SINGAPORE — Presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian on Tuesday (Aug 22) doubled down on defending his social media posts about his encounters with "pretty girls" in Singapore and accused his opponents and the media of orchestrating a "smear campaign" against him.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Mr Tan claimed that someone had sent screenshots of his Facebook posts that he had made about women he saw when he was out jogging or at shopping malls to mainstream media outlets.

Mr Tan had written on his blog that his statement was to be embargoed until 1pm on Tuesday, but posted it on Facebook at about 7am.

Mr Tan said he initially believed the move to be that of a single person, but now claimed that it was by an “attack group” that was out to “smear” him.

“It is now clear to me that it is a concerted effort by an attack group that went all out to smear me. This group involves an attack team from a political party that is now backing my strongest opponent,” he wrote on Tuesday. He also accused the editors of media outlets of being part of this so-called effort.

Mr Tan also said that media reports about a statement from a women’s rights organisation — referring to the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)  — and a statement from the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) about his comments "(made him) look very bad".

On Monday, Aware had cited concerns about Mr Tan’s penchant for “objectifying women” in his Facebook posts. Later that night, the PEC said that it was not aware of Mr Tan Kin Lian’s social media posts before issuing him a Certificate of Eligibility and is not legally allowed to revoke his eligibility to stand for the Presidential Election.

Elaborating on his accusations, Mr Tan said that government leaders cannot build trust when they act in a “dishonourable and malicious way”. 

“All along, I have said that I respect my top opponent. It appears to me now that he is involved in this smear campaign. If this is the case, I would change my mind about him, and would now consider him to be unfit to be the president of Singapore,” he said, apparently referring to former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. 

Mr Tan later edited his post to remove the accusations against Mr Tharman. 

Mr Tan, Mr Tharman and former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song are the three presidential hopefuls who received certificates of eligibility for the upcoming election.

A video Mr Tan posted on his Facebook page late on Monday night appeared to show him saying "There is nothing wrong with appreciating pretty girls. We are all human beings... There's nothing to be so upset about. Maybe the people who are upset are not the pretty ones."

In a separate post, Mr Tan added that he "totally reject(s) Aware's allegations and insinuations" that he objectifies women in his posts. 

"I do not objectify women since I have many in my family. I have been happily married to my loving wife for nearly 50 years," he wrote. He said that he has been faithful to his wife through the years, adding that there was "no tinge of infidelity or scandal" in his marriage. 

He also said he had "faith" that Singaporeans would not allow the electoral system to be debased by "scurrilous attacks".

In one of several TikTok videos addressing the issue, Mr Tan said that he thought that women who dressed well deserved to be complimented and that many would appreciate the compliment as well.

“I find that a lot of girls and women take a lot of trouble to dress and to be attractive. And I think they deserve a compliment, so I normally say they look very attractive today,” he said in the video.

Mr Tan is due to submit his nomination papers later on Tuesday.