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Tag: Elected President

  • In History Of Presidencies, Colour Blind Reality Of The Ordinary Singaporean Is The One Factual Highlight

    In History Of Presidencies, Colour Blind Reality Of The Ordinary Singaporean Is The One Factual Highlight

    A letter from Patrick Low on the Elected President.

    Dear Fellow Singaporeans

    Comes September 2017 we may be going to the polls to elect our 8th President reserved for the Malay race only. Notwithstanding the constitutionaI amendments passed in Parliament I am not convinced of the wisdom and logic of changing our Presidential system to ensure that a member of the minority must always have a chance to become President via rotation.

    As a Singaporean who lived through the time of our first President or the Yang di- Pertuan Negara appointed in 1959 in self governing Singapore to the 7th President elected in 2011 race was never an issue in my mind and in the minds of countless Singaporeans.
    He can be Chinese Malay Indian or Eurasian elected or appointed it did not make any difference. What matters most is the President must serve the people. If he is honest sincere and capable he will be able to unify all Singaporeans regardless of race language class and religion.

    As a 72 year old Singaporean it is my privilege to grow up colour blind even through the worst racial riots in 1951 1964 and 1965. I was a child of 6 when I first witnessed the horrors of the Maria Hertog riot from a cubicle window in Jalan Besar. Then came the 2nd and 3rd racial riot in 1964/65 when we were part of Malaysia. We were at the Cathay Cinema when racial riots broke out and we were told to go home.

    But none of these riots change our generation’s perception that in multiracial Singapore race should not matter and should never be allowed to matter certainly not in the choice of a President whether he is black white brown or yellow.

    It never occur to me that a Malay should not be the head of state in Chinese majority self governing Singapore in 1959. Neither did I have any reservation to a Eurasian President Dr. Benjamin Sheares a distinguished gynaecologist who served us well from 1971 to 1981.
    Then came our third President Mr. Devan Nair an Indian MP who came from the ranks of the PAP. He unfortunately had to leave office after 4.5 years as a result of personal health problem.

    Next came President Wee Kim Wee another appointive President who hailed from the Straits Time Press. He was a “baba” Chinese Singaporean who performed his role so well that he became known as the People’s President.

    Another well loved President was Mr. Ong Teng Cheong the first elected President in Singapore history. He was our Deputy Prime Minister before he took office but completed only one term owing to differences in perception of the President’s role as a guardian of our reserve.

    After him came the 2 term President S R Nathan a civil servant who was moderately popular with the people attending President’s Charity galas to raise funds for the people. Again race was not an issue even though the previous Indian President did not fare too well and had to leave office under a cloud.

    Now we are nearing the end of the term of Mr Tony Tan an endorsed elected Chinese PresIdent who was a former DPM in the PAP government.

    So all in all we have had 7 Presidents over 58 years. 1 Malay, 2 Indians, 1 Eurasian and 3 Chinese. Out of the seven 4 were appointed and 3 were elected. As far as the people are concerned it does not matter as long as they are men of integrity and perform the jobs well to serve the people.

    Without going into the merits and demerits of the government’s rationale for amending the Constitution to allow for a reserved Presidential Election for only members from the Malay race my main objection is that such a change violates the Singapore Constitution and undermines the daily National Pledge recited by all school children every morning that:

    “We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness prosperity and progress for our nation”.

    If we have any regards at all to the history of our Presidencies one fact that stands out is the colour blind reality of the ordinary Singaporean. There was never any perceived notion that the Presidency must be rotated by race to ensure fairness to the minority. All the friends acquaintances and strangers I meet on the streets and in the parks in the last one year invariably dismiss race as a factor in their reckoning of what makes a good President.

    The issue of the President holding the second key to the national reserve should also not be an issue for he is surrounded by the Council of Presidential Advisors whom he has to take advice from. So whether he is Malay Chinese Indian or others the key that he holds is a collective key held by a panel of advisors nominated by the government.

