Friends collect application forms for mystery presidential hopeful

SINGAPORE — A group of four turned up at the Elections Department on Friday (Jun 16) morning to collect forms for the coming Presidential Election on behalf of a mystery candidate.

This candidate is above 60 years old, a Malay Muslim, and is a chairman of a multinational corporation, said the group’s spokesman Mr Borhan Saini, who was speaking to reporters outside the Elections Department.

“We believe that our candidate is eligible to stand for this coming presidential elections,” he said, adding that the candidate would be able to garner support of “all races in Singapore”.

“We are confident of that. We formed a multiracial group to support our candidate, because the president is not just for Malays, but for... all walks of life in Singapore.”

Despite pressing from the reporters, Mr Saini, who is an administrative and business development director, declined to give more details of the candidate. Nevertheless, he said the identity will be revealed at a press conference called after Hari Raya later this month.

The rest of the group, who described themselves as friends of the candidate, identified themselves as Mr Jimmie Wee, Mr Rahman Kamin, and Mr Sukumaran. According to Mr Borhan, both Mr Wee and Mr Rahman run marine offshore companies, while Mr Sukurmaran is a captain in a marine offshore firm. All three work in different companies.

The group said it is not affiliated with political party, and that the candidate has not contested in any election previously. As to why the candidate was not present, Mr Saini would only say: “He’s not free, he’s got other matters, and assigned us to collect the forms.”

Since applications opened on June 1, those who have picked up forms so far include Second Chance CEO Salleh Marican and private-hire driver Shirwin Eu. Aspiring candidates can also download the application forms online.