On 28 Aug, Singapore’s three presidential candidates took part in a Presidential Forum hosted by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Mr Ng Kok Song, Mr Tan Kin Lian and Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam each answered questions regarding their future presidency.
In particular, Mr Ng Kok Song noted that Singapore’s government must restore trust — especially in the younger generation who are “getting more cynical”.
He was responding to a question regarding Singapore’s major challenges.
“Singapore faces two challenges, domestic and international,” said Mr Ng.
He then elaborated on the former challenge, stating that Singapore’s society is getting more cynical about the Government.
The 75-year-old noted that it was particularly the younger generation who were getting “less trusting”, a trend that is worrying to him.
Source: CNA on YouTube
Urging the Government to restore trust, he said, “I think we need to put right whatever has gone wrong in terms of our standards of trust and integrity.”
Mr Ng then expressed that Singapore can weather geopolitical conflict if its people “stand united as a nation”, and that the President plays the unifying role.
He also highlighted that the international environment offers opportunities for Singapore.
We are a refuge for the rest of the world, and if we stay united, we’ll be able to exploit these opportunities.
Apart from Mr Ng, Mr Tharman and Mr Tan also shared their thoughts on what challenges the country faces.
Like Mr Ng, Mr Tharman also pointed out the world is becoming a “troublesome” and “divisive” place.
He foresees that Singapore may face pressures from major world powers to form alliances.
“We’ve got to avoid that,” said Mr Tharman.
We’ve got to create space for Singapore internationally with both today’s friends as well as those who could be tomorrow’s friends.
Through building economic ties and keeping up political relations, Singapore can continue to be well-regarded on the international stage, said the 66-year-old.
He then noted that there’s a need to deepen unity within Singapore society itself.
Finally, Mr Tharman pointed out the impact of climate change and that Singapore needs to start preparing to adapt and respond.
“It may require some new finances, it may require the use of reserves for long-term investments, and the president needs to be on top of understanding that challenge”.
Meanwhile, Mr Tan was of the view that Singapore is too costly a place to live and do business in.
“We need to be more competitive, we must find ways to bring down our cost of property and wages,” he said.
Source: CNA on YouTube
Mr Tan also said that he’d like to discuss with the government how to create more job opportunities for the people.
Also read: Tharman Says We Should Avoid Labels Based On Political Affiliations As They’re Too ‘Simplistic’
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Featured image adapted from Channel NewsAsia on YouTube.
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