Singapore is expected to hold a presidential election within the next 18 months. Ahead of the election, the Government has initiated a review of the qualifying criteria for candidacy, the powers of the Council of Presidential Advisers, and minority representation. For all of these reasons, it is timely to ask how we should pick a president.

The innovation of the presidency from an entirely ceremonial role to one with select “executive powers” should be regarded as a step forward in the maturation of Singapore’s political arrangements. There is no push from any quarter to return the presidency to a merely figurehead role. The elected president model is, thus, likely to continue to define the office.

It should be recognised that despite the range and importance of select executive powers, the president is served by only a very small staff headed by a principal private secretary (the PPS).

The overwhelming majority of the staff allocated to the office of the president are concerned with the administrative, logistical, travel, security and planning arrangements of the ceremonial roles of the presidency. The PPS to the president is reliant on the support of the ministries to be kept informed on matters relating to the executive powers.

Consequently, the presidency appears designed in such a way that it is deliberately ill-equipped to become a position from which to initiate challenges to the Government on matters of detail of policy and practice. It is dependent on the information, data and arguments presented to it by the Government.

The president must possess a familiarity with government mechanisms, public policy and the principles and mechanism of public finance to best inform his or her judgment on whether, when and how to exercise the executive powers. This judgment comes with experience and being tested. The presidency is not the place for volatile personalities looking to make statements or a name. Ideally, the president should be a person whose “wars” are behind him, someone who can bring an emotionally balanced and sober attitude to upholding the prestige and standing of the presidency.

Such a president would be well equipped to play the role of a mentor to apex government leaders, including the prime minister. His or her prior experience and networks would be a welcome source of support for the otherwise lonely role of leader.

Prime ministers need confidants and guidance too. Naturally, the president must play the role of mentor carefully to avoid imposing positions and philosophies, and such roles are best played quietly away from the public gaze to maintain the trust and mutual respect necessary for the heads of state and government to interact constructively.

Citizens have been writing letters of appeal or complaint to the Istana from the inception of the office, hoping to get the attention and intervention of the president on their individual grouses. However, such letters are typically re-directed to the relevant government departments for their notice and response.

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The Straits Times

The president’s role can be expanded so he or she can play a more prominent role of guardian, when it comes to matters of fundamental public or national interest, beyond the narrow areas currently specified in the Constitution. In instances when a proposed or current public policy or practice is perceived to be in conflict with the public interest, the president could be empowered to use his or her discretion to ask for a review and response on behalf of the citizens. Playing such a role would give the elected presidency more direct currency than merely contingent potency.

The presidency can and should play the role of national unifier. Being above the fray of parliamentary politics, the president is uniquely placed to bring attention to the things which unite us despite our differences.

This moral role of unifier is critical in times of crisis, but is also valuable during times of stability. This calls for a president whose priority is the nation, not self, a person who can bring moral standing to the office without contaminating it with personal ego and agenda.

It must be someone who can bring personality to the presidency without making the presidency only about personality.

Those who step forward to seek this office should be held to the highest standards. But those standards need a framing and coherency.

Apart from being custodian of financial reserves, my suggestion is that the president’s moral role should include that of mentor, guardian and unifier. These roles are uniquely fitted to the office of the elected president.

Maturing our politics is more than about constitutional amendments and political frameworks. It is anchored foremost by the maturity of those who seek to be political actors – and the elected presidency may be non-partisan but it is still a political office.

Voters should judge the candidates not by what or who they are against, but for who they are as persons and what they stand for as leaders.

The writer is the chief executive officer of Future-Moves Group, a management consulting firm.

Singapore’s presidents over the years

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The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao

This article was first published on March 12, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – Free buggy services, interactive panels to help commuters plan trips, and Braille guidance on handrails to help the visually impaired are just some of the innovative features at the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange (TBI).

Although only an interim arrangement, transport operator SMRT has installed a host of new, first-of-its-kind features to ensure the needs of commuters are taken care of.

The new interchange, which was officially launched on Saturday (Mar 12) has bus boarding and alighting berths stretching nearly half a kilometer, making it one of the longest bus interchanges in Singapore. Therefore, a free buggy service will be available for commuters who may need assistance to get to berths at the extreme ends of the interchange.

