Joshua Chiang/
Mr Tan showed up at the Elections Department at 10.15am with his wife Patricia
Even though Mr Tan Jee Say has contested Holland-Bukit Timah GRC under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) banner in the recent General Elections, he is confident that the public will not see him as partisan if he were elected President as he had only been with the SDP for 3 months.
On the other hand, the three other presidential hopefuls – Dr Tony Tan, Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Tan Kin Lian had been with the People’s Action Party for 10 to 20 years.
“The PAP DNA is still very strong in them,” the former principal private secretary to then DPM Goh Chok Tong told the press outside the Elections Department when he went to collect the forms for the presidential eligibility certificate on Friday morning.
In his press release, Mr Tan wrote that many Singaporeans want a non-PAP President whose independence of the PAP is clear, obvious and cannot be in doubt: “Only such a person can have the moral authority to fulfill the mission of Elected President which is to provide checks and balances on the PAP Government.”
Mr Tan formally resigned from the SDP this morning. He told the press that Sec Gen Dr Chee Soon Juan was ‘supportive’ of his decision but clarified that he had not been asked by any party to come out and contest the Presidential Elections.
“I just made the decision in the quietness of my bedroom in my house, and with my wife of course, “ he said. Mr Tan further revealed that he only arrived at the decision on Thursday night.
Among the handful of supporters who turned up, two – Ms Michelle Lee and Mr Fazlur Yusof were members of SDP. Another, Mr Bentley Tan was the Master of Ceremony for the SDP rallies during the General Elections.
President the ‘moral conscience of the nation’
On what he would do as President if elected, Mr Tan said that he would want to know how much there are in the reserves and if they had been put to good use, and if more money is needed to invest in the people, to use the second key to open up the reserves.
“I have a national regeneration plan that required 60 billion dollars – 12 billion every year for five years – so if they (the government) wants to invest in it, why not?”
He also stressed that he won’t make the Presidency is not another centre of power, instead, it will be the ‘moral conscience of the nation’. If elected, he will work with the government because he has to honor the wishes of the people who elected the government, but at the same time, the government cannot be right all the time. Mr Tan mentioned the building of the two casinos as an example where the government got it wrong.
“Why do you compromise your morals just to create jobs and then cry over it?” he asked rhetorically.
As such, even though it is up to the government to decide on which policies to implement at the end of the day, the President can nonetheless speak up on those issues.
“They will be moral pressure,” he emphasized.
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Incisive analysis, Tuan. CSJ is indeed the root cause of the SDP’s A team failure in Holland-BT. I’m glad that TJS is bailing out of SDP now to run for President. I will vote for him.
It is sad that, as an undischarged bankrupt, CSJ cannot speak publicly, cannot leave, remain or reside outside Singapore without government approval, cannot borrow more than $500 without government approval, & subjected to numerous other undignified personal inconveniences. The PAP has reduced him to such a state of helplessness that it makes a mockery of his position as Sec. Gen of the party.
How can SDP maintain its dignity & credibility, despite having no lack of leaders of caliber, if it tolerates the untenable situation that its Sec. Gen is in. Donate, appeal for funds online, etc and get your Sec Gen out of his predicament, for Pete’s sake!
Otherwise, look to history. JB Jeyaratnam was in a similar predicament in 2001. To its credit, the WP’s Committee did the necessary & right thing. Undoubtedly ruthless, but it was the only way for WP to regain party dignity $ credibility. Had WP’s cadres been less resolute and kept JBJ as Sec.Gen, WP would not be where it is today. Likewise, SDP cannot afford to procrastinate. The other alternative is to quit the party, like TSJ and head out afresh.
Singaporeans must vote in TJS to stop the papies from siphoning off all our state reserve, all these have to be STOPPED NOW!
All SDP bashers get their opinion by reading SPH newspapers (or through Media Corp) who are out to demonise CSJ and the SDP.
From the guest speakers at the SDP GE rallies, we see that all of them are responsible and rational people. If CSC is an oddity, SDP would have died long ago.
Since presidential candidates can’t be a member of any political party, TJS has to quit the SDP like all the other ex-PAP candidates.
