‘I’m my own man’: Tharman says he brings real experience, not just words, during campaign event

Mr Tharman was also asked why he should be elected over his competitors –  former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song and former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian.

He replied that he had been unwilling to make “explicit comparisons” with the other candidates.

“I respect them and like their life histories, I think they each bring something, so I only talk about myself.” 

He stated that his greatest privilege was having been able to spend many years of his life interacting with people on the ground, being a national policy maker and playing an international role for Singapore. 

“I come therefore with real experience, not just an aspiration, not just words, and I’m not going to change. I’m not changing my personality. I’m not changing like a chameleon into a new skin. I’m just going to be myself. What you see is what you get,” Mr Tharman said to cheers and claps from the crowd. 

Participants also had more questions on what role the president could play internationally. 

One particular question centred on why Mr Tharman chose to run for President where his actions would be limited, instead of going “bigger” on the international front. 

Mr Tharman has held key positions or led committees at international organisations including the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the United Nations, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. 

To that, the presidential candidate noted that he had been approached in the last decade by “very senior international peers” to take on major international leadership roles, such as being a managing director of an international organisation.

“My answer has been immediate to them. That I’m not interested in leaving Singapore,” he said to more cheers from the crowd. 

“At that point, I was elected by the people of Jurong, and I wasn’t going to leave Singapore just because someone was asking me to leave (or) had a prestigious position at an international organisation.”

He said that there was “no greater purpose in life than serving your own country”, adding that “we all have to feel responsible for Singapore”.

“You’re really doing something for your own people, with your own people, and that’s very different from serving in international organisations.”

Another question was how Mr Tharman would be able to advance Singapore’s interests at the World Economic Forum as a president while having no executive powers. 

Mr Tharman pointed out that these were two different issues and that the President does have executive powers in matters spelt out in the Constitution. 

On the international stage, Mr Tharman said he had been “quite active in flying the Singapore flag high”.

“It’s extremely important for us as a small country never be seen as just another small country, because then we lose our space in the world. We’ve got to be respected. We’ve got to be up there, even chairing global panels and expert bodies, taken seriously because it wins space for Singapore, it wins friends for Singapore and it enables us to build the partnerships that ordinary Singaporeans benefit from.”