Three people have applied for the Malay Community Certificate, on top of their applications for the Certificate of Eligibility to contest in the upcoming reserve election.

This was revealed by the Elections Department (ELD)  in a press release.

Waiting Game

Entirely predictable, one must say, as most Singaporeans who still care about the Presidential Election should know by now who the three potential candidates are.

If you are still unsure, they are:

• Halimah Yacob, 62, former Speaker of Parliament
• Mohamed Salleh Marican, 67 , Second Chance Properties chief executive
• Farid Khan, 62, chairman of marine service provider Bourbon Offshore Asia Pacific

They have publicly stated their intentions to contest and had turned up at the ELD to submit their forms.

From now until Nomination Day on Sept 13,  all that is left to play for them is a waiting game.

The outcome of the deliberations of the Presidential Election Committee (PEC) will determine whether there will be a contest, or not.

Two non-Malays also applied for eligibility certificate

Interestingly, the press release from ELD also said that among the five applications it received for the Certificate of Eligibility, two did not apply for the Malay Community Certificate.

It's kind of bizzare, considering the fact that it should be quite well known that this is an election reserved for Malay candidates.

But this is what we know:

• One person applied for the Chinese Community Certificate
• One person declared that he does not consider himself to be a member of the Chinese community, the Malay community, or the Indian or other minority communities

So who could be the two simply bo-chup fellows? You can choose from among the following list:

• Tan Cheng Bock, tireless Presidential aspirant who accepted the Court of Appeal's decision to dismiss his application to challenge the basis of the upcoming Presidential Election "with a heavy heart"
• Shirwin Eu, private-hire driver who thinks he still stands a chance
• Ooi Boon Ewe, perennial candidate for election 1
• Zeng Guoyuan, perennial candidate for election 2, better known as “Parrot Man”,

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Here is the press release from ELD in full:

UPDATES ON APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY & COMMUNITY CERTIFICATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2017

By the close of application for the Certificate of Eligibility and Community Certificate at 5 pm today, the Elections Department received a total of five applications for the Certificate of Eligibility. Of these applicants, three persons applied for the Malay Community Certificate, one person applied for the Chinese Community Certificate, and one person declared that he does not consider himself to be a member of the Chinese community, the Malay community, or the Indian or other minority communities.

As this Presidential Election is reserved for the Malay community, the Community Committee must reject a community declaration if the declarant does not state that he considers himself to be a member of the community to which the election is reserved.

ISSUED BY ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT

PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

4 SEPTEMBER 2017

The election is due to take place on Sept 23 if there is a contest. 

Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA), J. Y. Pillay, has been appointed as acting president from Sept. 1, until a new head of state is sworn in.

He took over from Tony Tan Keng Yam, who completed his six-year term on Aug. 31, 2017.

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