Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian said that he takes time to understand the culture, history and languages of a country before he travels there.

Tan was speaking at the presidential forum on Monday (Aug. 28) night.

The forum, which was hosted by Mediacorp and broadcasted live on CNA, also saw the other two presidential candidates, Ng Kok Song and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, in attendance.

The three candidates were asked the same set of questions, and they each had to provide their answers within a time limit.

One of the questions asked during the forum was: "What unique traits do you possess that will help you represent Singapore on the global stage?"

Here's what each candidate answered.

Tan Kin Lian

Tan talked about his 20 years on the board of International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation, including his five years serving as chairman.

He said he travelled yearly for board meetings and conferences as part of his responsibilities.

"Before I travel, I take some trouble to understand the culture, the history, and some languages of the country. I know songs in many languages through these travels. I think we should pay respect to other countries and in turn, they will like us.

Although Singapore is a very small country, I was privileged to be elected as the chairman [of the federation] and serve for five years."

Tan also said that he "understands the international position of Singapore".

"We want to promote international cooperation, international trade, and international peace. And we want to have good friendly relations with neighbouring countries. So those are the government's positions. And I also believe in those positions, and I will be happy to project them."

Ng Kok Song

For Ng, he cited his 30-year career at GIC.

"The GIC invests in over 40 countries around the world and so I traveled extensively," he said.

He added that he had "very good connections" and friendships with key policy makers, including ministers and former prime ministers, as well as businessmen and corporate executives.

"They know me because of my work at the GIC, and because the GIC is a very well known sovereign wealth fund.

So I will be able to engage people from overseas when they come to visit Singapore or when I travel overseas, I'll be able to engage them in meaningful conversations.

At the same time, I will be able to discuss with them what are the issues that will be of concern to foreign leaders... The most important thing is for me to be able to project Singapore, that although we are a small country, we do have influence. But that influence depends on my ability as well as that of the government to project Singapore's reputation."

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

In his answer, Tharman said that he agreed with Ng that the elected president must be able to work with the government to represent Singapore effectively on the global stage.

"The president represents Singapore and he has to work closely with the government and know what Singapore's interests are," said Tharman.

"It's been really my privilege to be able to serve Singapore internationally, both through my leadership on various international councils, as well as in building up a solid set of relationships with senior figures in Asia, in the West, in the developing world.

And I intend to use that if I'm elected president."

Tharman added that there is an "additional characteristic" that has to be "the Singapore way" and the "Singapore voice of reason".

"When we act in leadership internationally, when we contribute internationally, we've got to understand the differences of interests between countries, understand the different plights that countries are in, including in the developing world, and find ways of establishing common ground.

That's the biggest missing ingredient in the world today— identifying common ground between contesting parties and countries in very different circumstances."

As a small country that depends on an open global system, Tharman said that Singapore is best placed to find that common ground, respect differences of positions, and find ways of bridging them.

"That's the Singapore leadership style," he added.

Top image screenshot via CNA/YouTube.