Kishore Mahbubani is the second Singaporean diplomat to express his support for presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam, after Tommy Koh.

On Aug. 23, the former senior diplomat, academic and author wrote on his LinkedIn account that he has "the goal" to persuade Singaporeans to vote for Tharman for the 2023 Presidential Elections and listed three reasons why.

The post included a video of him listing the reasons.

Navigating geopolitical waters

First, Mahbubani cited his over 50 years of experience in geopolitics and made a prediction, "with great certainty", that Singapore "will experience great geopolitical stress in the next decade", highlighting the US-China relations.

He acknowledged that while dealing with geopolitical stress is the job of the government and not the president, it will help to have a president who is globally respected.

"Few Singaporeans are as highly respected in key capitals, especially Washington D.C. and Beijing, as Tharman is."

He believes Tharman will be of "high global standing" that will provide Singapore with "another layer of protection as we navigate stormy geopolitical waters".

National unity

Secondly, he pointed out that "Singapore has undergone some domestic stress recently".

"If ever there was a moment in Singapore’s history when we needed an inspirational figure as President, this is it," he wrote.

After knowing Tharman for over 30 years, Mahbubani said that "he has a big heart, his affection for fellow Singaporeans and his commitment to Singapore is genuine and sincere".

"Just ask the people in his Parliamentary constituency," he said, "there's a good reason why Tharman gets so much support".

He wrote:

"He is a truly unifying figure who can bring together all Singaporeans: rich and poor, privileged and less privileged, Chinese and Malays, Indians and Eurasians - indeed, all of us."

Lift spirits in difficult times

"Now, my third reason is a serious one," Mahbubani moved to his final point.

He described Tharman as a "deep thinker whose mind is constantly wrestling with the great intellectual challenges of our time".

"That’s why his speeches are often brilliant. Quite amazingly, for a deep and serious thinker, he also has a remarkable sense of humour."

He highlighted how the then Deputy Prime Minister "diffused the pressure from the BBC hard talk presenter Stephen Sackur with a quick witty response" at the 45th St Gallen Symposium on May. 7, 2015 in Switzerland.

Mahbubani ended his point with this:

"So even as we sail into some stress, we can be confident that Tharman will be around to cheer us up.'

Mahbubani's professional background

Mahbubani was a Singaporean diplomat for 33 years, from 1971 to 2004 and had postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and New York, where he was Singapore’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and served as president of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002.

He also held the role of Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998.

Between 2004 and 2017, he was appointed the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and was a professor in the practice of public policy from 2006 to 2019.

Mahbubani is also the author of eight books including Can Asians Think?, Beyond The Age Of Innocence, The New Asian Hemisphere, The Great Convergence, and Can Singapore Survive, amongst others.

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Top image via Kishore Mahbubani/FB and Mothership.