Singapore PresiTAN Election 2011 - Vote Who Ah?

It is only a few hours before the polling starts for us to vote for the next president of Singapore.

I am still undecided at this point and so I thought I share my thought processes here. Hopefully, I have a better inkling by the time I pen this.

1. Tony Tan is definitely eliminated from my list as he is PAP. From one angle you see PAP returning to power in the General Elections 2011 earlier in the year with 60% of the vote. When people don't realise is that there is 40% of the electoral votes out there who actually oppose the PAP. If you were to look closer you would have also noticed that the votes for the PAP, over the years, has slid from 75% to 66% to now 60%.
   
   People are not happy with the PAP. So voting Tony Tan would be to add one more PAP man into the foray and add to the aggravation.
   
   
2. Tan Jee Say is also eliminated from my list. I see him as a person who rocks the boat and making everyone sea sick rather than to help the Gahmen steer it. I saw him in the TOC Face2Face forum and I find him a tad too aggressive and confrontational. You have to understand that the president has no executive powers and if anything thing needs to be done, it would require the help of the Gahmen to do it.
   
   Tan Jee Say is certainly one who will not be able to get much support from the Gahmen.
   
   
3. Tan Cheng Bok is a likely candidate for me to vote. He was a respected MP in the past and is known not to be a Yes-Man in amongst the rank of the Men In White. What Tan Jee Say, can't do. Tan Cheng Bok can. He has lobbying power to the fellow active MPs to support him.
   
   However, his silence from doing something about the exhorbitant $4 million salary per annum that comes with this position leaves a sour taste in my tongue and I still regard him as a PAP men, albeit less of a concern with regards to Tony Tan.
   
   
4. Tan Kin Lian is a person I have gotten to know, via the web, when the Lehman Brothers toxic minibonds fell apart. I appreciated his efforts to organise events to get the affected investors together and help them seek help from the various authorities. I felt that was one class act.
   
   Tan Kin Lian is the only one we can see running around and actively doing things for the people for quite a while already. He is not your typical MP candidate who merely show up shaking hands just mere days before election time. All claimed to be the people's president but in terms of crebility, Tan Kin Lian has the edge based on what he has been doing all this while.
   
   I also appreciate the gesture that he pledged to donate more than half of the president's salary if he were to be elected. Granted Tan Jee Say came in subsequently to "undercut" at $500k, I say the impact is not there if you weren't the first strike.
   
   Unfortunately, I think the shoes of the president may be a little too big for TKL. I am not sure if he has what it takes to be President. If Tan Jee Say does not have much leeway to lobby for support, I am afraid that Tan Kin Lian may not fair any better.
   
   If the Gahmen were to oppose Tan Jee Say, then on the same token I would say that the Gahmen would bor hiew Tan Kin Lian. Lagi worse coz at the very least Tan Jee Say will get some attention from the Gahmen.
   
   One of the functions of the president is to receive foreign dignitaries but I felt that Tan Kin Lian isn't eloquent enough to hold a decent English conversation. It may proved to be a challenge to represent the country in a slightly more elegant and dignified fashion. Still, this should be something that can be  resolved if Tan Kin Lian were to engaged a speech coach, just as if Tony Tan were to hire a Mandarin tutor.
   
   Perhaps Tan Kin Lian should go watch the movie, The King's Speech. It should inspire.

Decision. Decision. Decision

Image Credit: http://theonlinecitizen.com

- Voxeros