A man identified as 71-year-old Seng Soon Kia arrived at the Elections Department (ELD) in Novena at around 2pm on Tuesday (13 June), according to The Straits Times (ST).
George Goh wasn’t the only person who went to ELD to collect his application forms that day, it seems.
Interviewed in Mandarin, Mr Seng, a former secondary school woodwork teacher, professed his hope to become President.
He also mentioned being President in 1951, even though he said he was born in 1952.
Mr Seng was interviewed in Mandarin, where he said it was his third time appearing at the ELD.
However, it isn’t clear whether he meant being physically there or whether he was running for President for the third time.
Mr Seng is not recorded as a candidate in any past presidential election.
When asked what he was doing at ELD, he replied, “I want to be President.”
Mr Seng later claimed he was Singapore’s president in 1951.
Source: @sgprimememesters on TikTok
The interviewer appeared stunned, especially since he just mentioned he was born in 1952.
“1950-what?” she asked.
Mr Seng then replied that he was President for a year between 1951 to 1952.
“Weren’t you born in 1952, though?” asked the interviewer.
“Yeah,” Mr Seng confirmed.
The interviewer then moved on to the next question.
According to Mr Seng, he is retired, having formerly been a technical teacher at a few secondary schools including Nanyang Girls’ High, from 1971 to 1988.
However, he did not reply when asked if he owns or manages any companies, which is a criterion to be eligible as a presidential candidate.
Mr Seng claimed he had read about the criteria in the papers, and thinks he “should be able to qualify”.
He also said there were issues he wanted resolved, such as a return to a flexible work schedule as practised during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among other issues he wanted to address was an improvement in public bus services as well as public toilets.
While it remains to be seen as to whether Mr Seng will be eligible, presidential criteria from the public sector include having held these positions for at least three years:
Other positions include chief executives of Government-owned companies, like Temasek or sovereign wealth fund GIC.
As for the private sector, a hopeful will have to have managed S$500 million in shareholders’ equity, among other criteria.
You can find more information here.
Certainly a surprise appearance, it’ll be exciting to see what’s next for Mr Seng.
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Featured image adapted from @sgprimememesters on TikTok.
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