    As for the financial qualifications required of a Presidential candidate it is most unlikely that the government would be able to headhunt for one who would meet all the stringent requirements.
    In fact all our past Presidents never had the experience of running a $500 million company. Where then do they get the forte to disagree with the government on opening our national coffers.
    However in raising the bars so high the government turns what should be a level playing field into a pole vault pitch ruling out the possibility of sourcing for a few good men who can genuinely understand the plight of the ordinary people and work for their welfare.

    The office sadly is in danger of becoming the precinct of the rich and powerful.

    In this day and age when governments all over the world are beginning to lose the trust of the people it is incumbent on the PAP leadership not to erode that trust further by imposing a albatross around the people’s neck.

    Given the challenge from a former Presidential candidate Dr Tan Cheng Bok that the reckoning of the first elective President does not reside in Mr Wee Kim Wee’s term but rathet in Mr. Ong Teng Cheong’s it would be prudent for the government to pause before rushing to implement it’s Reserve Presidency – an area where angels may fear to tread.

    It would also be doing itself a huge favour to hold a referendum to ascertain the wishes of Singaporeans whether race is indeed a factor in the choice of our Head of State. Afterall what is the hurry when more haste produces less speed and further undermines the trust of the people in the midst of a economic recession and a very uncertain world.

    Patrick Low
    4th April 2017

     

    Source: Soh Lung Teo from Patrick Low

  • Dr Tan Cheng Bock: 2017 Should Be Open Presidential Election

    Dr Tan Cheng Bock: 2017 Should Be Open Presidential Election

    (Dr Tan Cheng Bock’s Press Conference on 31st March 2017)

    1. Thank you everyone for making the time to attend this Press conference.

    2. I call this press conference to ask the government whether it is correct to make the 2017 Presidential Election a reserved election. I think it should be an open election.

    3. For those new to Singapore politics, our Constitution was recently changed. We now have a new Article 19B(1). This reserves an election for a racial group if no one from that community has been President for the 5 most recent Presidential terms.

    4. The purpose for reserved election was explained in the Constitutional Commission’s report dated 17 August 2016. They said that a reserved election for a minority group should only be invoked if VOTERS do not CHOOSE someone from that minority group as President after 5 consecutive presidential terms produced by free and unregulated elections.

    5. Let’s look at what the Constitutional Commission Report originally said (Constitutional Commission Report dated 17 August 2016):

    “5.36 … if free and unregulated elections produce Presidents from a varied distribution of ethnicities, the requirement of a reserved election will never be triggered.

    5.40 … This may be illustrated in the following scenario: An election is reserved for racial group A because no candidate from racial group A has been ELECTED for 5 consecutive terms”.

    6. The “free and unregulated” elections mentioned by the Commission, is what many people call “open elections”. It is not closed to a specific group of candidates. It is a presidential election where candidates of all races can stand, and voters can elect a President who is Chinese, Malay, Indian or any other race.

    7. The Government said the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) advised the Prime Minister that 2017 will be our 1st reserved election. This is based on AGC counting 5 consecutive presidential terms beginning with President Wee Kim Wee.

    8. I question whether AGC’s method of counting is actually in line with the spirit and purpose put forward by the Constitutional Commission for having a reserved election.

    9. The AGC included a nominated President in their count. But the Commission’s emphasis was on open elections, where voters fail to vote in a minority president.

    a. Let me read for you what the Commission said again:

    “5.36 … if free and unregulated elections produce Presidents from a varied distribution of ethnicities, the requirement of a reserved election will never be triggered.

    5.40 … This may be illustrated in the following scenario: An election is reserved for racial group A because no candidate from racial group A has been ELECTED for 5 consecutive terms”.

    b. The Government White Paper published on 15 Sept 2016 accepted this position. At paragraph 81 and 82, they explain,

    “81(b) … A reserved election will never arise if free and unregulated elections produce Presidents of varied ethnicities. It will only be invoked if there has not been a President of a given ethnicity for an “exceedingly long period.

