necessary experience to safeguard Singapore’s past reserves, which is among the responsibilities of the Republic’s president.

On Monday, Mr Tan pointed to how NTUC Income’s assets grew from $28 million in 1977 to $17 billion in 2007, during the three decades when he was the insurer’s chief executive officer. 

“I have certain principles about investing for the long term, investing in the secure investments to give a good long-term return,” he said, on the sidelines of a visit to Kopitiam Square food centre in Sengkang.

The 75-year-old was responding to comments made by fellow presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song.

On Sunday, Mr Ng – a former chief investment officer for sovereign wealth fund GIC – said he understood the country’s reserves, as did former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who served as finance minister between 2007 and 2015.

Mr Tharman, 66, announced in June that he would be resigning from the ruling People’s Action Party and stepping down from all his government positions in order to run for president.

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Mr Ng said Mr Tan and businessman George Goh, another presidential hopeful, have yet to prove that they understand the intricacies of safeguarding the country’s past reserves.

In response, Mr Tan said: “I think my experience is probably just as good as GIC, maybe better.”

Separately, the two-time presidential aspirant said that guidelines issued by the Elections Department (ELD) on campaigning were unclear. This included whether activities such as walkabouts are allowed before Nomination Day, he said.

He had informed the media about carrying out daily walkabouts from last Saturday, then cancelled his Sunday event after ELD issued its guidelines, before reinstating them on Monday.

“There’s some uncertainty about (whether) walkabouts are allowed or not, whether I have to cancel my walkabouts, because I thought it’s not allowed,” he said. “Then I’m told, ‘oh, it’s allowed’, so I’m here to walk around. So these are not fair to people.”

ST has asked ELD if it has any clarifications on campaigning guidelines for this period.

Mr Tan also repeated his criticism of the short timeframe leading up to the presidential election, with Nomination Day on Aug 22 and Polling Day on Sept 1, should there be a contest.

Noting that there are only 10 days between Nomination Day and Polling Day – excluding Cooling-off Day, when campaigning is prohibited – Mr Tan said this was not enough time for him to convey his message to voters.

“I want to tell the people of Singapore it is quite a difficult task for me so they must give me the support,” he said.

At Kopitiam Square on Monday, Mr Tan greeted customers and stallholders, took photos and gave out souvenirs, such as small Sudoku notebooks, which he autographed.

He later took the Sengkang LRT, followed by the North East Line, on a trip from Punggol to Dhoby Ghaut, and greeted commuters who were on the same train as him. THE STRAITS TIMES