SINGAPORE: There is no conflict of interest between Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s candidacy in the Presidential Election and his son’s current job in the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the ministry and the Public Service Commission (PSC) Secretariat said on Wednesday (Aug 30).
MOF and the PSC Secretariat were responding to media queries after several social media posts were made earlier in the day.
These posts circulated screenshots from the Singapore Government Directory of a Finance Ministry officer, Mr Akilan Shanmugaratnam. The images also showed his previous posting in the MOF Reserves and Investment Directorate as well as information on him being the son of Mr Tharman.
MOF and PSC said that Mr Akilan has been with the Finance Ministry since June 2022.
“He is currently working on education and manpower policies in the Social Programmes directorate.
“There is no conflict of interest between Akilan’s current job and his father’s (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam) candidacy for Presidency,” they added.
The statement said that Mr Akilan was previously in the Reserves and Investment Directorate at MOF, and that no conflict of interest occurred when he worked there.
“The decision was made in July to rotate him and preempt any possible potential for conflict of interest situations in the Presidential Election.”
They also said that Mr Akilan was treated “like all other Overseas Merit Scholars” according to prevailing policies.
“Akilan disrupted from his National Service in 2011, resumed his NS duties in 2015 and finished his NS obligations, like his other PSC scholarship peers who had disrupted,” said the statement.
Singapore will head to the polls on Friday in the country’s first contested Presidential Election in more than 10 years.
The three candidates – Mr Tharman, Mr Ng Kok Song and Mr Tan Kin Lian – are in the final stretch of campaigning before Cooling-off Day on Thursday.