Businessman George Goh ‘confident’ of meeting criteria to run for President in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Potential presidential candidate George Goh said on Tuesday (Jun 13) he is confident of qualifying to run in the upcoming Presidential Election. 

Mr Goh, who was speaking to the media after collecting eligibility forms from the Elections Department (ELD), announced his intention to run in the presidential election on Monday.

He said that he had put together a team of professionals to determine his eligibility, and that he will submit the number of companies he has founded and incorporated “in due course”.

“I am confident I will meet the criteria,” he said.

The 63-year-old presidential hopeful is the chairman of Ossia International, a Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed investment holding company with a market capitalisation of about S$45 million (US$33 million) as of Tuesday.

Mr Goh said that after 41 years in business, he had grown his companies to a combined value of S$3.15 billion “over the years”, from just S$5,000.

“When I started, I don't have anything but this land give me a lot … I must thank all Singaporeans (who) supported me over the years,” he said.

A reporter also asked Mr Goh about Ossia International being on the SGX watchlist. Companies are put on the list if they record pre-tax losses for the three most recently completed consecutive financial years and have an average daily market capitalisation of less than S$40 million over the last six months.

According to an Ossia announcement to SGX in December last year, the company had a pre-tax profit for the last three financial years, following “concerted efforts to increase its profitability”.

This fulfilled one of the requirements to be removed from the watchlist, the company said. However, the company did not have an average daily market capitalisation of S$40 million or more over the previous six months and had applied for an extension to meet the criteria for exiting the watchlist.

Mr Goh said he was not worried as Ossia was just one of his companies.

“This is only one of the companies, it’s not going to affect (my) eligibility,” he said.

Ossia International was trading at S$0.18 on SGX at around noon on Tuesday.

To stand in the election, Mr Goh has to first satisfy the criteria set out in the Constitution. For private sector candidates, they must have been, for three years or more, the chief executive of a company with shareholder equity of S$500 million or more.

The Presidential Elections Committee decides which prospective candidates qualify to run for president, and will certify a candidate who satisfies the committee that he or she is a person of integrity, good character and reputation; and he or she meets the relevant public sector or private sector service requirements, said ELD.

When asked why he was putting his hat in the ring, Mr Goh said he wants to give people a choice, pointing out that private sector requirements were "quite high" after being amended in 2016.

He added that in the past five presidential elections, three were walkovers. In the last election in 2017, both Malay private-sector candidates who applied to run did not meet the bar.

"I think we must give the people a chance to vote," he said. "This was set up in the Constitution in 1991, so I'm coming forward."

When asked what he thinks his chances might be against Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who has said he will be running in the election, Mr Goh said people want a candidate who is not from the establishment.

He said that in 1993, when former Cabinet minister Ong Teng Cheong stood for election, 41 per cent voted for his opponent Chua Kim Yeow. In the 2011 Presidential Election, 65 per cent of voters opted for "non-establishment candidates", said Mr Goh.

It is "time to vote in an independent candidate" and "people want change", he added.

Mr Goh was born in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan and has been living and working in Singapore since 1975. He became a Singapore citizen in 1990.

Married with four children, Mr Goh also co-founded the charity Border Mission and is a council member at the Red Cross Society, among other roles.

His wife, Madam Lysa Sumali, and his four children were at the ELD along with his supporters, who were mostly dressed in red. There were about 50 supporters present, Mr Goh's media team said.

Supporter Doris Tay, who has worked with Mr Goh for more than 10 years in various companies, said that she thinks he is a good leader.

Under his guidance, employees like her have worked their way up to become accredited accountants, said the 63-year-old, who added she was semi-retired.

"He has strong willpower and he's a good leader," Ms Tay said in Mandarin. "He guides us on what to do and monitors us; whether we did our work or not, he knows ... many employees learned a lot from him."

She added that she will help Mr Goh in his campaign as she "fully supports" him.

Mr Steven Cheong, who was also dressed in red, said he was there to support Mr Goh because he wants a candidate with "commercial experience".

"It's better to have an election rather than to have another walkover again," said the 50-year-old. "I think both (candidates) have their merits ... I believe commercial experience is better than political experience."

Mr Goh is the second person to declare his intention to run in the upcoming Presidential Election, after Mr Tharman.

Mr Tharman said on Sunday that he welcomes a contest, adding: “My whole approach is not to shy away from competition. It’s always been that way. It’s how I prove myself.”