Amid the rise in mental health issues among young people around the world, presidential candidates Ng Kok Song and Tharman Shanmugaratnam urged parents to let children enjoy their childhood and to be themselves.

Fielding recorded questions from young Singaporeans at The Straits Times’ Ask The Next President Anything show, they said levels of stress among young people have gone up from having to conform to the expectations of peers, parents and social media.

The third presidential candidate, former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian, declined the invitation to come on the show.

The question-and-answer segment, which went up on The Straits Times’ YouTube channel on Sunday (Aug 27) at 8 pm, featured questions sent in by young Singaporeans. It can also be watched on ST’s website, app and Facebook page.

Among the questions picked was one from 22-year-old Lim Jeng Yeu, who asked what the future president can do to address the growing mental health issues among young people.

Tharman, who began dismantling the streaming system when he was the education minister from 2003 to 2008, said that the government is making changes to “destress” the education system.

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He added that the whole system has to help give young people space, and urged parents not to put too much emphasis on examination preparation when their children are young.

“You may not be No 1 or even No 5 in school, but life is a long game, you can keep learning and keep improving. So when we are young, we’ve got to broaden ourselves, have a range of enjoyable experiences, make friends, and don’t let stress build up in our system,” he said.

Ng, a keen practitioner of meditation, recommended the practice to young people, saying that it can help them “be themselves”.

He added that while social media has its advantages, it has also put pressure on young people to look good in the eyes of their peers.

Meditation and mindfulness will help them let go of this need to perform to the expectations of others, he said, noting that it has helped him let go of the need to portray a certain image of himself for others.

“It’s very important for all our children and our youth to have confidence in themselves. So I think meditation is perhaps the best way that I have learnt of addressing mental health issues,” he added.

Against a hand-drawn backdrop of the Istana, Ng and Tharman also gave their take on topics ranging from corruption to their leadership style.

In all, six video questions were put by host Kimberly Jow to the two candidates, who each had 90 seconds to respond.

Another young person who submitted a question was Haja, 37, whose name contains only one word. He asked the candidates how they would handle a situation “like corruption by our politicians”.

This comes in the wake of recent incidents, such as Transport Minister S Iswaran being arrested in a corruption probe; and Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, as well as Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, being cleared of corruption over the rental of two state-owned bungalows.

Ng, a former GIC chief investment officer, said the elected presidency was put in place precisely to deal with the problem of corruption by politicians.

“If I come across a situation where I suspect corruption in the spending of our reserves, when I suspect corruption in appointing untrustworthy people to key public service positions, I would object. I would exercise my veto,” said Ng, who had worked 45 years in the public service at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and GIC before setting up investment firm Avanda in 2015.

Tharman, a former senior minister who joined politics after about 20 years in the civil service, said the president must be especially sensitive to any indiscretion by politicians that involves personal gain, as this can taint the entire system.

“If the prime minister does not allow a corruption investigation to proceed, the president has to be there to tell the director of the CPIB (Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau): Go ahead, regardless,” he added. Tharman stepped down from the Cabinet this year, after 22 years in politics, to run for the presidency.

“No prime minister has ever denied a request by the director of CPIB for an investigation, but you never know in future. The president is always there.”

Filming for the segment on Friday was punctuated by friendly banter between both candidates, who, at one point, agreed that their answers were “complementary”.

They took turns answering each question, with Ng going first for one question, then Tharman going first for the next question.

The Straits Times’ Ask The Next President Anything is among several forums and television broadcasts scheduled during the presidential campaign period for presidential candidates to reach voters.

All three presidential candidates have placed an emphasis on reaching out to young people in their campaigns. THE STRAITS TIMES