'Conflict of interest' if President has worked or mentored Prime Minister before, says Ng Kok Song

SINGAPORE: A conflict of interest would be “quite likely” if a President has worked with or was a mentor of the Prime Minister, said presidential candidate Ng Kok Song on Friday (Aug 25).

The elected Presidency was created by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to prevent situations such as a good government or the Prime Minister turning corrupt, or a freak election resulting in a bad government coming into power and then wanting to overspend Singapore’s reserves, the former GIC chief investment officer said.

“It was precisely to forestall those two high-risk scenarios that the office of the elected President came to be,” Mr Ng added.

“Now, if you have a situation where the former Finance Minister becomes the president and the new Finance Minister or the Prime Minister was someone who had worked with you, (was) mentored by you, I think it’s possible and it’s also quite likely that there will be a … conflict of interest situation.”

Mr Ng – one of three candidates who is running to be Singapore’s next President – was responding to questions at a dialogue session organised by the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS).

The 90-minute session, held at the Kent Ridge Guild House and open to NUSS members only, was livestreamed via Mr Ng’s Instagram page.

Mr Ng – who spent 45 years in public service and held positions at the Finance Ministry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore before moving on to GIC – was asked a variety of questions by those in attendance, ranging from why he threw his hat into the ring for the presidency, how he would protect the country’s reserves if elected to how he would reach out to the different demographics of voters.

One audience member, who described Mr Ng and presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam as pieces “of the same cloth”, asked Mr Ng for a reason why Singaporeans should vote for him.

“If you look at this mathematically, you are a subset of Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam. So, my question to you – give me one good reason why I should vote for you, the subset, rather than vote for (Mr Tharman). Or if I don’t want establishment, then I can vote for Mr Tan Kin Lian,” the audience said.

In response, Mr Ng said: “I’m 75, he’s 66. I started working in the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) before he started. He chose political service; I chose public service.”

The presidential candidate was also asked about his motivations to run for President. Mr Ng has said one of which is to give Mr Tharman, who would automatically qualify as a candidate due to his ministerial background, “a credible contest” and provide Singaporeans a chance to exercise their vote. 

On that note, two audience members asked why Mr Ng still decided to join the race for the Istana after knowing that former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian had also qualified, which makes the upcoming election a three-way fight.

Mr Ng explained that apart from ensuring a contest in the upcoming Presidential Election, he was also motivated to run for office by two other catalysts.

One of which involved the need to safeguard and help Singaporeans better understand the country’s reserves, while the other was to “honour” founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Ng also noted that he was running to prevent a walkover, instead of contesting anyone in particular.

“Tharman was the first to declare; then George Goh declared. When George Goh declared, my concern was that he may not qualify and if he didn’t qualify, then what happens? Another walkover?

“That was the reason why I stood for election. Not to contest Tharman but to ensure there’s no walkover,” he said.

“And it was only after I came in that Tan Kin Lian declared. So, it’s very important to understand the sequence of the people who came forward.”

"NOT SUITED FOR POLITICS"

Responding to another question on whether he had previously thought of joining politics, Mr Ng said that he was asked but “could not be persuaded”.

One reason was that he loved his job at GIC – one which he knew if he did a good job, he would be benefiting the people of Singapore, he said.

Another reason, as he puts it, was that he did not see himself as a good fit.

“Maybe my personality is not suited for politics because I cannot do sweet talk,” he said, with a laugh.

Mr Ng also noted that if elected, he would start taking up Mandarin classes. 

He was responding to a question about how he would reach out to those in the heartlands, and said it was important to win the trust of ordinary Singaporeans through “heart-to-heart talk”.

This was why he shared personal stories about how he was motivated by his mother’s tears to work hard to lift his family out of poverty, as well as his long career in public service.

“I could have quit and get a much higher paying job, but I stuck to my job. I love my job. I wanted to serve the people of Singapore,” he said.

“So, my record of taking responsibility, of serving the people of Singapore is what I hope to communicate to the heartlanders.”

“Sadly, I am not fluent in Mandarin … that is a disadvantage,” added Mr Ng, who speaks Teochew apart from English. He has said that one of his deepest regrets is that he is not fluent in Mandarin.

“After the elections, I want to start my lessons in Mandarin.”

Towards the end of the dialogue session, Mr Ng was asked by the moderator if Singapore can expect an “Istana wedding” if he wins the election. 

“I cannot answer you without proposing properly to Sybil,” Mr Ng replied with a smile.

Mr Ng is engaged to Ms Sybil Lau, whom he met four years ago. Ms Lau, 45, was born in Canada but moved to Singapore 18 years ago.