Former NTUC Income chief's presidential bid: 5 things to know about Tan Kin Lian

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SINGAPORE: Former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian on Friday (Aug 11) launched his bid to run for the presidency.

He is the fourth person to declare their intention to contest the upcoming Presidential Election. The other three are former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, businessman George Goh and former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song.

Here are five things to know about Mr Tan, 75, who also ran for the presidency in 2011 but finished last.

FORMER NTUC INCOME CEO 

Mr Tan was the CEO of NTUC Income for 30 years until 2007. After leaving the insurer, he started a computer software business and travelled regularly to provide insurance consultancy in Indonesia. 

In a blog post on Jul 30, he claimed NTUC Income’s assets had increased by 600 times under his leadership – from S$28 million (US$20.8 million) to S$17 billion.

NTUC Income’s net assets were valued at around S$1.17 billion in its annual report for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2006, which was Mr Tan’s last full year as its CEO.

Explaining why he left NTUC Income, Mr Tan previously said that he disagreed with a few members of the board on the issue of privatising NTUC Income and had “fought so hard” for it to remain a cooperative.

When the board decided to search for a new CEO, Mr Tan said he accepted that decision “as it was best for NTUC Income to search for a new direction for the future”.

NTUC Income is now a corporate entity after its insurance business and assets were transferred to a new company called Income Insurance Ltd in 2022.

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K2: Climbers deny walking by dying sherpa in bid to break record

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Picture of the area on K2Wilhelm Steindl
By Mattea Bubalo & Bethany Bell
BBC News

A well-known Norwegian mountaineer has denied accusations that her team climbed over an injured sherpa during a bid to break a world record.

The sherpa, named as Mohammed Hassan, had fallen off a ledge on Pakistan’s K2 – the world’s second-highest mountain.

Video posted by other climbers appears to show a group walking by Mr Hassan, who reportedly died a few hours later.

But Kristin Harila said she and her team tried everything to help him in dangerous conditions.

The Norwegian was heading for K2’s summit to secure a world record and become the fastest climber to scale all peaks above 8,000m (26,000ft).

But during the ascent on 27 July, Mr Hassan reportedly fell from an extremely narrow path known as a bottleneck.

Austrian climbers Wilhelm Steindl and Philip Flämig have posted pictures appearing to show people climbing over him.

Norwegian climber Kristin Harila(C) and Tenjen Sherpa(L) at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on 5th August, 2023

Getty Images

The pair were also on the mountain that day, but had cancelled their ascent because of dangerous weather conditions and an avalanche.

They had been filming for a documentary about Mr Steindl’s attempt to reach the summit.

As their camera display was small, they say they only saw the details of what their drone captured the next day.

“We saw a guy alive, lying in the traverse in the bottleneck. And people were stepping over him on the way to the summit. And there was no rescue mission

“I was really shocked. And I was really, I was really sad. I started to cry about the situation that people just passed him and there was no rescue mission,” Mr Steindl told the BBC.

Mr Hassan was being treated by one person “while everyone else” moved towards the summit in a “heated, competitive summit rush”, Mr Flämig told Austria’s Der Standard newspaper.

Ms Harila, however, has denied the accusations that Mr Hassan was left to die.

She said no-one was to blame for his death, adding that she had decided to make the statement to stop the spread of “misinformation and hatred”.

It is unclear what point of the incident the posted footage purports to show.

In an Instagram post describing what happened, the Norwegian climber says she had been walking when she saw the other team Mr Hassan was part of a few metres ahead before the “tragic accident” happened.

She said she did not see exactly what took place, but the next thing she knew, Mr Hassan “was hanging upside down” on a rope between two ice anchors, with his harness “all the way down around his knees. In addition, he was not wearing a down suit and his stomach was exposed to snow”.

Her team tried for an hour and a half to fasten a rope to the sherpa and give him oxygen and hot water, she recounted, until “an avalanche went off around the corner”.

