Reserving the elected presidency for minority candidates from time to time is an issue that has its detractors. But its proponents believe that the longer-term good which it brings for Singapore society far outweighs the short-term political costs that will be incurred. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the issue head on this week, acknowledging there has been unhappiness among some segments of society over constitutional amendments, passed in November 2016, to reserve the elected presidency for candidates of a particular racial group if there had not been a president from that group for the five most recent presidential terms. The change led to the 2017 presidential election being reserved for candidates from the Malay community - which had not been represented in that office since 1970. Some of the unhappiness over the change stemmed from the perception that it went against the principles of meritocracy. Viewed narrowly, that might seem to be true because the change reserves the elected presidency periodically for members of some racial groups to hold the highest constitutional office in the land to the exclusion of others.

Meritocracy is an essential pillar of the Singapore landscape. But it is not the only one. Multi-racialism is another crucial leg. There was no problem when the presidency, as a ceremonial office and voted by Parliament, was occupied by members of different races. But with the change to an elected presidency, it was important for the voting public to choose an individual whose integrity, capability and empathy for the people were beyond doubt; who was able to represent all Singaporeans; and who also stood above Singapore's racial arithmetic - which inherently provides for the higher likelihood that a Chinese candidate will prevail over a minority-race candidate in a national vote. This is why multiracialism is a factor in the socio-political arena and needed to be given due weight, along with meritocracy.