As the Presidential Election draws nearer, two candidates were seen fielding questions from young people on the last Sunday before the vote.
One of the issues they talked about has been a concern over the last few years: Mental health, especially with regard to young Singaporeans.
Both Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr Ng Kok Song shared how they could help with the issue as President.
The two candidates appeared on an online forum organised by The Straits Times (ST) that was posted on Sunday (27 Aug) night on their YouTube channel.
According to ST, the third candidate, Mr Tan Kin Lian, declined to come on the show, titled “Ask The Next President Anything”.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
Thus, it was left to just Mr Tharman and Mr Ng to respond to recorded questions from young Singaporeans.
During the Q&A, 22-year-old Jeng Yeu asked them how Singapore’s president can address mental health issues among young people, which are on the rise.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
Describing this as a “serious issue” in Singapore and all over the world, Mr Tharman said that kids shouldn’t be “stressed out” when they’re young.
He urged parents to give their kids more free time and not to spend so much time preparing for exams.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
Of course, to do this “the whole system has to help”, he added.
To that end, the Government is making changes to the education system to “destress” it for children, he pointed out, saying,
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.
Mr Ng, on his part, said mental health issues arise because youth feel that they have to “conform”, “comply” and “perform” up to expectations.
He attributed part of this to social media, which gives young people pressure to look good in the eyes of their peers.
Mr Ng then suggested meditation as a way for children to “be themselves”.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
In his own experience, meditation and mindfulness have helped him let go of “images” he created for himself and others, he said, adding,
It’s very important for all our children and our youth to have confidence in themselves.
Another question came from 37-year-old Haja, who asked the candidates how they would handle “corruption among our politicians”.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
Just last month, Singaporeans learnt that Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had been cleared of wrongdoing and corruption over their rentals of two Ridout Road properties. Meanwhile, Transport Minister S. Iswarwan was arrested in a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe.
Mr Ng said the role of the Elected President was designed to deal with possible corruption among politicians.
He said if elected as President, he would exercise his veto powers if he suspects corruption.
That includes situations involving the spending of Singapore’s reserves, as well as the appointment of “untrustworthy people” to public service positions.
Mr Tharman described corruption as being “like cancer” — it starts off small but will grow if not tackled early.
Returning to a similar theme that he brought up during a walkabout in July, he said Singapore must be a “special” country where “zero corruption” is the order of the day.
That means the President has to intervene when the Prime Minister doesn’t allow a corruption investigation to proceed, and tell CPIB to “go ahead”, he added.
He pointed out that no Prime Minister has ever denied CPIB’s request for an investigation, but you “never know in future”, he maintained, noting that if that ever happens,
The president is always there.
While the candidates took turns answering each of the six questions first, they noted that their answers were “complementary”, reported ST.
Source: The Straits Times on YouTube
Will this help voters decide who to vote for next Friday? Only time will tell.
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Featured image adapted from The Straits Times on YouTube.
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