Here's a rather ironic truth bomb we thought we should drop on you as soon as possible.

Out of the three losing presidential candidates from the August 2011 election, the Tan who garnered the least votes could well be the only one who will automatically qualify to be Elected President — assuming the government accepts the recommendations of the Constitutional Commission.

Here are three key proposed changes tabled by the Commission that will push both Tan Cheng Bock, who previously announced his intention to stand for election, and Singaporeans First Party founder Tan Jee Say out of automatic contention:

a) A requirement for the candidate to have served at least six years at the helm of the CPF Board, HDB, Jurong Town Corporation or the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission or Permanent Secretary;

b) A requirement for the candidate to have spent at least six years as the most senior executive in a company with shareholder equity of more than $500 million (as opposed to paid-up capital of $100 million in the past), with the company being net profitable and not going into liquidation or insolvency within three years of the candidate leaving office or of the presidential election's Nomination Day;

c) A requirement that the time that the person spent in any of the above positions must not have ended more than 15 years prior to Nomination Day for a presidential election.

Now let's have a look at the key characteristics that each of the three Tans had that helped them qualify in 2011:

Tan Cheng Bock

For this Tan, his medical directorship of Ama Keng Medical Clinic, which had a paid-up capital of US$152 million, was sufficient to secure his automatic qualification — here's what we found on his profile page on his campaign site:

We know that Tan closed down Ama Keng in 2012, though:

We're also not sure it had shareholder equity exceeding $500 million. If it did, though, Tan would be able to use that to back his application.

If it didn't, Tan still holds chairmanships at Dredging International Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (a company that does land reclamation) and Chuan Hup Holdings (an investment company).

In 2011, Tan also relied on the fact that Chuan Hup, which he was non-executive chairman of, had in excess of $933 million in paid-up capital:

Here's what we found in the company's most recent financial report:

From this, it appears to us that Chuan Hup's shareholder equity is in excess of $280 million, which would fall short of the recommended requirement of $500 million.

We can't verify that either firm has $500 million in shareholder equity, but even if Chuan Hup does, for instance, the recommended requirement that the candidate be the holder of "the most senior executive position" at the company is an added stumbling block for Tan, who currently holds non-executive chairmanship at Chuan Hup.

The rest of the positions he held during his political career did not include any key positions held in the public sector, regrettably, so he can't seek automatic qualification through that way.

Tan Jee Say

Tan's best bid at qualifying for the presidential race through the public service track is his tenure as principal private secretary (PPS) to then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong between 1985 and 1990.

A PPS is a high-ranking civil servant (as senior as the Deputy Secretary in a Ministry) and runs a senior politician's private office. In the Cabinet today, four men used to be PPS to the current and former Prime Ministers.

Unfortunately, 1990 was 26 years ago; significantly longer than the recommended 15-year period to ensure that the candidate's knowledge of how things work remains current, so he's not going to be able to use that anymore. Besides, the requirements (even currently) state you need to be a permanent secretary, which is a more senior position than a PPS.

Later in the private sector, Tan headed up a firm called Peregrine Capital Singapore, which started up in 1994. According to this non-ACRA business listing, though, it wound up in 2002:

If it possibly had a shareholder equity that exceeded $500 million, and Tan held the most senior position there, he might still face issues with the fact that it was wound up due to insolvency. Also, it will have been more than 15 years since then by the time the presidential election rolls around, provided it's delayed till August next year.

The position he used in his 2011 presidential application, though, was his time as regional managing director of AIB Govett (Asia) Ltd, an asset management company. He said he was CEO with the title of "regional managing director", and held the most senior executive position there between February 1997 and February 2001.

There, he said he managed funds sized in excess of $100 million, a condition equivalent to leading a company with paid-up capital exceeding $100 million (the requirement at the time), and received his eligibility certificate through the discretionary track.

All that said, these won't work for him this time round, since the threshold for shareholder equity is pitched at $500 million, and he has not held that position for more than 15 years now.

So this leaves us with:

Tan Kin Lian

This Tan, interestingly, has the most convincing claim to presidential office. As CEO of NTUC Income, Tan increased the company's assets from $28 million in 1977 to more than $17 billion some 30 years later, when he stepped down in 2007.

Based on their 2015 annual report, their equity appears to be in excess of $2.6 billion — so that should be pretty safe for him. He also fulfils the currency factor, since 2007 was only nine years ago.

What a time to be alive.

Here are more interesting things about the proposed changes to the Elected Presidency:

Will Malay candidates be given priority this coming Presidential Election?

Everything you don’t need to know about the history of Elected Presidency in S’pore

This is the proposed job application form for Singapore’s Next Top President

Everything you need to know about the Constitutional Commission’s recommendations for the Elected Presidency in 60 seconds

Top collage credits: Photo of Tan Cheng Bock by Lim Weixiang for Mothership.sg; photos of Tan Kin Lian and Tan Jee Say from their Facebook pages

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