I doubt TJS can satisfy the Eligibility Criteria.
He recognized that his previous employer, AIB Govet did not have $100 mil. in paid up capital. However, he argues that since AIB Govet managed total assets over $100 million, that would make it “equivalent to a company with a paid-up capital of $100 million”
Those of us in the fund management industry know that such an argument is tenuous at best. Most hedge funds have only a few million in paid up capital but manage hundreds of millions in assets. The concepts of ‘paid up capital’ and ‘assets under management’ are, thus, distinct and not really that strongly correlated. I think the Presidential Commission will see through his ploy and disqualify him. Anyhow, the financial wizards at MoF, MTI, GIC or Temasek will surely point this out to the Commission.
But he has nothing to lose in testing it out. As others have rightfully pointed out, it is a graceful way of finessing himself out of the moribund SDP.
I think no one is demonizing the SDP..
They demonized themselves by associating themself with CSJ.
I always reiterate how i spoilt my vote for Holland BT. I didnt like the pappies but the SDP team had so much dead weight in terms of their history and how their sec gen had behaved in the past, that simply i just couldn trust them..
Therefore not wanting to vote for the pappies, i had no alternative but to spoil my vote. Im not surprised if WP came to Holland BT, they would have easily taken over the constituency..
If every party out there was as credible as the WP (not only credible members like Dr AYG or TJS, but also an overall trustable party with a strong leadership is important) perhaps our political landscape wouldn be so pappy dominated..
Please d’ont be so harsh on me. Like you, I d’ont believe the lies spun by the spineless local media (aka PAP) about CSJ. The tragic truth, unfortunately, is that the local media’s relentless, wicked and false portrayals of him have succeeded in brainwashing many conservative Singaporeans into believing CSJ as unreliable. Can this negative halo be dispelled? Possibly. But it will take huge efforts of time and resources to do so. For example, Chee’s own attempt, on the SDP website, to exonerate himself of just the Chiam ouster saga, by an elaborate elucidation of his innocence required the reader to spend at least 2 hours going through the documentary evidence he has amassed and put up on the site. I did it. But how many others are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. In this day and age of sound bytes and images, a negative image sticks. So while I acknowledge CSJ’s contributions and great courage to challenge the PAP juggernaut, I must also accept that, however noble CSJ may be, he is damaged goods. Humpty Dumpty simply cannot be put together again.
My nobler sentiments and sense of justice will want to help redress the wrongs done to this man. But political reality is ruthless. Time is also fleeting and we have precious little of it to spare for salvaging CSJ’s tarnished reputation.
Voters now have better candidates than CSJ, candidates who have no baggage that will hobble them. Candidates like TJS, Dr AYG, ML, AT, etc must not be penalized because of the CSJ albatross around their necks. I understand their human decency militates against their wanting to address and confront this sensitive subject of CSJ’s liability. But confront it they must in the greater good of the party. Sweeping the CSJ baggage under the carpet is doing SDP supporters a great disservice.
TJS has taken this elegant step of quitting the SDP without offending CSJ. It remains to be seen if Dr Ang, ML, AT can finesse the situation as smoothly.
I am NOT a SDP basher. I admire and have a high regard for Dr Chee, for his steadfastness and perseverance in the face of the formidable might of the PAP. I salute him too for his courage and fortitude in willingly sacrificing so much to ensure that the voice of democracy in Singapore is not snuffed out by the repressive PAP regime.
But all the admiration and respect we have for Dr Chee cannot alter the inescapable reality that he is ‘in a state of crippled dependance’. He cannot pull his own weight.
The leader of a political party must be able to lead its members from the front. The leader of the SDP i.e its Secretary General is, therefore, expected to lead his party cadres from the front. For CSJ, the tragedy is that he has been reduced to such a state of utter impotence that he cannot possibly command his cadres from the front. It is plain to all in the last election, that unlike the Sec. Gens of WP & SPP, Dr Chee was not able to fulfill the expected leadership role of the party leader. Reading a prepared text that SDP had no gay agenda is not exactly a compelling demonstration of leading from the front.
