Shanmugaratnam elected Singapore President

Shanmugaratnam with his wife and four children (Tablal)

By Ivan Lim
Former AJA President, Contributor to AsiaN

SINGAPORE: The president-elect of Singapore is brimming with ideas and plans to ensure Singapore is “more than just another small nation”.

I will strive to create a “future where we are taken seriously in the world, we are a partner of choice, and where we can project our voice of reason internationally.”  Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his victory speech last night to cheering supporters.

The former Senior Minister took 70.4 per cent of the 2.5 million nation-wide votes cast against 15.72 per cent and 13.88 per cent respectively for rivals Ng Kok Song, a former chief investment officer of the state sovereign wealth fund (GIC) and Tan Kin Lian, a former CEO of the union insurance co-operative (Income).

The spectacular result put paid to his rivals’ efforts to paint Mr Tharman as a pro-establishment figure who could not be counted upon to stare down a high-spending prime minister intent on drawing down the state coffers.

Both Mr Ng and Mr Tan had portrayed themselves as “independent” of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and vowed to put a stop to the party’s “ownself check ownself” culture, and hold the government to account for any misuse of power or misconduct.

The “maverick” presidential hopeful had allied with opposition party chiefs to woo voters on a common platform of change and push for an independent president.

Mr Tan also sought to exploit popular unhappiness with the rising cost of expensive public housing, Central Provident Fund withdrawal and national service to win votes.

In these he drew flak from his opponent Ng and from commentators that he was politicising the presidency.

In contrast, Mr Tharman had avoided crossing swords with his rivals to keep focused on appealing voters on his public service record. “You will not get surprises with me. What you see is what you get”.

The electoral outcome shows that most Singaporeans rejected the politicising the president’s roles and of playing by the rules in not getting political parties taking sides and getting into the fray.

the final analysis, the presidential candidates’ performance during their TV face-off made up minds and voters gave the stamp of approval and mandate for Tharman to be the ninth president.

He will be inaugurated on Sept 14, succeeding Madam Halimah Yacob who will complete her six-year tenure.