SINGAPORE – Reiterating his position as a non-partisan presidential candidate, Mr Ng Kok Song said he will not accept donations from political parties to avoid being beholden to their agenda. 

Speaking to the media at Chong Pang Market and Food Centre on Saturday morning, Mr Ng, 75, said: “Your president must be free; free from the political agenda of any political party, free for the people of Singapore.”

He noted that among the other presidential candidates, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam had belonged to the People’s Action Party for many years, and Mr Tan Kin Lian has the support of several opposition parties.

Mr Ng, the former chief investment officer at sovereign wealth fund GIC, is also not accepting donations from business groups, and will fund his campaign from his own personal savings.

He admitted that he will not have enough manpower for counting agents on Polling Day and the final stages of the campaign, but many members of the public have come forward to help.

“I hope in the next few days, we will be able to recruit enough polling agents to help me with the final stages,” he said.

Mr Ng was also asked to comment on Mr Tan, who had said on Friday that Singaporeans may prefer to “have a chance” to have a president and spouse who were both born in Singapore.

Mr Ng’s fiancee, Ms Sybil Lau, 45, who accompanied him during his walkabout at the food centre on Saturday, was born in Canada and moved to Singapore 18 years ago. She has since received her Singapore citizenship.

In response, Mr Ng cited the late deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee and the late finance minister Hon Sui Sen, who were both Malaysia-born but ended up as political leaders here.

“If you look at the history of our leaders, we should welcome people from other nationalities who want to come and live in Singapore, and take up citizenship and contribute to the welfare of Singapore.”

Mr Ng added that Ms Lau had earlier decided to give up her Canadian citizenship because she wanted to live the rest of her life in Singapore.

Mr Ng was also asked if he would start any charity initiatives if elected, as the late former president SR Nathan did when he initiated the President’s Challenge, an annual charity fund-raiser.

The candidate said he hopes to rally people with the financial resources to contribute to senior care at nursing homes and lower-income families, and help the younger generation pick up skills such as financial literacy.

“(I want to) encourage the many thousands of volunteers who are already working to help the poor and the disadvantaged. As president, I want to be the leader for this group of volunteers,” he said.

In the evening, Mr Ng spoke to the media on the sidelines of his walkabout at Ang Mo Kio Central Market and Food Centre. 

He said that politics in Singapore has become highly contested, and there is a risk that the governing party might resort to populist policies to hold on to power.

“By populist policies, I mean free-spending policies; spend more, cut taxes in order to defend its share of the popular vote. Even a government which has been quite good for a long time might have to play defensive. And that means we might have to erode the hard-earned reserves which we have accumulated over many years,” he said.

“We must have a president who is not beholden to the governing party or the opposition parties. Beholden because he is endorsed by them, and because... we put you in power to become president. That is a form of corruption, I must say.”

He added: “It is 2023, and we must move to a president that is non-partisan.”

Mr Ng also said that he will know what question to ask if the Government goes to him to tap past reserves.

If he finds that the request is basically an attempt to resort to free-spending policies to win votes, he will exercise his veto. Should Parliament overturn his veto with a two-thirds majority, it would be publicly known.

“The people of Singapore would know that I have a warning light. People all over the world would know that the president had vetoed the Government’s request and hopefully, that will be enough to stop a possible raid on reserves,” he said.