If a would-be leader cannot command from the front lines, but is relegated to a role of hovering in the back and signing autographs, then he has lost the moral authority to cling onto the leader’s position. CSJ is precisely in that dilemma today. I know it is harsh to say such words to a person we respect. But sentimentalism and wimpiness have no place in the harsh world of political duel with a merciless PAP. Men & women of distinction like Tan Jee Say, Dr Ang, Michelle, etc have taken great sacrifices to step forward to serve. They have a legitimate right to be led by a Secretary General who have a public voice to command from the front. It is a travesty of party decorum to subject them to the present awkward situation of having a muzzled Sec. Gen. command them at the back. They deserve better.
So I salute Tan Jee Say’s elegant manner of leaving SDP while preserving face for CSJ. He is not only an incredible man of substance but also one who has finesse who has a caring heart. TJS will be a fantastic President for Singapore! He has my families votes.
It is really sickening to see those comments on SDP and CSJ. You guys are taking every slightest opportunity to condemn SDP/CSJ while singing praise of WP. Looking at the comments, I have no doubts that I have engaged with you guys on this issue in TRE. You have read my arguments on every single issue raised In TRE , yet you guys are still repeating the same accusations. I have given a detailed analysis on the electoral result in holland-Bk Timah GRC. To that person who claimed that if WP will to contest in Holland-BT GRC, it will emerge victory, you are simply ignorant of the local electoral landscape. Even a WP volunteer has the intelligence to tell me that WP is unlikely to make any impact in the western Singapore. Hardcore WP supporters are behaving just like those PAP
supporters. I rest my case now. No point discussing it further with stubborn people.
Shaz:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 16, 2011 at 1:18 am Shaz(Quote)
I disliked him ever since his selfish education policy started. It seems to me that Singapore is the only country in the world that favours foreigners over its own citizens. Foreigners have commented at my face that the Singapore government simply loves them and that Singaporeans need them to manage. There are others who told me that Singapore seems to be the only unique country in the world who welcomes foreigners so much – so much so that we are being despised!
I would definitely rather vote for someone who has more national pride and protects our very own Singaporean. Tan Jee Say definitely has my vote. I’m sure he has seem many things we didn’t see while he was in civil service and knows many happenings that we have no idea of. Hence, he will certainly be the best person for the role!!~~
Good one, he is actually making Tony tan trying to say tony tan not related to pappies and pappies, pappies looks very very bad like it is pre mediated..
Well doned, tan jee say.
The more pappies tries to support Tony, the more blacker the whole agenda of biased candidate it becomes.
Btw, tan jee say, please volunteer to get 1 million pay only, you would have the great support and votes
And one more thing, all the posts concerning SDP seem to be written by just 1 or 2 persons. If you have the guts to write, why hide behind so many ncks ? Be a Man la !
If TJS gets the COE, he will give TT a hard fight. Even in terms of stature, he can match TT. TT is old, his speech is at times inaudible and slurred. TT is also over weight, while TJS works out at the gym regularly. TKL and TCB is not even close to TJS. Neither of them have any deep understanding of how the government ticks.
TJS has my families votes.
Btw, is there another even better candidate to come out so that pappies can’t refuse the Coe.
If I don’t go hell to help salvation, who will?
Hope our hero will come… Any one better than Tony tan? Anyone even better than tsj?
Let’s pray sincerely and request some more heroes to come out. Although heroes might die young… Tony tan so old, should be retired like pappies retires or supported the indirect
retirement mid 30s And above workers. So sad and disappointing
I suggest you convince us with rational and compelling arguments and not resort to infantile emotional outbursts, and baseless accusations by name calling. We have ladies here.
Even putting aside CSJ, Dr Vincent’s recent bid to speak at a Human Rights seminar in Manila is puzzling. The full text of the speech is on the SDP website. It is lengthy, verbose & circumlocutory to the point of being unintelligible at many places. Amazingly, he labelled Henry Kissinger as an old murderer of Indochinese, Magaret Thatcher as an international reprobate. Even the Chinese government was not spared, being described as a very repressive socio-political regime, and going around the world lecturing other countries on the correct methods of economic development .
