Tan Kin Lian, Ng Kok Song & Tharman Shanmugaratnam Might Debate in Tonight’s Presidential Forum

By
George Yang
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The Much Awaited Presidential Forum…or Not?

The political scene in Singapore has been buzzing with activity, as three presidential candidates, Tan Kin Lian, Ng Kok Song, and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, have been openly speaking about each other, but interestingly, not directly to each other, in the past few days.

This scenario is humorously reminiscent of influencers posting videos about other influencers but avoiding any face-to-face confrontation to resolve their differences.

It should be noted that Tharman, however, has maintained a stoic silence and hasn’t responded directly to any remarks made by the other two candidates, and only responding to questions by reporters.

Tonight (28 August 2023) might be the night that changes everything, as the three candidates might finally come face to face.

Emphasis on might, because there’s a teeny tiny hitch.

To Debate or Not To Debate

Before the names of the eligible candidates were even announced, the Elections Department had laid down guidelines for how the presidential candidates should campaign.

For those not in the loop, it’s essential to understand that campaigning for a Presidential Election is a whole different ball game compared to a General Election.

Watch this to the end and you’d understand:

According to the rules, each presidential candidate is entitled to two separate blocks of airtime for broadcasting their messages on television and radio, in any or all of Singapore’s four official languages.

The maximum time allocated for each candidate is 10 minutes per language per broadcast. Mediacorp’s television channels, as well as Mediacorp, SPH, and SoDrama! radio channels, will air these broadcasts on 24 August and 30 August.

The first set of broadcasts, which were prepared speeches where candidates merely spoke to the camera, have already been aired.

The only hiccup in this process was Tan Kin Lian, who complained that certain parts of his speech had to be removed due to “inaccuracies”.

Additionally, live forums organized by CNA and The Straits Times provide the only opportunities for the candidates to potentially meet each other, unless, of course, they bump into each other at a hawker centre for some delicious makan.

The Straits Times’ live forum, titled “Ask The President Anything”, aired yesterday, featuring young individuals asking the presidential candidates both serious and lighthearted questions. Each candidate was required to answer within 90 seconds.

However, Tan Kin Lian declined the invitation to this forum, leaving only Ng Kok Song and Tharman to participate.

For those who missed it, the full forum can be viewed here:

Lest you didn’t know, it has trended on YouTube.

A Night Shrouded in Mystery

Now, here’s the interesting part: CNA will also be airing a forum tonight (28 August) at 9 pm. The YouTube video is already up, and you can opt to be notified when it goes live:

However, details about this forum remain a mystery; it is unknown whether it will be live, if it will be a debate, or even if all three candidates will attend.

With so much secrecy surrounding the event, it is guaranteed to attract a large audience.

And who knows? Maybe the candidates will finally sing a pore out their differences and have a fruitful discussion with pineapples (pun totally intended).

So grab your popcorn and tune in tonight to see if the presidential candidates finally meet, or if it will just be another episode of “Keeping Up with the Singaporean Politicians”.

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]