SINGAPORE: Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be Singapore's next President after securing a landslide victory with 70.4 per cent of the vote.
The final result, announced by the returning officer shortly after midnight on Saturday (Sep 2), put Mr Ng Kok Song in second place with 15.72 per cent, followed by Mr Tan Kin Lian, who received 13.88 per cent....
The figures were largely unchanged from an earlier sample count, which had the three men at 70 per cent, 16 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. CNA
The convincing victory by Tharman indeed surprised everyone. They could expect a Tharman win but not this kind of margin in a Chinese majority state. The result only shows that Singaporeans are blind to racial differences and voting on the basis of merit, that a better man wins.
Another surprising feature of this election is that the sample count is as good as the final result. In future elections, the sample count can be taken as the final result as the variation is just marginal. This vindicates the usefulness and accuracy of a sample count. This may be a Singapore phenomenon.
Congratulations to Tharman as the new president, and likely the next president, and the next president in the next two elections. He could break the record of Nathan's two term as president.
45 comments:
The sample count is so eerily perfect. For this to happen in a multi racial society is very exceptional and unusual.
I can smell the fish frm 1km away.
Perhap we need international observer for future election..however don't think it will happen in my remaining lifetime..what a sad day.
Voting is secret in Singapore, that's why there cannot be any exit poll like other countries. The closest you get to is after the sample count is released. Sample count released after 10.30pm lah. How many % difference you want to find after half an hour when it closes? 50% ah?
Anyway, congratulations to His Excellency, President Tharman. Majulah Singapura.
The onglai, one of the symbol of linking to Lgbt was thrown in, to test the ground. The ground is definitely very sweet, can't be so sweet anymore. Expecting, GE would be brought forward . There are so many empty MPs seats to replace.
I must agree the ground is sweet for a GE.
I don't think anyone in Singapore could have beaten Tharman. TKL is just banging a tin pot like Donald Trump, and NKS never heard of until now. Maybe Wee Kim Wee might have a chance if he was alive.
Secret you said?
Hello when you presented your poll card and IC with your given number and that guy or lady loudly shouted your poll number and your name for all to listen and also for another to strike off from their Master List and they wrote your poll number on the balloting slip that you were supposed to mark and vote.
Why must they write your poll number on the voting slip?
They wilk just tell you serial numbers for security hambug.
If already so stringent procedures why must have your poll number on the voting slip?
This they will know who votes for who if they wanted to check.
They are in controls and who the hell knows if they really wants to open and check?
Ownselves checked ownselves ah?
Thats the psychological fears in most Sinkies.
Don’t overconfidence,the votes is for Thaman
Anyone asked this matter?
Above posted by me.
Send without changing the Nick
Also to mention that there is a Serial Number on the Voting Slip that had your poll number next to it.
Aiyo, so easy to check.
Ai ka ma!
Singapore, Sep 1 (PTI) Elected as the ninth president of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a distinguished economist, became the third Indian-origin person to head the prosperous city-state for the next six years.
Born to Tamil ancestors from the Singapore Indian community that forms approximately nine per cent of the over 2.7 million Singaporean voters, Tharman is one of the most qualified citizens of the resource-scarce city-state that has witnessed various development phases for over 50 years.
"I have been deeply privileged to serve you in many ways over the decades – working on the ground as well as shaping national policies for a fairer and more inclusive society, and flying the Singapore flag high internationally," said the 66-year-old economist, sportsman and poet just days before the Presidential Elections was held on September 1.
Tharman beat Ng Kok Song, a former chief investment officer with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), and Tan Kin Lian, the former chief of the NTUC Income, a state-owned union-based insurance group by a huge margin, bagging over 70 per cent votes in the first contested presidential election since 2011.
Incumbent President Halimah Yacob's six-year term will end on September 13. The elected president serves a six-year term.
Born on February 25, 1957, in Singapore, Tharman is a multi-generational Singaporean of Tamil ancestry from the 19th century. One of three children, Tharman is the son of Emeritus Professor K. Shanmugaratnam, a medical scientist known as the "father of pathology in Singapore", who founded the Singapore Cancer Registry and led a number of international organisations related to cancer research and pathology.
Tharman is married to Jane Yumiko Ittogi, a Singaporean lawyer of mixed Chinese-Japanese ancestry, who is actively engaged in social enterprise and the non-profit arts sector in Singapore. The couple have one daughter and three sons.
Tharman attended the Anglo-Chinese School before graduating from the London School of Economics (LSE) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. (LSE later awarded him an Honorary Fellowship in 2011). He subsequently went on to Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, where he completed a Master of Philosophy degree in Economics.
