Hsien Yang, a lawyer, as is his wife, will receive another official warning. The Minister renting the house was also a lawyer before he became a member of the House of Representatives and served as minister for two terms. Outraged, Shanmugam, 66, was even more unrelenting, demanding that Hsien Yang withdraw his post and publicly apologize, also demanding damages for defamation.
Inevitably, Hsien Yang has garnered domestic support in this media show. Many Singaporeans have even suggested nominating him to run as a candidate in next September’s presidential election.
While Hsien Yang is apparently interested in the possibility of campaigning, it is currently impossible for him to set foot in Singapore, as if he returns home, he will have to deal with the law. This would disqualify him from becoming a candidate for office. Singapore’s Presidential Elections Committee holds the authority to decide who is eligible to run as a presidential candidate.
President Halimah Yusuf has firmly stated that she does not intend to run for another term, stating that one term – six years – is enough.
Although the presidency in Singapore is merely ceremonial, three people have already registered as candidates: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, George Goh Ching Wah and Seng Soon Kia.
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Tharman may be set to be elected. A former coordinating minister who has resigned from the ruling party’s leadership, the People’s Action Party (PAP), he formerly chaired the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), an immensely-endowed wealth fund that manages the country’s foreign reserves.
Most importantly, he is from an ethnic minority, a keenly-sensitive issue in the island state. Halimah is an ethnic Muslim Malay. Tharman is a Hindu Indian. Both are prominent minorities. The eldest son – no one knows when he will decide to step down – expects the presidency to be bestowed on a member of an ethnic minority, alternating between Malay and Indian, as the prime minister’s choice post is historically reserved for an ethnic Chinese.