SINGAPORE - Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he would rather not comment on tactical statements made by other candidates, and prefers to let people judge for themselves.
He was responding to the media, who had asked for his comments on fellow candidate Tan Kin Lian. Mr Tan said on Friday morning that Singaporeans may prefer to “have a chance” to have a president and spouse who were both born in Singapore.
“My wife, like me, we were born in Singapore. We are blue-blooded Singaporeans,” Mr Tan had said.
“We respect other people from other countries who come to Singapore to become citizens. But I think deep down, our locals would prefer at least a chance to have the President and the ‘first lady’ to be true Singaporeans from birth.”
During his walkabout at Amoy Street Food Centre on Friday, Mr Tharman pointed out that the life story of Mr George Goh, who was disqualified from the presidential race, is a good example.
He said: “The fact that he was born in Malaysia... started off poor, worked very hard, came to Singapore and succeeded... It has always been the Singapore story.”
Commenting on any particular statements by other candidates is not his style, Mr Tharman added. “My life is an open book, everyone knows me.”
On the topic of supporting civil society and community efforts, the former senior minister said it is important to build confidence in those who are underprivileged.
Mr Tharman said: “Confidence doesn’t come naturally. When you are poor and disadvantaged, you cannot underestimate how people can lose confidence and feel that they are being looked down upon.
“So, earn their trust, respect them and help them to develop themselves.”
This has been the passion for his wife and him for many years, and he now wants to scale that up, he added.
“It is not easy to overcome a disadvantaged background. You have to stay with people through their lives and give them real confidence in themselves, I believe strongly in that.”
When asked about his campaign budget, Mr Tharman said it is well within the Elections Department’s requirements.
“The good thing about Singapore is that we have, if not the tightest, one of the tightest rules anywhere in the world on spending money in politics. We should stick to that.” He said that his is a low budget, and he had spent “much less” on social media compared with some other candidates.
When asked about a Facebook post speculating that there was a hidden message in his “ong lai” or pineapple campaign symbol – in other words, that he could be the second coming of former president Ong Teng Cheong – Mr Tharman said he had a high regard for Singapore’s fifth president.
“But you know, this is the Hungry Ghost Festival period. I’m very careful about invoking spirits, let’s give respect to all our ancestors and not mess around.”
On how he hopes to stand out from other candidates, Mr Tharman said: “I’m not a newcomer, I’m a known entity. What you see is what you get.”