He then became a student at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he completed the Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree and was a recipient of the Lucius N. Littauer Fellows Award (given to MPA students who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership).
An economist by profession, Tharman has spent his working life in public service roles principally related to economic and social policies. He has also led various high-level international councils and panels.
Tharman has served as Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister between 2011 and 2019 and as Senior Minister in the Cabinet between 2019 and 2023. In June 2023, Tharman announced his intention to be a candidate in the 2023 presidential election and resigned from all his positions in the government and as a member of Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP) in July 2023, as the presidency is a non-partisan office.
A student activist while studying in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, Tharman originally held socialist beliefs, but his views on economics evolved over the course of his working career.
While serving as director of the Economics Department of the MAS in 1992, Tharman was charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) in a case involving the publication of Singapore's 1992 second-quarter flash GDP growth projections in a local newspaper. He contested the case and was fined SGD1,500.
( Cont_d )
Putting all that behind, he went on to serve the public sector and worked his way into the Government in various ministerial positions.
Having joined the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), and making a debut as a politician in 2001, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Education in 2003 and served in this role until 2008.
The president-elect has also held the roles of Minister for Finance between 2007 and 2015, Minister for Manpower between 2011 and 2012, and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies between 2015 and 2023.
The other roles he has served include Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the de facto central bank, between 2011 and 2023, and that of Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) between 2019 and 2023.
Tharman was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Taman Jurong division of Jurong GRC between 2001 and 2023 as a member of PAP. He was re-elected to Parliament four times at subsequent general elections in 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020.
He has also led various high-level international councils and panels. Tharman has served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty, a global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors and academia.
Tharman has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, which will make recommendations on Effective Multilateralism for the UN Summit of the Future in 2024.
From 2011 to 2014, he chaired the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), becoming the first-ever Asian chair. From 2019 to 2022, he co-chaired the Advisory Board of the Human Development Report (HDR) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
An active sportsman in his youth, Tharman has highlighted the way sports instil lessons for life. He spoke about sports as a form of education, saying "Children learn the value of teams. They learn the discipline of repeated practice, and how there is no other way to develop expertise. Plus, the ability to fall or lose in competition and pick oneself up... with humility." He has been engaged in Chinese calligraphy since 2002.
Tharman has also served in Non-Governmental Organisations and chaired the Board of Trustees of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), which seeks to uplift educational performance and aspirations in the Indian community in Singapore.
He also chaired the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute and the National Jobs Council aimed at rebuilding skills and jobs for Singaporeans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also garnered multiple awards and accolades, including those at international platforms.
Sellapan Ramanathan, popularly known as S R Nathan, a Singaporean politician of Tamil origin, served as the president of Singapore since 2009 while Malayali-origin Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.
- Press Trust Of India (PTI)
You miss the point. Your vote is secret means you cannot talk about it. If you cannot talk about it, how to do exit poll? That is the facts bro.
Congraduations to Mr. Tharman for being elected as Singapore's 9th President.
Now that Mr. Tharman is elected as Singapore's 9th President, we hope he will protect Singapore's billions of dollars invested overseas especially in India. India has cheated many countries of hundreds of billions of dollars invested in India, such as America, Japan and China with drum up false and fake charges. Mr. Tarman must be firm and ensure all the billions of dollars invested by Singapore firms in India such as DBS bank for example are not swallowed by the Indian government with impunity. I would like to believe strongly that though Mr Tarman is an ethnic Indian he is definitely 100 percent Singaporean at heart and would not let India or any foreign country to run foul of Singapore especially on financial matters.
Nathan Bose Naidu
Welcome to the blog, Nathan Bose Naidu.
So, the EP results show we can abolish the GRCs requiring at least one minority race candidate. If an Indian candidate can beat two Chinese candidates in a majority Chinese population, and by a very big majority, then it is time to that all GE seats should return to the original single constituency seats. What more the G wants to disapprove it. What say you. voters ?
Nathan Bose Naidu - Since when does the President oversee DBS bank operations?
Now that the results are out, allow me to let out my two cents worth. I do not want to appear throwing cold water on some people earlier and being accused of planting mental barriers in people's mind prior to the voting. I am not even a nominal supporter of the PAP for that matter. I never start out wanting to support Tharman.
Secret or not about the ballot papers, an issue harped upon for decades, the poll agents of the candidates are there to scrutinise the voting, the conveying of the ballot boxes and the counting. If secrecy fear is really to blame for the landslide win, Hougang would not still be in Opposition hands, after so many years under the Workers Party. It is an insult to the intelligence of Hougang voters. They would have been living in fear of being targeted when found out, but they persist in defying those fears.