    82 The Govt agrees with the approach proposed by the Commission.”

    c. On 7 Nov 2016 in Parliament, DPM Teo Chee Hean at the 2nd reading of the Constitutional Amendment Bill repeated that a reserve election will only come into play if OPEN ELECTIONS fail to return a President from the different races. I quote at paragraph 107(b) of his speech “..it will only come into play if open elections fail to periodically return Presidents from the different races”.

    d. So, open elections is the trigger for reserved elections.

    e. DPM Teo then introduced the new Article 19B of our Constitution at paragraph 109 of his speech by saying that “Elections will generally be open to candidates from all races.” “However, if a particular racial group has not held the Presidency for the most recent 5 consecutive terms, Article 19B(1) reserves the next election for that group.”

    f. Reading DPM Teo’s statements, which adopted the Commission’s report and the White Paper, it is obvious that 5 open elections must first take place before there is a reserved election.

    g. So his reference to “the most recent 5 consecutive terms” to be counted must therefore mean “the most recent 5 consecutive terms PRODUCED BY OPEN ELECTIONS”.

    h. However one day later, on 8 Nov 2016, PM Lee told Parliament that AGC had advised the Government to count 5 consecutive terms of presidents who exercised elected powers. So AGC counted from Dr Wee Kim Wee 5 Presidents with elected powers. PM Lee said:

    “We have taken the Attorney General’s advice. We will start counting from the first President who exercised the powers of the Elected President. That means we are now in the fifth term of the elected Presidency.“

    i. The counting is clearly different from what the Commission said previously. If you recall, the Commission said that “An election is reserved for racial group A because no candidate from racial group A has been elected for 5 consecutive terms”. The Commission’s emphasis was on open elections and not Presidents who exercised elected powers.

    j. So AGC’s trigger and the Commission’s trigger for reserved elections are different.

    10. Unfortunately, there was no debate on whether AGC advised the Government correctly. The Government also declined the opportunity to explain this in Parliament. As a result of AGC’s advice, 2017 became a reserved election year.

    11. So we need to know why the AGC did not advise the PM to count 5 “open elections” in line with the spirit and purpose of the Commission? And why did the AGC also advise the PM that Singapore is now in the fifth term of the Elected Presidency when only 4 presidents have been returned by open elections?

    12. History shows that Singapore has only invoked 4 open presidential elections. The Prime Minister only issued 4 writs of Presidential Elections: in 1993, 1999, 2005 and 2011.

    13. Our 1st open election produced President Ong Teng Cheong. President Nathan returned unopposed in the 2nd and 3rd open elections. The 4th open election produced President Tony Tan. Following the Commission’s recommendations as accepted by the Government, 2017 should be an open election.

    14. President Wee never stood for election. He was a President nominated by Government. He only exercised the powers of an elected president for less than ½ a term. Those powers were given to him by Parliament as a transitional provision. But his term was never an Elected Presidency. That is the view of a respected constitutional law professor in Singapore. He said: “Although he exercised all the discretionary powers of an elected president, the first truly elected President was Ong Teng Cheong.” (https://singaporepubliclaw.com/2016/08/25/elected-president/)

    15. In all my 26 years in Parliament we had always referred to Mr Ong Teng Cheong as the first elected President. Our Presidents past and present, and Ministers and MPs in Parliament have ALL referred to President Ong Teng Cheong directly or indirectly as Singapore’s first elected president and the 1st elected presidency. Even the Constitutional Commission’s Report contains a statement calling President Ong Teng Cheong the first elected president. That is also the view of most, if not all, Singaporeans I’ve spoken to.

    16. To summarise, I have put forward the reasons why I think 2017 should be an open election year. I think my understanding is consistent with the Commission’s spirit and purpose for introducing reserved elections. The AGC should have counted the 5 most recent presidential terms produced by open elections. This starts with President Ong Teng Cheong.