Having established her team were safe, she said she understood more help was coming and decided to move forward to avoid overcrowding on the bottleneck. Her cameraman stayed behind to help until he himself ran low on oxygen.

“It was only when we came back down that we saw Hassan had passed and we were ourselves in no shape to carry his body down.”

She does not say if anyone was with the injured sherpa when her cameraman left, or when they passed his body upon their descent.

K2, along the Pakistan-China border, stands at 8,611m (28,251ft) and is regarded as one of the most challenging and dangerous mountains to climb.

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Two police officers charged with taking money from suspects they were investigating

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SINGAPORE: Two police officers were charged in court on Friday (Aug 11) with criminal breach of trust after taking money over several years from suspects they were investigating.  The alleged acts by the suspects, Mohamed Mohamed Jalil and Mohamad Danial Mohamad Nazali, came to light following “proactive regular case reviews and dueContinue Reading

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SINGAPORE: Public Transport Council (PTC) chief executive Tan Kim Hong will step down on Mar 1, 2024 after about seven years at the helm.

Deputy group director of policy and planning at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Leow Yew Chin will be appointed as chief executive (designate) of PTC from Sep 1, before taking over from Mr Tan on Mar 1 next year, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Friday (Aug 11).

The PTC regulates public transport fares and ticket payment services, as well as advises the Minister for Transport on public transport matters.

Mr Tan was appointed chief executive of PTC on Jul 1, 2017. During his time, he oversaw six fare review exercises and a mid-term review on the Network Capacity Factor, where he sought to balance the need to ensure fare affordability and the financial sustainability of Singapore’s public transport system.

He also played an instrumental role in the recent review of the fare adjustment formula and mechanism.

“Mr Tan also led PTC to grow the Caring SG Commuters Movement and supported the Caring SG Commuters Committee to drive the transformation of Singapore’s public transport system into a more caring, welcoming and inclusive one,” MOT said.

Under his leadership, PTC further collaborated with the community and industry stakeholders to launch CARE Ride @ South West 2022 and CARE Bus with Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore School.

“These initiatives aim to build greater empathy and willingness in commuters to help seniors and persons with disabilities in using the public transport system,” MOT said.

It thanked Mr Tan for his contributions as PTC chief executive.

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Coroner returns suicide verdict over police NSF who shot himself

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SINGAPORE: A coroner’s court on Friday (Aug 11) ruled the death of a full-time police national serviceman a suicide.

Mr Finnegan Tan Yao Jie, 21, was found dead of a gunshot wound in a toilet at the Special Operations Command (SOC) base on Aug 30, 2021.

Based on the gunshot residue on his hand and face, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda concluded that Mr Tan had fired the service revolver, which he had drawn from the armoury that morning.

The coroner found that there was sufficient evidence in his internet searches and social media posts to conclude that Mr Tan had formed the intention to take his own life.

The day before the incident, Mr Tan had written a will distributing his cash and belongings to his relatives and friends.

He also lamented that he had “messed up his life”.

The coroner said the exact reasons that Mr Tan chose to take his own life may never be known, but it was clear that he was struggling with certain issues.

The loss of S$10,200 (US$7,557) in an e-commerce job scam was likely the tipping point that drove him to contemplate suicide, said the coroner.

Of this amount, Mr Tan had borrowed S$7,000 from his father. The job scam ran on the ruse that he would earn more dividends if he put in more money, and Mr Tan lodged a police report over it.

“Unfortunately except for a few hints to friends, colleagues and relatives, Mr Tan kept his suicidal thoughts very well-hidden,” the coroner said.

He conveyed his sincere condolences to Mr Tan’s family for their loss. 

Where to get help:

Samaritans of Singapore Hotline: 1767

Institute of Mental Health’s Helpline: 6389 2222

Singapore Association for Mental Health Helpline: 1800 283 7019

You can also find a list of international helplines here. If someone you know is at immediate risk, call 24-hour emergency medical services.

