SINGAPORE — Presidential candidate Ng Kok Song will not be putting up posters and banners as part of his campaign, as this would be environmentally unfriendly, he said on Wednesday (Aug 23).

“What’s the point of making posters and banners, hang them up for a few days, take them down and then send them to be destroyed as waste?” the 75-year-old said to reporters while on a walkabout at Amoy Street Food Centre on Wednesday (Aug 23) — a day after being confirmed as one of the three candidates in the Presidential Election. 

“I feel that what we do has got to be compatible with our desire to have a more sustainable country,” he added. 

Instead of banners and posters, he has instead been devoting his time and resources to social media, where he hopes to reach tech-savvy voters who can then help spread his message to their older family members, he said.

“And these are the younger Singaporeans, I think they make up about maybe 15 to 17 per cent of the voting population. So, they are crucial.” 

He added that another reason why he would not be using posters and banners was because he had very limited resources: “I don’t have the manpower resources or the party machinery to hang up posters on lampposts all over the island." 

He will still, however, distribute pamphlets as he goes on his walkabouts. 

“But we will keep that to a minimum so that we can be as environmentally friendly as possible.”  

Mr Ng was at Amoy Street Food Centre — near his former workplace with sovereign wealth fund GIC — to greet the lunch crowd with his fiancee Sybil Lau, 45, and younger brother Charles Ng, 60.

He took pictures with many office workers, and patrons at the food centre, as his team gave out pamphlets to the public. 

'SOFT POWER MUST HAVE SOME EXPERTISE'

Earlier on Wednesday, fellow presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian had told reporters that if he were elected, he would use the "soft power" of the presidency to influence policies around cost of living and housing, and ensuring secure jobs to provide stability and progress.

When asked for his response to this, Mr Ng said: “I think for soft power to be exercised, the soft power must have some expertise and some credibility."

He added: “And secondly, that soft power has to be exercised within closed doors, because it is not the responsibility of the President to make policies, it is not the business of the President to make trouble for the Government.” 

He also said that if elected, any advice that he gives as a President has to thus be exercised “gently and behind closed doors”. 

LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY

During an afternoon visit to the Malay community organisation Taman Bacaan in the Bedok Reservoir area, Mr Ng expressed his desire for change if elected as President — changes in community welfare matters such as cat ownership in public housing and the transportation of migrant workers on the back of lorries.

"These are issues that concern a large section of Singaporeans and in order for Singaporeans to express their views, these concerns must be listened to."

He was speaking to the media after a round-table discussion with leaders of Taman Bacaan. This was Mr Ng’s first visit to a community organisation since he was confirmed as a presidential candidate. Before that, he had been to a few Chinese clan associations such as the Huang Clan Association and the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan, as well as visited the Central Sikh Gurdwara.

In attendance at Taman Bacaan were other Malay community leaders such as Mr Salleh Marican, who is on Mr Ng’s team as his assenter and who tried unsuccessfully to contest in 2017’s Presidential Election.

The discussion centred around building a strong and inclusive Singapore for the future and it touched on various topics, including the hope for the elected President to continue to step in when needed for the community.

This was a point brought up by Dato Abdul Halim Kader, president of Taman Bacaan, who referred to President Halimah Yacob’s efforts in urging the Government to provide support for home-based businesses during the Covid-19 period, for instance.

Mr Ng called this the "soft power" that the President holds.

Even though he recognises that the President cannot make any changes to national policies, Mr Ng hopes to also use his influence, if elected, to enact change and nudge Singapore towards being a kinder and more caring society.

“The President has a platform and I want to see what I can contribute, not to make policies, but hopefully to influence some of these issues, which are the many concerns of Singaporeans,” he added.