These guys should frankly take stock of themselves. Under their leadership, they failed to convince even a domestic audience of their stand on human rights. Yet, they have no hesitation to take up the human rights cause overseas by attacking Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher and the Chinese government to boot!
Tan Jee Say did the right thing to jump ship now.
To the million voters question?.who will be our next singapore president.The final answer is MR.TAN J.S.
Me too! i choose MR.TAN.J.S.because of his high calibre profile and his sincerity and his thinking can really relate to the people needs.He is the best beside our mr.T.L.K.
PAP has been sleeping, they must be slapped and pricked.
President Nathan security guard got no conscience, make Vui Kong whole family kneel down on the road when sending petition to the President.
The President got no power at all. He should at least go and comfort them and give some money to the family before he retire. PAP must debate this matter and settle the problem for the powerless President.
The interesting question is whether Mr Tan JS will return to the SDP if he fails in the bid. If not, it sparks the question whether this was rather an elegant way of leaving the SDP. If so, my respect for his politics has definitely increased cos that’s certainly elegant.
Whatever Chee might say, its not corroborated by the person that matters ie Chiam. The fact that the courts supported Chiam in his court bids against the SDP may be discounted. With due respect to Chee’s attempt to present his side of the story, clearly Chiam had a different interpretation of events in his ouster. Many like me still have more than sufficient respect for Chiam to disbelieve Chiam’s version of events.
Time sometimes erases memories. In some cases, the younger generation might not have gone thru the actual events as they unfolded to remember how it was exactly. Others might have just discounted the whole issue or was disinterested at that time. I belong to the last categories of old elephants who were there. Didn’t like what happened then and certainly the SDP & Chee didn’t care for our views then either.
What Chee doesn’t say is the number of people providing advice for everyone to halt the infighting and let Chiam continue. Its not like Chee & the SDP went in blind. They knew the consequences and like some parties in Singapore just went ahead full steam thinking they could manage the fall-out. History provides the answer whether they could.
We have 4 Tans contesting now. A fifth one may join soon. He is ex WP’s Eric TAN. Eric was General Manager of HSBC’s custodian subsidiary for many years. HSBC certainly has a paid up capital of more than $100 million. Eric is undoubtedly anti-PAP and have been so for over 10 years.
TJS returning to SDP if he does not qualify. Are you kidding, brother? IF he does that, he will lose all self-respect. His best bet is to join WP. Or even replace Goh Meng Seng as head honcho in NSP. Then invite Dr Ang, ML and AT to defect over. With Nicole Seah, Tony Tan & Hazel Poa already there, TJS can build up a formidable team to match WP.
Look, we shouldn’t exhume CSJ’s past faux pas any more. To be fair, these were the by-gone bravados of an embittered & idealistic younger man. What we desire is for SDP to be led by more moderate and rational men/women who are better in tune with the bread & butter issues affecting common Singaporeans. Abstract philosophical values such as universal freedom, human rights, Tibetan independence & other western liberal concepts while laudable, are not such high priorities in the current struggle against the PAP. So for SDP’s A team leader, Dr Vincent to go gallivanting on the world stage in June lambasting Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher and excoriating the Chinese government for human rights violation, is just not politically savvy. I think the astute politician in Tan Jee Say saw that as the last straw, and he wants out, but exit gracefully.
I hope he gets the COE, although the chances are not high. Experts in the fund management industry have already explained that a firm’s Paid-Up Capital is quite distinct from the Assets under Management (AUM). But no matter, it is no great loss, as I am sure WP, NSP, SPP will be salivating to entice a high caliber person like TJS into their fold. So there is definitely no need at all to return to the SDP.
What ladies ? If a forumer with a lady Nick and/or lady photo, that person is a “lady” ? OMG .. Ohhh please be nice to this lady here, Cecilia. Join WP ? U must be kidding ! Anyway, the person who advised other not to “exhume CSJ’s past” should first look into his mirror !
@Henry
I agree. The fact that Dr V took centrestage with the 2 heavyweights made a difference in changing some of the perception of SDP today.