    17. I now invite the Government or the AGC to explain why they counted the presidential terms of presidents who exercised elected powers. If need be, the Government can refer AGC’s opinion to Court for independent judicial verification. After all, the Courts have the final say on legal issues in Singapore. And a recent high profile Court of Appeal case has shown that the AGC is not always correct in their legal opinion.

    18. If the Government double-checks the AGC’s advice with the Court, then Parliament and the people of Singapore can be satisfied beyond doubt that the constitutional changes they are making stand on strong legal foundations.

    19. But if the Government simply accepts AGC’s advice without explaining why they accepted the accuracy of the opinion, I am concerned that our Elected Presidency will always be tainted with the suspicion that the reserved elections of 2017, was introduced to prevent my candidacy.

    20. How we do things is as important as what we do.

    21. On this note, I would urge the Government to explain, or refer AGC’s opinion to Court to confirm whether AGC’s advice is in sync with the Commission’s spirit and purpose for having reserved elections.

     

    Source: Dr Tan Cheng Bock

  • Cef Bob For President!

    Cef Bob For President!

    BREAKING NEWS!!!!

    I, Shahrizal Bin Salleh, will strengthen my campaign to be the next President of the Republic of Singapura! I believe I am the forefront in this race and this position is mine to lose.

    After having the backing of our minister K Shanmugam weeks back, now I have Madame Speaker Halimah Yakob as my sous chef!
    Everything now has fallen into places. This is history in the making! I believe I will be the first Chef to be the President of a developed country.

    This is what will happen when I am president:
    1. There will be no hungry citizen in my country. I will give whatever fundings needed to @free_food_for_all to feed every hungry people in Singapura!
    2. The IRC will not be only for blessing the F1 track.
    3. Have a 3 day food and music festival during National Day at the Istana. @bushmenspore and @wickedaura will headline the music fest. Alcohol Free of course. Wo dè Muslim ma….. Yes I am President but Allah is my Big Lau Pan. Obey Him I must. 😁😝🤣
    4. There will be no wall around Yishun. Infact I love Yishun! Few of my ex-gfs are from there and they were ehem ehem. 😝😝😝😝😝

    Well that’s it for now. More will be reveal after I am sworn into office as the next President of the Republic of Singapura.
    Thank you.
    *taking a bow*

    @ Marsiling Community Club

     

    Source: Shahrizal Salleh

  • Singapore’s Next President: A Look At Potential Candidates

    Singapore’s Next President: A Look At Potential Candidates

    Amendments to the Constitution were passed on Nov 9, with Members of Parliament voting in favour of the Government’s proposed changes to the Elected Presidency 77 to six.

    Apart from tightening the eligibility criteria and strengthening the powers of the Council of Presidential Advisers, the Amendment Bill also put in place a “hiatus-triggered model” to ensure multi-racial representation in the Presidential office.

    Under the new rules, the next Presidential Election – due Aug 26 next year – will be reserved for Malay candidates. This means Singaporeans will have their first Malay President since Mr Yusof Ishak died in office nearly 50 years ago.

    After the amendments were passed, names of several potential frontrunners have surfaced. These are prominent figures in the Malay community, and are from both the public and private sectors.

    Leading the list is current Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yaacob, a former unionist and an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

    Former Minister and Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi has also been tipped to be a potential candidate. Mr Abdullah – who was part of the nine-man Constitutional Commission that reviewed the elected presidency – reportedly said he has not given the idea of running much thought, and that friends have encouraged him to do so.

    Current Ministers Yaacob Ibrahim and Masagos Zulkifli, and former MP Zainul Abidin Rasheed have also been identified as possible candidates.

    Potential candidates from the private sector include Bank of Singapore CEO Bahren Shaari and Public Service Commission member Po’ad Mattar. So far, none of them have indicated any interest in contesting.

    CANDIDATES FACE “UNIQUE CHALLENGE”

    Political observers told Channel NewsAsia that candidates in this first ever reserved election face a very unique challenge.

    “This person has to tread a very fine line between being the best of breed that that ethnic community can offer and yet also be that quintessential Singaporean that all voters feel they have an affinity for,” said Dr Gillian Koh, Deputy Director (Research), Institute of Policy Studies.

