President Tharman spent over S$700,000 on election campaign, highest among candidates

SINGAPORE: According to candidate statements made public by the Elections Department( ELD ) on Friday, October 20, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam spent S$ 738, 717( US$ 540, 000 ) in his campaign for the presidency.

Among the three individuals, his vote costs was the highest. It cost Mr. Ng Kok Song, who spent Mho$ 312, 131, more than twice as much as it did Tan Kin Lian, S$ 71, 366.

For this presidential election, each candidate was permitted to invest up to Mho$ 812, 822.10.

According to ELD guidelines, each registered voter’s spending limit is & nbsp, S$ 600, 000, or 30 cents, whichever is greater. There were 2 709 and 407 voters.

Previous Senior Minister Mr. Tharman won by a landslide in the September 1 crown, garnering 70.4 percent of the vote. Tan Kin Lian received 13.88 percent of the ballot, while Mr. Ng received 15.72 percent.

THE Wealth AND HOW IT WAS SPENT

Non-online poll advertising, which cost up to S$ 481, 226, was Mr. Tharman’s highest expenses. This was primarily used for printing and posting posters as well as banner and advertisements.

His next-highest consumption was South$ 141, 865 for online election advertising, which also included spending on his campaign website, social media, and local leader interviews.

Additionally, Mr. Tharman spent S$ 300 on ELD’s expulsion of six plan posters, banners, and colors that broke election regulations.

One of the substances was displayed on a tree without the National Parks Board’s permission, and five were placed within 50 meters of polling places. They were taken out on August 31st, Cooling Off Day, and on September 1, Polling Day.

Mr. Tharman held an election meet at Pasir Panjang Power Station and spent S$ 8, 640 to rent the space, even though there were no gatherings this season.

The majority of expenses for the other two candidates also came from poll marketing.

Mr. Tan spent almost S$ 70,000 on offline marketing but only South$ 20 on online. The majority of the funds were used to print advertisements and pay for their labor and transportation.

According to TODAY, his overall spending is comparable to that of his first run for president in 2011, when he spent close to S$ 71,000.

Just Mr. Ng was chosen to spend more money on online marketing. He spent S$ 280,800 on it as opposed to substantially more than S$ 1,000 on offline marketing.

Mr. Ng stated that he would not post banners and posters while running his campaign because, due to a lack of the necessary manpower resources, it would be more responsible to do so.

Social media management and analysis, guest appearances on podcasts and talk shows, and film production were some of his net advertising expenses.