I agree with Anon 10.19. Yes Wee Kim Wee would stand a better chance with his sincerity, if he was still alive. And George Goh could well perform more creditably. That Ng Kok Song, someone not well known or even heard of until he threw his hat in, could do better than expected as runners up, is indeed surprising. That is the actual surprise to my mind.
Voters are not that stupid as we think. They know the limitations of what the Elected President can do or cannot do after all these years, and after what Ong Teng Cheong went through. Talking about changing the investment strategy or tinkering with the reserves when elected is just akin to beating a tin pot, as Anon 10.19 puts it, like selling 'koyok'. The point is, do not espouse what is not possible and changing horses in mid stream. Claiming to be independent and yet trying to show association with some political party and having its endorsement is not a good strategy and a fatal mistake. You give the impression of being untrustworthy, claiming one thing and doing the opposite. Yes, reflection is a good thing, if it takes many attempts needed to learn the lessons.
To be honest, my vote was intended for George Goh when he was the second person after Tharman to enter the contest. The other two that followed did not prove capable of making me change my choice at all. When George Goh was disqualified, and being left with no better choice, you should know who I voted for. In fact this is the first time in more than 38 long years voting opposition in Hougang, that I broke my long standing conviction not to follow my long standing habit.
Hi Anon
There are 300 over nearly 400 Opposition Votes.
Who said that they are afraid to vote the Opposition and NOT candidates of the Papies.
What I meant is that really necessary that they must write the Voters poll numbers besides the voting slips.
I for one had not vote for the Papies in the GE and the EP.
What's there to be scared of?
Those dafts who thought that they voted the choice of the Papies EP Candidates and their MPs are safe and would be in a way having better chances on asking any help or favours from the them.
They do not know the psychology that they are more interested in granting favours to the Opposition voters than their own.
That's why they always said Vote for me Vote for me when they want round canvassing for votes.
An analogy.
Once you become a subscriber or member of for example a telco.
You are already their subscriber or member.
You thunk between you and a non subscriber, their customers services officers will have more interests selling their products to you or a non subscriber?
Definitely to a new maybe become their subscriber.
What's for still pampered the dead wood ones?
So Papies supporters thought that they be pampered by them.
See and listen behind closed doors they cursed you. Like Kee Chiu.
Aiyo 300 to 400 thousands.
Apologies missed this word.
Singaporeans love to complain but when given a chance for change even when there is no risk of change of government, they still want to maintain the status quo.
Voting for a candidate not endorsed by the establishment or quietly by the government can send a strong signal .Look at Aljunied 2011 and how the government became more responsive to citizens.
Whoever is elected isn't going to change policies but GST, housing and cost
of living will still rise. Ruling party can still change the rules on who who can stand in future presidencial elections.
How could Tan KL lose to Ng KS? The latter and Tharman are cut from the same cloth.
IMO, Tan KL could have performed better, but the MSM subliminal and on line hostile smear/ ridicule of him has put paid to his chances and dragged down his results.
I expected Tharman to be elected but not by such a margin against TKL. The result is a great disappointment on many of my fellow Singaporeans who are not able to discern, afraid for change or simply jump of the bandwagon.
PM Modi congratulates Tharman on election as Singapore president
September 02, 2023 - New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2 congratulated Tharman Shanmugaratnam on his election as president of Singapore.
He said on X, "I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership.
Mr. Tharman scored a landslide victory in the presidential election held on Friday.
The 66-year-old Singaporean economist, who is of Indian origin economist, will be Singapore's ninth president. He won the election with a vote share of 70.4%.
Our fear coming true . . .
Tharman Shanmugaratnam joins growing list of Indian-origin leaders dominating world politics
Singapore, Sep 2 (PTI) With Tharman Shanmugaratnam winning Singapore's presidential election, he joins a long list of Indian-origin leaders who are dominating politics at important world capitals.
Shanmugaratnam, 66, received 70.4 per cent of the votes in the presidential election held on Friday.
"Singaporeans have chosen Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be our next president by a decisive margin," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he congratulated Tharman on Saturday.
He is among several leaders of Indian heritage who have ascended to the highest echelon of public service globally.
His victory signifies the rising influence of Indians across the globe.
In the US, the growing influence of the Indian-American community can be seen in the success of Kamala Harris, who became the first woman and the first coloured Vice President of the country.
