Ng Kok Song

[LIVE] Presidential Forum with candidates Ng Kok Song, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Tan Kin Lian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIyQ3oH8rEg

So before watching the video, I kind of already decided to vote Tharman, I mean who else right, seriously who's going to argue.

First of all, Tan Kin Lian, wah my hair stand, a bit cringy for me, but I can feel his pro-people vibe.

Then Tharman, aiyah, sibeh foggy sia, machiam talk from east to west, then west to east again, then horlan, also don't know what he talking about, disappointing, kind of awkward, he spoke eloquently but something just didn't feel right, kind of like trying too hard not to say the wrong things then end up not saying the right things. Maybe some will like his style, but not me though, I like to hear concrete stuff.

Finally this Ng Kok Song really impressed me, previously he kind of gave me the lao tiko cum pedo vibe but the way he carried himself in the video and the way he spoke, wow, very concrete and coherent, the symbol of the 5 fingers part I thought he going to flash middle finger, but anyway he scored every bout in my heart, looking at him is like looking at the president of Singapore.

He mentioned 5 different races though, I thought all along have 4, Malay, Indian, Chinese, Eurasian? 5th is what, Pinoy? Maybe.

This is his winning speech for me, thoughtful, concrete, prudent and confident:

What are the factors should I consider when the government makes a request to draw on our past reserves. I think the critical thing is to understand that our past reserves should benefit present generations of Singaporeans as well as future generations. So how much to save and how much to spend is a very important decision. So I like to would to know, from the government what is the total size of our reserves, how much are you asking to spend out of the reserves, what are the assumptions that the government is making regarding the crisis, is it an international crisis, a domestic crisis, how long do you expect the crisis to last.

Another question which I would ask is, have you exhausted the possibility of raising revenues from other areas before asking me the president for permission to draw on the past reserves. And also quite importantly I think we need to understand what are the assumptions that the government is using in regard to what are the expected returns on our reserves for the future, how does that compare with our historical rates of return on the reserves. So these are issues which I have been quite familiar with while working at the GIC.

By the way he said all that shit just glancing twice at his blue pen and without raising any fingers, either he believes in what he was saying or he believes in his blue pen, more likely what he said though.

01 Sep 2023. Ng Kok Song. Period.