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.