00:00 Singapore-born Indian-origin Tharman Shanmugarathnam was today officially announced as a candidate
00:07 for the prosperous city-state's presidential election on September 1, along with two Chinese-origin
00:12 former business executives. Tharman 66, former investment chief of state-owned company Nick
00:18 Kok Song 75, and former head of the state-run insurance company Tan Kin Lian 75 were officially
00:24 announced as candidates by the Elections Department for Singapore's highest but non-political
00:29 post. As the three have been officially announced as candidates, they cannot pull out of the
00:34 race without forfeiting their election deposits of SGD 40,500 each, according to a report
00:39 by the Straits Times newspaper. The three men, each vying to become Singapore's ninth
00:43 president, can officially begin campaigning, which will end on August 30. The cooling-off
00:48 day is on August 31 and the polling day is on September 1. Singapore's incumbent president
00:53 Halimah Yacob's six-year term will end on September 13. In his speech after the nomination,
00:58 Mr Tharman, a former senior minister in the ruling People's Action Party government, said
01:03 he looked forward to a dignified and honourable contest, focused on what each candidate brings
01:07 to Singaporeans and what each of them brings to the country's future. "Let us look forward
01:11 to a campaigning which is dignified and honourable and a campaign which itself seeks to unite
01:15 Singaporeans and not divide us," he said. Mr Tharman later told media that he was running
01:20 for the presidency not on the basis of new positions or statements, but on the basis
01:24 of a long-held purpose in his life. "I believe in a fairer, more compassionate and more inclusive
01:29 society and my life is dedicated to that. Singapore can be special," the report quoted
01:34 Mr Tharman as saying. Tharman began his career as an economist and civil servant, primarily
01:39 at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before entering the political arena in 2001. During
01:43 his time in politics, he held positions as the Minister for Education and Finance, as
01:47 well as Deputy Prime Minister, serving from 2011 and 2019. Nuck, who introduced himself
01:52 in Chinese, Malay and Tamil, expressed his candidacy for the presidency as a means to
01:57 safeguard Singapore's three key assets - its reserves, public service appointments and
02:01 social stability. Tan voiced his aspirations to provide the people of Singapore with the
02:05 opportunity to choose a president who remains truly impartial from the ruling government.
02:09 He pledged to fulfil his constitutional responsibilities "diligently, honestly and to the best of
02:13 his ability" if elected.
02:14 [Music]
