‘Are we saving too much?’: Presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian says amount kept in reserves comes at current generation’s ‘expense’

On Sunday, the presidential hopeful also read out a message from a supporter who had urged him to shorten the duration of NS, which is currently two years.

When TODAY asked if he could do so as President, Mr Tan acknowledged that a President should not interfere with government policies.

“But I will take the opportunity in my interaction with the Prime Minister and ministers to bring this point across,” he said.

“I think we should let our young people serve the country, but I don’t think they should serve for two years. And the country can afford to pay them a better allowance.”

He did not elaborate further on how much more allowance should be given, or how much shorter he believes NS should be.

In February 2014, Mr Tan launched a petition to shorten military training to a year, and to reduce the frequency of reservist training.

For about an hour on Sunday, Mr Tan shook hands and took photos with Singaporeans eating around Chong Pang Food Centre and Wet Market.

Alongside Mr Tan were his volunteers and opposition politician Lim Tean who gave out papers with Mr Tan’s face on it.

Mr Tan also said he plans to hold a rally on Aug 25, though the location and lineup of speakers are yet to be confirmed.

Aside from himself and Mr Lim, Mr Tan said that there will be “a few other people (speaking) to represent the views of the community”.

This story was originally published in TODAY.