Former foreign affairs minister George Yeo has confirmed that he would not be campaigning in the upcoming presidential election, according to an Aug. 2 Facebook post.

In the post, Yeo said he had also told presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song, who is his "old friend and colleague", that he would be "honoured" to be one of Ng's character references.

Both Yeo and Ng had previously served in the Ministry of Finance — the former served as the Minister of State for the ministry, while the latter started off as an investment analyst at the ministry's overseas investment department.

According to the post, the conversation between Yeo and Ng took place at a dinner hosted by Ng and his fiancée, Sybil Lau, which both Yeo and his wife attended.

In a doorstop interview on Jul. 27, Ng told the media that he is currently working on his list of proposer, seconder, and assenters, and he has been making "a lot of progress".

The former GIC chief investment officer also said he considered those who were willing to come forward to join his list to be "people of courage" as they had supported "the underdog" and signing up for him had "some downsides".

Background

During an interview with Lianhe Zaobao about his new book, "George Yeo: Musings", in August 2022, Yeo said he would not be contesting in the upcoming presidential election as it is "not a prospect which attracts him".

He further explained that he would rather be freer, as the role of the president might contain him:

"I've given my views on this before, and maybe this book will sharpen it — that I'm a bit of a free spirit. I like to talk. I like to speculate, to talk more widely. Sometimes, I'm politically incorrect in the things I say.

Now that I'm in semi-retirement, I relish and cherish this freedom. If you are president, you have to be disciplined in the way you behave and in the way you speak.

I'm not saying that I should be undisciplined, but you know, it is... When I think about it, I said no, this is going to really constrain me and I'd rather be freer."

Top image via George Yeo/Facebook