The temporary interchange also introduces a tactile guidance system, which includes Braille guidance on handrails, which can help the visually impaired locate waiting areas.

There will also be new interactive panels that allow commuters learn about travel options in the area.

Meanwhile, the new interchange also ensures the comfort and needs of staff are not neglected. In another first, a SMART bus guidance system will display information on large panels so that bus captains can see which alighting berths and parking bays are avaiable.

An air-conditioned staff lounge and a canteen with various food stalls also provide a comfortable rest area for bus captains and interchange staff.

Woodlands TBI will serve residents for three years until 2019 as the Woodlands Regional Interchange undergoes upgrading and construction of an underpass.

Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan was at the interchange today for its first day of operations. He was accompanied by MPs from the Sembawang and Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constiuencies, including Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, Parliament speaker Madam Halimah Yacob, and Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin.

Mr Tan Kian Heong, vice president of SMRT Buses, said: “Although the relocation is temporary, we aim to provide our commuters and staff with the service standards found in a fully operational, permanent bus interchange.”

He added that the TBI allows trials of advanced technology and commuter-friendly features, and hoped commuters would be able to enjoy the new service enhancements.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

Since news of his plight broke, deliveryman Ong Poh Hwa, 44, and his pregnant wife have received a flurry of visitors at Changi Beach, where they park the lorry they call home.

Thursday night’s visitors included Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) officers, who told The Straits Times they were there to “better understand his current situation”.

Mr Ong’s story of how he and his pregnant Vietnamese wife live in the lorry he drives for work appeared in Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao on Wednesday.

The couple get up at 3.30am to start his delivery job, then park the lorry at night at Changi Beach, where they use the public toilets to wash up and do their laundry. They then go to sleep on sheets of cardboard in the back of the open vehicle.

“We have referred Mr Ong to a family service centre for a more thorough assessment of his circumstances and needs so appropriate help can be rendered,” said an MSF spokesman. Mr Ong said he would visit the family service centre as soon as he can, given his six-day work schedule and the centre’s operating hours, but stressed it was not monetary aid he needs.

“I just want a roof over our heads for my wife and baby,” he said in Mandarin.

Last night, the couple were on the bed of their lorry tucking into a dinner of fried rice bought from a coffee shop. Mr Ong’s wife, Ms Nguyen Thi Phu Vinh, 34, usually cooks rice and fish or meat on a portable stove but she was not feeling well.

The couple met while Mr Ong worked in Vietnam from 2009 to 2013 for a rice exporter. He had left Singapore after he and his first wife divorced and sold their three-room flat.

His current wife joined him in Singapore in April last year, they registered their marriage in June, and she applied for a long- term visit pass last November.

Mr Ong said he is estranged from his parents, three siblings and his two children, who are in their early 20s.

He returned to Singapore in 2013 and lived with an uncle, before renting a room for $650 after his uncle got married. He moved out of the rented room after four months, opting to tough it out in his vehicle instead.

Man lives on lorry with pregnant wife

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Lianhe Wanbao

While offers of help have flooded in, Mr Ong said he did not need more money.

“We have enough to get by daily. We also have nowhere to keep donations,” he said.

His wife, now 18 weeks pregnant, is finding it harder to climb up and down the vehicle. “If it was just the two of us, it’s okay. But I really want a home for the baby.”

Mr Ong cannot buy a new flat with his non-citizen spouse as he is not a first-time applicant for a subsidised flat.

HDB said he can buy a resale flat from the open market, but Mr Ong said he cannot afford one on his salary.

Nonetheless, they do not qualify for an HDB rental flat as their total household income a month exceeds $1,500 and his wife is not a citizen.

And rather than rent a room on his $1,900 salary, he said he would save the money for the baby he intends to name Jia Kang, or “healthy home”.

“A room is going to cost $800. After CPF deduction, I have only $1,600. And most rental rooms don’t allow cooking,” he said.

He considered having the baby in Vietnam, but thought he would have a better future here.

“I don’t care about the size of the house, I just need a home for my wife until she has the baby. And when my son is born, I can apply for a flat using his name and mine,” he said.

Read also: A van called home

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domteojy@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 12, 2016.
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