    This means candidates cannot limit themselves to speaking about issues concerning their own community, and must represent the values and ideals of a multicultural Singapore.

    “We look at the example of Mr Yusof Ishak, when he was President. He was the managing editor of Utusan Melayu, a very Malay-rights newspaper. But when he became Yang-di-Pertuan Negara in 1959 and later as President in 1965, he represented Singapore. He spoke about multi-culturalism, equality of rights,” said Dr Norshahril Saat, Fellow, ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.

    Singapore Management University Associate Professor Eugene Tan noted: “Candidates can set the tone as well by putting forth their vision or how they are going to promote and practise multiracialism through the office of the elected president.”

    Political observers also stressed that candidates must be aware of what their role as President constitutes, reinforcing what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said in Parliament.

    Mr Lee recounted that in the 2011 Presidential Election, a candidate championed a S$60 billion economic plan to create jobs and enterprise, while another proposed better recognition for national servicemen, and more help for the poor and unemployed.

    These issues, according to Mr Lee, are the Government’s responsibility.

    “The purpose of having a President is not as a check and balance to Parliament. So I think one issue that the candidates should avoid is to act as if they can check the Government. They can’t because they’re largely symbolic even though they have custodial powers,” said Dr Norshahril.

    Instead, candidates should put forth issues of national unity, said Dr Koh.

    “There’s always a lot of goodwill that’s conferred onto the person who occupies the office of President. So I think the candidates can talk a little bit about their lifetime interests, or things that they can use the office to develop so that it contributes to community building for Singaporeans at large,” she added.

    Observers said candidates should also highlight their track record, to show voters why he or she is the most qualified for the office.

    While the role is largely ceremonial, the President still holds other important responsibilities, such as acting as the custodian of the nation’s reserves, and representing Singapore internationally.

    “ENSURE THAT EVERY VOTE COUNTS”

    Critics have warned that a reserved election could lead voters to think that there is no need to be engaged and vote for the best minority candidate. This is why, according to observers like Associate Professor Tan and Dr Norshahril, there is a need for candidates to engage all Singaporeans in their campaign.

    “It is important for them to have their say. Not just having their say, but also having an informed say. So it’s not only being engaged so that they can determine who is better suited for the job, who would engender greater confidence and trust amongst the voters,” said Associate Professor Tan.

    Dr Norshahril noted: “You must ensure that every vote counts. You must ensure that citizens feel that their vote counts. Candidates must come out very strongly and tell voters that they’re voting for the future of Singapore.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Walid J. Abdullah: What Would Malay Community Feel About Affirmative Action-President?

    Walid J. Abdullah: What Would Malay Community Feel About Affirmative Action-President?

    Some people have made the point that having a Malay president would be a good sign to the rest of the world, and that when people of other countries see a Malay as a President of a non-Malay majority country, it looks good for both Malays and Singapore. Which is a fair point.

    However, looking at the matter a bit deeper, one could perhaps see some flaws in that line of argumentation. Firstly, how many non-Singaporeans really care about (the ethnicity of) our President? And secondly, for those who do, would they not be aware that the President was there by legislation, and not after a fair electoral battle with people of other ethnicities?

    But more importantly, the Presidency – it needs to be reiterated – is a symbolic, ceremonial post: not one with significant powers. Having a Malay Foreign Minister, one who deals with other countries perhaps only less than the Prime Minister, would be a far greater achievement, for example. A Minister, in a parliamentary system like Singapore’s, wields more influence and has more responsibilities than the head of state.
    (Incidentally, most of our Foreign Ministers have been Indian, perhaps to highlight the avowed multi-racial nature of our nation.)

    And i cannot help but wonder how the non-Malays in our country would actually feel about the President. Would they have genuine respect for that person, or would they – consciously or otherwise – feel that she, err i mean he/she, is there only because of affirmative action.

     

    Source: Walid J.Abdullah