She was a senator for California from 2017 to 2021. Harris, a Democrat, also served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017. She was born to Indian and Jamaican parents in California.
In the crucial midterm elections in November, a record five Indian-American lawmakers from the ruling Democrat Party -- Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera and Shri Thanedar -- were elected to the US House of Representatives.
Harmeet Dhillon, a prominent politician in California, recently contested the election for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Indian-origin leaders like Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy have launched their bid for the White House in 2024.
Rishi Sunak became Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister last year. He is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years. He is also Britain's first Hindu Prime Minister. Goan-origin Suella Braverman is serving as his Home Secretary.
Claire Coutinho is the second Goan-origin minister after Braverman in the Sunak Cabinet.
She recently got a big promotion as his new Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary.
Under Sunak's predecessor, Boris Johnson's Cabinet, Priti Patel was the Home Secretary. Alok Sharma was the International Development Secretary in the Johnson Cabinet.
Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Eric Varadkar is also of Indian origin. Varadkar is the third child and only son of Ashok and Miriam Varadkar. His father, a doctor, was born in Mumbai and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s.
Antonio Costa has been the Prime Minister of Portugal since 2015. He is half Indian and half Portuguese.
Anita Anand is the first Hindu to become a federal minister in Canada. Anand assumed the role of President of the Treasury Board on July 26, 2023, as part of a major cabinet shuffle.
Anand's parents were Indians. Her father was from Tamil Nadu and her mother was from Punjab.
Apart from Anand, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet has two more Indian-origin members-- Harjit Sajjan and Kamal Khera.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan is the first person of Indian origin to become a Minister in New Zealand. Born in Chennai to Malayali parents, she is currently the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector.
( Cont_d )
Christine Carla Kangaloo, the president-elect of Trinidad and Tobago, was born into an Indo-Trinidadian family.
Pritam Singh, an Indian-origin lawyer, and author, has been serving as Leader of the Opposition in Singapore since 2020.
Devanand "Dave" Sharma became the first person of Indian origin to become a Member of the Australian Parliament in 2019.
Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the President of Guyana, was born into a Muslim Indo-Guyanese family in Leonora.
Pravind Jugnauth has been serving as the prime minister of Mauritius since January 2017. He was born into a Hindu Yaduvanshi family in 1961. His great-grandfather migrated to Mauritius from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1870s.
Prithvirajsing Roopun, the president of Mauritius since 2019, was born in an Indian Arya Samaj Hindu family.
Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi has been the president of Suriname since 2020.
Santokhi was born in 1959 into an Indo-Surinamese Hindu family in Lelydorp.
Wavel Ramkalawan has been serving as the president of Seychelles since October 2020. His grandfather was from Bihar.
According to the 2021 Indiaspora Government Leaders List, more than 200 leaders of Indian heritage have ascended to the highest echelons of public service in 15 countries across the globe, with over 60 of them holding Cabinet positions.
With more than 32 million people of Indian origin (PIOs) globally, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs, Indians are the largest community population in the world.
Only the Indians are proud of Kamala Harris. She is the Mother of All Jokes!
U.S., India and Ukraine send their congrats. But Russia never . . .
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/3-firms-fined-4-ex-directors-jailed-in-largest-case-involving-false-salary-declarations-to-mom
Wow all Indians Directors in Spore.
How about India?
Singapore need to review how to make the PE fairer for Independent Candidates. In Taiwan, most of the candidates have many months to campaign for their PE. Singapore independents President elect candidates got less than 2 weeks to campaign. Can the selection of
eligible President candidates be carried out very much earlier? Maybe 3 to 6 months earlier. Peoples than can know them well and make a better choice without 1 day cooling off. Is there a hurry? Spending up to even 1 year to know your President Candidates is worthwhile for a six year term.
Indiapura akan datang liao lah...
We demand that the GRC system of voting be dismantled as Tharman's win has proven beyond doubt that Singaporeans don't vote along racial lines.
Wah liao Virgo - those Indian directors cheat $6000 salary must kena whack.
Just todays ST, got full page spread of multiple foreign "businessmen" from China, with a network of global scams, criminal activity, kidnapping, rape, hostage taking worth almost $1bn. They hide their wealth in Singapore buying more than 100 properties worth hundreds of millions, and raising property and rental prices out of our reach.
This kind of thing must stop immediately. We cannot allow such things in Singapore.
Where got just $6K meh?
Dont deflated the figure?
6K where got years jail house rock?
Millions lah!
Malaysian Chinese migrated to Sinkieland.
Sinkieland Chinese migrated to China?
Singkapore be Indiapore?
