Singapore presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian responds to criticism of Facebook posts on ‘pretty girls’, saying only ‘small minority’ uncomfortable with them

SINGAPORE, Aug 21 — Only “a very small minority” of people find his social media posts describing his encounters with “pretty girls” in Singapore “uncomfortable”, said presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian today, adding that “most people find them enjoyable”.

Tan, 75, said this in response to a TikTok video posted the day before, which featured screenshots of several Facebook posts that he had made about women he met around the country.

The former NTUC Income chief was speaking to the media on Monday morning at West Coast Food Centre in Clementi, a day before he intends to submit his nomination papers for the Presidential Election.

The 9-second clip had over 6,600 likes and shares as of 3pm on Monday.

One user expressed surprise that the ex-chief of NTUC Income would make such posts, while several other commenters had their doubts that the posts were even real.

When asked to address online users’ concerns about the appropriate nature of such posts, Tan said today that having such “light” content is how he gets “people to be interested” in his posts.

“There will be a few people who feel uncomfortable. But it’s a very small minority. The majority actually find that quite fun.

“Some of the people (post) nasty comments. ‘How can this (kind of) thing (be posted) on your Facebook?’ And I say ‘please leave it’. If you don’t like what I post, please stay out. Don’t make very rude remarks.”

Continuing on the topic of his social media posts, Tan said that while many of them are “simple” by nature — like posting about buying fish ball noodle soup on his visit to a food centre — they can “reach 100,000... 200,000 people”.

“I ignore malicious people who are out to create trouble for me, so long as the majority of people find that those posts are quite harmless,” he said.

NDR2023 measures ‘good’, but should ‘benefit everybody’

Tan also shared his views on Sunday night’s National Day Rally, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a suite of measures that the Government will introduce to support Singaporeans. These include the new Standard, Plus and Prime models for new build-to-order (BTO) projects which will replace the classification of mature and non-mature estates.

The presidential hopeful said that the announcements pertaining to housing were “good measures”, and that they would make Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats more affordable for Singaporeans.

However, Tan said that the Majulah package, which will provide Singaporeans aged 50 and above this year with Central Provident Fund (CPF) top-ups, could be “more comprehensive”.

“The Majulah package is good for people in that age group. But (for) the people outside that age group, they’re not getting any help, and they are now suffering the impact of the current economic situation,” Tan said.

“I know the Prime Minister thinks that he has taken care of the Pioneer Generation before, (and) the Merdeka generation. Now it is the Majulah generation — but I certainly prefer, because of these current economic times, that we should actually help everybody, not just one segment.

“Of course, I think the Prime Minister has his reasons, but my view is we should provide help to everybody.”

Tan also said that he hopes the Government would reconsider deferring next year’s one per cent increase in the country’s Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“Every time you increase the GST (by) one per cent, people will see the prices go up in the hawker centre or food court (by) five per cent, 10 per cent,” he said, adding that he believes most Singaporeans want the planned increase to be “cancelled”.

Reserves could be used to ‘bring down cost of living’

Tan also raised the possibility of the reserves being used to lower the cost of living and housing, and to create “better jobs” for Singaporeans.

When TODAY asked if that meant he disagreed with the Government’s position of only drawing from the reserves in times of emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic, Tan said that his approach to its usage is different, but that he would broach the topic with the Government in the future.

Tan added that he was undecided if he would reveal to the public how much money there is in the national reserves if elected, but that he would have “an open mind” to doing so, and that the figure ultimately “doesn’t matter to the ordinary people”.

“Certainly, I will be quite transparent in explaining to the people what are the most important things to focus on.

“It is not the amount of reserves (Singapore has) but how the reserves are being used,” he said. — TODAY