Who to vote for in the Presidential Election?

L-R: TJS, TKL,TCB, TT

If we are going to elect a president through the electoral process, we would want a president at the end of the day to feel morally empowered, and has the gumption and courage and conviction to speak up for the people on a broad spectrum of issues that impinge on their lives, not just on the five areas dictated by the PAP government who crafted the amended constitution. If not, the political landscape of Singapore is unlikely to change until at least the next GE, which is 2016. Until then, the PAP regime will dish out more of the same thing and ordinary Singaporeans will continue to struggle with the increasing cost of living, whilst the divide between the rich and the poor will continue to widen.

Tony Tan is an elitist and a PAP pedigree. To get a glimpse of what we can expect from him if he is elected president, one just has to watch the video clip on how he defended the draconian ISA of the PAP government when he locked horns with Tan Jee Say. Further, he has not come clean with the scandalous treatment accorded to his son on the issue of NS’s liability. Hence, he is very much part of the problem that will be extended into the presidency if he is elected.

As a nominated president to perform the ceremonial role of Singapore’s head of state, Tan Cheng Bock will be an ideal candidate. But as elected president in the present time when ordinary Singaporeans are struggling with escalating cost of living as a result of bad government and bad policies, and when the divide between the rich and the poor is widening instead of narrowing, Singapore needs a president completely devoid of any emotional baggage of past ties, possesses a great sense of urgency and has the gumption to stand up for the people. Anyone with 27 years as a high profile PAP MP is a huge disadvantage, a liability in fact. So sorry TCB, we can’t fit you in.

The choice is therefore narrowed down to TKL and TJS.

Tan Kin Lian has shifted gears and now tries to come across as folksy. He is also trying to appeal to the powers that be by emphasizing that he is not confrontational and will be consultative in approach. While he may have never been a PAP MP, he was nonetheless a PAP member for some 30 years before he quit. So, it’s not unfair to adduce that his long tenure as CEO of NTUC Income was probably helped by his PAP membership, and his PAP membership was expedient to the job. Also, he does not come across as a man with gravitas. Further, NTUC’s reluctance to reveal the reason he was asked to leave raises more questions than answers. Sorry TKL, you won’t get my vote.

That leaves us with Tan Jee Say. He is driven, appears resolute and has the gumption to bring the issues affecting the lives of ordinary Singaporeans across to the government. That is what Singapore needs now to jolt the government out of its complacency and tardiness. If elected, he believes the moral authority derives from the people will empower him to reset the OB markers. TJS may well bring about a paradigm shift in the interpretation of the role and functions of the elected presidency.

TJS has my vote.

NV