All Races must have the Chance to be Elected President: Ong Ye Kung

Channel NewsAsia

29 August 2016

Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung on Monday (Aug 29) made a case in favour of proposed changes to the Elected Presidency that could safeguard minority representation, saying that the primary purpose of the President is to represent Singapore as head of state, and that it is as such important that all races have a chance to be elected.

Mr Ong was responding to a panel of guests on a televised post-National Day Rally forum, who threw up concerns that such changes could compromise meritocracy and result in “token presidents” being elected.

Said panelist Pravin Prakash, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies: “On one hand, nobody wants to see a situation where we don’t have a minority president for a really long period of time … But it also sends out a message – and I’m worried about the message,” he said.

“I want us to be a society that picks a minority candidate if he’s the best person for the job – and if we’re not yet a society that allows for it, then I’d rather see us evolve – slowly,” Mr Prakash added. “And I’m worried that this sort of policy might stifle that evolution.”

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