Potential candidates have been able to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility since Jun 13 – the first step in order to enter the presidential race. Prospective candidates must also submit a community declaration.
To qualify, the prospective candidate must have held a senior public office or helmed a company that has at least S$500 million (US$370 million) in shareholders’ equity for at least three years.
The contender must also be a Singapore citizen, be at least 45 years old on Nomination Day and not belong to any political party.
FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
In 2011, Mr Tan Kin Lian competed against former deputy prime minister Dr Tony Tan, Progress Singapore Party founder Tan Cheng Bock and opposition politician Tan Jee Say. Dr Tan won the final vote in the 2011 polls, gaining 745,693 (35.2 per cent) of the votes.
Mr Tan won 104,085 (4.91 per cent) of the total 2,274,773 votes and lost his deposit for failing to garner more than one-eighth of the total number of votes polled in the election.
Mr Tan became Chief Executive Officer of NTUC Income in 1977, holding the position for 30 years until he left in April 2007.
After he left NTUC Income, Mr Tan started a business in computer software and has also travelled regularly to provide insurance consultancy in Indonesia.
According to the Straits Times, Mr Tan had served as the People’s Action Party’s branch secretary at Marine Parade in the 1970s.
He was picked by former senior minister Goh Chok Tong – then a Member of Parliament – to test a pilot scheme for setting up block committees, now known as residents’ committees.
Mr Tan left the party in 2008, after being in Marine Parade GRC for 10 years before remaining largely inactive for 20 years when he moved to Yio Chu Kang.