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Tan Kin Lian launches bid for Presidential Election, stresses desire for candidate outside 'establishment'

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SINGAPORE: Former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian announced his bid to run for President on Friday (Aug 11), emphasising his belief in the importance of offering Singaporeans the chance to vote for what he described as an independent candidate.

And while fellow presidential hopeful George Goh is an “independent person”, Mr Tan said he decided to throw his hat into the ring following comments and his team’s advice that Mr Goh might not meet the qualifying criteria, resulting in a possible two-way contest between former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song and former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

“I believe I will be the only candidate from outside the establishment,” added Mr Tan, 75.

Speaking at a press conference where he launched his presidential campaign, Mr Tan added that he was initially prepared to “stand aside” when Mr Goh expressed interest.

“I have high respect for him, I have high respect for his enthusiasm and his team,” Mr Tan said of Mr Goh.

“We don’t want to have a contest between two candidates that are from the establishment, and it will also look very bad … because the people of Singapore will be very sceptical,” added Mr Tan.

In response to CNA’s questions about whether he will continue if Mr Goh qualifies, Mr Tan said he does not want to split the votes between non-establishment candidates.

“I will certainly want to make sure that there is only one non-establishment candidate, that we will not split the votes … How it is going to happen depends on who and whatever the circumstances are, we’ll know about (it) when the time comes,” said Mr Tan.

Mr Goh, who is the founder of Harvey Norman Ossia, had on last Friday addressed doubts about his eligibility by laying out details from his summary of submission to the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC). 

To meet the private sector service requirement to be President, an applicant must have served as the chief executive of a company for at least three years. During this time, the company must, on average, have shareholders’ equity of at least S$500 million (US$372 million) and made a profit after tax for the entire time. 

“I have a group of five companies that have a combined shareholders’ equity of S$1.521 billion over three years,” said Mr Goh, adding that this is collectively equivalent to an average shareholders’ equity of S$507 million annually for the group as a whole.

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CNA Explains: Slump and recovery – what is the current state of the Singapore economy?

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SINGAPORE: Singapore is set for tepid growth through the rest of the year, as the economy sees diverging prospects for its different sectors, economists said on Friday (Aug 11).

“The story of Singapore’s economy is really a story of two different parts,” said Oxford Economics’ senior economist Alex Holmes.

Singapore has narrowed its projection for economic growth this year, citing a weak outlook for external demand.

The growth forecast was trimmed to a range of 0.5 to 1.5 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 0.5 to 2.5 per cent, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Friday (Aug 11).

So far in 2023, Singapore’s economy has seen tepid growth. On a year-on-year basis, gross domestic product grew 0.4 per cent in the first three months before improving slightly to 0.5 per cent in the second quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy eked out growth of just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, a reversal from the 0.4 per cent contraction in the first quarter.

WHAT’S HURTING EXTERNAL DEMAND?

Singapore is a small economy that is highly dependent on external demand.

From 2015 to 2019, external demand accounted for around 67 per cent to 72 per cent of Singapore’s GDP, according to a piece published by MTI in its first-quarter economic survey in May.

Key markets include the United States and the Eurozone, but growth prospects in these economies are set to slow even more in the second half of the year when the effects of elevated interest rates take hold.

China’s growth is also expected to moderate through the rest of the year, as the post-pandemic recovery in services slows in tandem with deteriorating consumer confidence.

In addition, the ongoing global electronics downturn is “proving to be a little bit more protracted” than initially thought, MTI said.

A gradual recovery is only “expected towards the end of the year at the earliest” – a view echoed by HSBC economist Yun Liu.

“Trade headwinds are not dissipating,” said Ms Liu. “While there are some initial signs that point to stabilisation in the tech cycle, tech-heavy economies have not seen a meaningful turnaround.”

On top of that, there remains a host of uncertainties such as more persistent-than-expected inflation in the advanced economies, as well as the risk of escalation in the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions among major powers.

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