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He said that his 45 years’ experience in helping to build the reserves thus qualifies him to understand the “intricacies of the reserves”.
“I think Minister Tharman also understands, but it is something which I think other candidates will have to prove, that they have a sufficient grasp of the responsibilities of the job in terms of safeguarding the reserves,” he said.
HOW LEE KUAN YEW INSPIRED HIM TO RUN FOR PRESIDENCY
When asked by another clan member why he had decided to run for President, Mr Ng said that other than his desire to safeguard the past reserves, it was also his wish to honour one of Singapore’s founding fathers, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, that compelled him to do so.
“I think people of my generation know that it is because of Mr Lee Kuan Yew that Singapore can enjoy our standard of living now, it was Mr Lee who took our country from third world to first world, and I think many Singaporeans feel gratitude to Mr Lee,” he said.
He thus decided to run for President as a way to thank the former Prime Minister.
“If not for Mr Lee, I cannot have gone from a kampung boy to now standing for President,” he said. “So I feel in my heart gratitude, and I want to honour Mr Lee and I want to thank the people of Singapore for giving me so much.”
He added that when he told his friends that he was planning to run for President at the age of 75, some of them advised him against it.
“But I tell them I want to do it for the benefit of Singapore,” he said.
Mr Ng said that he was not doing it for money, as he would have to sell his business if he were to be elected, neither is it for power, fame or glory, as he “doesn’t need that”.
“I need to explain to the people of Singapore, why even at my age, I can still do something for Singapore,” said the executive chairman of Avanda Investment Management, an asset management company he co-founded in 2015.
Nomination Day for the Presidential Election is Aug 22 and the Presidential Elections Committee, which has the final say on whether a candidate qualifies based on the criteria set out in the Constitution, is expected to announce a few days before that who among the current four hopefuls will qualify.
Should there be more than one candidate who qualifies, the nation will head to the polls on Sep 1.
This article was originally published in TODAY.
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