After Sept 01st 2023
Singapore will become the Little India in this World
Tharman Shanmugaratnam- President
Vivian Balakrishnan- Foreign Minister
Suresh Menon- Chief Justice
Ravi Menon- MD MAS
Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara- CEO Temasek Holdings
Piyush Pillay Sandrasegara.-CEO DBS
K.Shammugan- Law Minister
Forget another One now also had potshot photo like Dotard Trump
Iswaran - Transport Minister
When Chinamen whacked and makan they makan BIG BIG.
Either GOOD or BAD Ventures
In their genes Gambling Men and Risks Takers.
That's why they can surpassed all in the World.
NO Risks NO Gains
KaKa Chiong Ah!
Wow Today's Mr RB went to celebrate with the New President ah?
Now 1000 hours no new postings?
Normal daily new posts b4 0900hrs
Got Lorries Lions and Dragon Dances on Lorries Round Island?
Last two days avoid reading the dramas and articles on the Shits Times.
Wah, if not have to Eye Centre again to correct visons of Eyes.
Too glaring and have to wear sunglasses
Just to add unlike those Kuching Kurap Gian Pngs just for the sake of some cheap skates entertainments overseas in hotel suites and Bollywood dances.
Oops, went to the gym and forgot to post.
Must be the euphoria from the landslide win by Tharman. Still a bit groggy, trying to understand how it happened this way. This win is a morale booster for the PAP to hold an early GE to ride on the winning wave.
Makan big big, but no where near the scale of Xiaomi and other phone makers in India. They even gobbled up whole bank as their own.
These ones are cheap skates Thieves and Whores.
Just simply robbed in daylights.
Without even putting in a sweat.
What's I meant is that even those who are in these dubious businesses like what's these Chinamen and women does also needed guts, brains and cunningness.
To the Authorities they are illegal businesses but whats about them just because they issued their own licenses and are in control and also doing the same?
Their gaming casinos legal whereas the rest illegal?
Thank you Mr RB for your daily dosage of vitamins
If NOT no strength.
Cheers
Tharman Shanmugaratnam - President.
K. Shanmugam - Law Minister.
Vivian Balakrishnam - Foreign Minister
Even food courts under India ministry - ie Tharman Jurong Food Court, LOL.
Chinese where got hope? ITE!
TM invited member of World Economic Forum
WEF is a grouping of private businesses, non-govt organization set up by Klaus Schwab.
WEF as an instrument .." to take decisions without having to account to their electorate or shareholders"
The formation of a detached elite which is often co-labelled through the neologism "Davos Man" refers to a global group whose members view themselves as completely "international".. The term refers to people who "have little need for national loyalty.
= members decayed into different froups and camps, each seeking a different model of growth for themselves
=some invited members are brought in to showcase different economic models eg Sg riding as a different model of funding
=Covid plot formalized at WEF
Between 21 and 24 January 2020, at the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, CEPI met with leaders from Moderna to establish plans for a COVID-19 vaccine at the Davos gathering, with a total global case number of 274 and total loss of life due to the virus at 16. The WHO declared a global health emergency 6 days later
= Tharman made Sg spend a sum claimed to be $100B (later reduced to $B?) in reserves, paid salary while not creating any benefits
Worse, in 2020 MAS blocked Sgpn from market access when markets were at bottom. This is how he helped spend Sgpn reserves and created retirement problems for the nation.
WEF paid executives salaries of around i million Swiss francs per year, would not pay any federal tax, nor public cost of security despite having millions
Also has unaccounted investment fund
The French Les Echos furthermore concludes that Davos "represents the exact values people rejected at the ballot box"
The Economist had found similar results in an earlier study, showing an underperformance of Davos participants against both the MSCI World index and the S&P500 between 2009 and 2014
= not doing what is right / needed
half of cabinet relatives become young economic forum members... plutocratic goals of the organisation
= growing inequalities and wealth gaps
- the best way for the attendees to attack inequality was to stop avoiding taxes (which is not done)
Instead Sg increased indirect GST taxes on the public to pay for medical expenses while other countries raised GST to boost pension$
Is this a dissevice to the nation, shows incompetience and indifference?
etc more info in the article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum
==========================
Why would anyone agree to such a plot?
How stupid is it to promote and accelerate viral growth and fill the world with multiple variants?
The natural process is slower and single variant and much more manageable naturally. There are 5 possible genetic bonds for viral intrusion due to protein structure which experience shows take 2.5 yrs to complete if get infected every half yearly. By which time one would have developed all the immunity needed naturally.
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