However, the link to the past is still there and its difficult to argue a leopard has changed its stripes when the heads are still the same.
Actions speak louder than words. We’ll see.
Paid-up capital is a fund paid into a company for the purpose of investing in and operating the business the company is authorized to carry out.
Asset and fund management companies invest clients’ money or assets in a range of businesses including, at times, taking up shares (which is paid-up capital) in the business entities in which they invest on their client’s behalf.
“Paid-up capital” and “managed capital” are both “capital”, money to be invested, except the former is paid into the company as an investment for the business, whereas the latter is being invested without it being paid first into the company doing investments in a variety other businesses and assets.
The fact that fund management companies handle a great number of clients’ monies and a wide range of portfolio, it would be impractical and pointless to have their many clients’ capital paid into the company before disbursing out as investment. Another relevant point of the matter is when you pay up the capital of a company you have in fact become a share holder of it. Investors with funds need not, and prefer not, to become shareholder of the fund management company managing their funds or assets.
The expertise, scope and responsibility of fund managing are far greater than that of managing an individual company with its own paid-up capital. A fund managing company managing a total investment fund of SGD100million usually invests in local and global assets and listed entities with capitalisation many times larger.
In contrast, an individual company with paid-up SGD100million can do only business in its own specialised field up to a limited volume and scope.
The term “paid-up capital” began its existence when fund management as a business did not exist. It was, and still is, meant as an indication of the company’s financial strength, but it tells us nothing about its business activities and performance. I believe that this particular requirement of “paid-up capital” on presidential candidates was inserted in the beginning without giving it a proper and wider definition.
Now we are at a cross road, I hope that the noble and conscientious gentlemen presiding over the Presidential Election Committee would share my view, and in so doing, they would change the course of Singapore politics and its future, for the better of its people and their future generation.
PAP prefers safe candidates, and a subservient PAP-controlled President. The PEC should be bold enough not to enforce PAP’s preference/requirement on the Presidency to their preferred candidate. Those that strictly comply with PAP’s President requirements are not very interested to contest at all.
PAP should be more broad minded in working with different individuals with different beliefs, background and working styles. They are approaching the reserves and roles/responsibilities from different angles and perspectives.
The people also prefer more openness and consultation regarding the reserves with the President and more liberty to decide the nation’s future. We prefer a more power sharing PAP and co-driving President.
PAP will kill Tan Jee Say’s Presidential dreams. There is only one way to enter the Imperial Palace. Singapore got not many entrepreneurs because all have to go through PAP success system selection tests. Most are failures according to PAP. Membership have its privileges. Government connection begets success.
@Ethen Jin-Chew 16 July 2011
The expertise, scope and responsibility of fund managing are far greater than that of managing an individual company with its own paid-up capital
I hope that the noble and conscientious gentlemen presiding over the Presidential Election Committee would share my view..
Take a look who are the members of the PEC, and guess if TJS will get his COE:
The PEC comprises 3 members. They are:
(1)Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC)
(2)Chairman of the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority;
(3) One representative from the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, nominated by the Chairman of the Council.
The current incumbents are (from Wikipedia, etc):
1. Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) – Eddie Teo (ex director of ISD, ex-PS of Defence, etc)
2. Chairman of the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority- Peter Ong, also Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Finance.
3. Key members of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights are:
Chan Sek Keong (Chairman), Chief Justice Chao Hick Tin, CJ, Appeal Court
Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, Lee Hsien Loong, S Jayakumar, S.Dhanabalan,
Satpal Khattar, Lim Chong Yah, O.Oliveiro, Andrew Chew, JY Pillay.
Tan Jee Say will give PAP nightmares. PAP loves to surround themselves with Yes Man. PAP is afraid of competition. They only know how to give excuses.
How much is the COE this year?
Singaporeans must vote in TKL the former NTUC CEO so as not to dilute the numbers while for TJS to replace the possiblities of the PM because man plan, GOD decide.
If PM for unknown possible illness, we need a person that could plan and spent our Sporean funds for SPOREAN only. which could eventually stop siphoning off all our state reserve.
We needed to replace the PM when GOD decide for him and family.