Three out of the six presidential hopefuls who submitted their applications for eligibility to stand for the upcoming presidential election in September were deemed eligible.
On Aug 18, Ng Kok Song, Tan Kin Lian and Tharman Shanmugaratnam each received a certificate of eligibility to run for the election this year.
Ng was deemed eligible due to his role as group chief investment officer (CIO) of GIC for over three years. Ng had spent over four decades in public service, of which six of these years - between 2007 to 2013 - were as GIC's CIO.
Tan’s experience as CEO of NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited for over three years qualified him to run. Tan was NTUC Income's CEO for around 10 years, from 1997 to 2007.
Finally, Tharman met the public sector service requirement having held office for over three years as Minister. Tharman, who was a Senior Minister of Singapore before stepping down on July 7, was in politics for some 22 years, having made his debut in 2001. During his career, Tharman was also Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, chairman of Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and deputy chairman of GIC.
All three men were said to be “of integrity, good character and reputation”.
George Goh, the fourth hopeful who openly declared his intention to run, did not receive the certificate of eligibility. Goh is the founder of Harvey Norman Ossia and group chairman of Ossia International.
Singaporeans will go to the polls on Sept 1 to choose their ninth President.
