But in the election, Mr Tan came in last out of four candidates, with 4.91 per cent of the more than 2.2 million votes. He lost his deposit of S$48,000.
It came as a “big shock” that he had garnered such a low percentage of votes, he said.
“I didn’t expect to get so low a (share of the) vote. That’s because the non-establishment votes were split … other candidates who are non-establishment took away most of the votes,” Mr Tan told CNA.
“The contest very much depended upon politics, who is able to mobilise the most people and get the most attention.”
Losing his deposit was “painful”, admitted Mr Tan, but he said that was “not so important”.
“It was a big disappointment for me, but I got over that. I never regretted, I learnt from what I went through,” he said. “Regret(s) are for people who have big ego(s), they think that they are very important. To me, no, that’s past. We look forward.”
However, the result took a toll on his family, Mr Tan admitted.
“They had a very difficult time, because they had friends and some of the friends were quite malicious (who) would ridicule them, and they felt rather bad,” he recalled.
“This also affected me. Over the years I got quite a number of people who ridicule me. They keep on saying that I lost my deposit. It is very rude, it is unnecessary.”
During his 2011 presidential campaign, Mr Tan handed out mini-puzzles during his walkabouts. Each puzzle consisted of four pieces of plastic, which one could use to form an assortment of shapes.
“I believe in developing the mind, and (learning) how to solve problems by thinking out of the box. These puzzles do help people to think,” said Mr Tan, who also distributed his Sudoku books.
He didn’t manage to distribute them all, but 12 years later, is getting a second chance to do so.
‘LIKE A DUTY’
It is fate that has drawn him to this path again, Mr Tan believes.