SINGAPORE: Presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian claimed on Tuesday (Aug 22) that he has been a target of a “smear campaign” over the past few days.
“It is now clear to me that it is a concerted effort by an attack group that went all out to smear me,” he said in a media statement that was embargoed until 1pm but which he posted on Facebook at 7:02am.
Without citing names or producing any proof, he also claimed that his “top opponent” is involved, along with the “editors of the mainstream media” and a women’s rights organisation.
Earlier, a TikTok video showing social media posts by the former NTUC Income chief executive about “pretty” girls started making its rounds.
The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) voiced its concerns on Monday over Mr Tan’s participation in the upcoming Presidential Election, given his “history of objectifying women”.
The women’s rights group released a statement saying that the assessment process for presidential candidates should not only take into account financial and management qualifications, but also “wider societal impacts”
In one of several social media posts on Tuesday morning, Mr Tan said he “totally” rejects AWARE’s claims that he “objectified” women in his social media posts.
He added that what AWARE did would have “lost the respect of many people”.
“I do not objectify women since I have many in my family,” said Mr Tan in one of the posts, which made several accusations.
Mr Tan said that he has been happily married to his wife for nearly 50 years and have been “faithful to each other through the years”.
“No tinge of infidelity or scandal has ever attached to my marriage,” he added.
He invited the public to judge for themselves if his posts “objectify or denigrate women in any way”, and accused the media of “attempting to make a mountain out of a molehill”.