Congratulations to Madam Halimah Yacob on being elected our first female Malay President (Halimah Yacob set to be next president; Sept 12).

With her prior experience in various political roles, I am certain she will do us proud in her new role, just as her predecessors have.

My only concern is the transparency of the process of determining eligibility, which is crucial in our citizens developing trust in the fledgling institution of the elected presidency, which is around 25 years old and has seen walkovers half of the time.

In that spirit, for the political education of our citizens, I urge the unsuccessful candidates to publicly release the reasons for their ineligibility, even though they are not obliged to do so.

I believe this will contribute to a positive evolution of our political process by encouraging a dialogue between an active citizenry and our policymakers.

Teoh Ren Shang (Dr)