Presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian has described the majority of the reactions to his social media posts about young women as quite "light" and "enjoyable", with a "very small" minority of people who are uncomfortable with it.
Tan was responding to a question posed during his walkabout on Aug. 21, at West Coast Food Centre, about a TikTok which highlighted his previous multiple posts he had put up about "pretty girls" at various public locations, and the concern raised by some of the video's commenters.
@spillthetea.sg someone call d POLICE PLEASE #tiktoksg🇸🇬 #fypsg♥️ #sgpolitics #politicians #tankinlian #sgpresidentialelection2023 ♬ Dirty Thoughts - Chloe Adams
Tan answered that if he added up all the reach of these Facebook posts, it would probably come up to a million people.
He added that the majority of them think such posts are lighthearted and fun is an indication of interest, he said.
Tan: People should stay away if they don't like what I post
Tan also spoke of other posts which brought in hundreds of thousands of people, such as his posts about the food he bought at the hawker centre.
Tan highlighted one post in particular about his "fishball noodle soup", which he claimed reached 100,000 people.
He added that some people gave "nasty comments", questioning why he put up such a post on Facebook in the first place.
In calling such comments "malicious" with intention of making him look bad, Tan said such people should stay away if they did not like what he posted.
"If you don't like what I post, please stay out. Don't make very rude remarks," he added.
Tan added that he ignored such people who are out to "create trouble" for him, as long as the majority of the public find his posts harmless.
Such people are also malicious to Ng Kok Song
Tan then claimed that the minority who made rude comments about him also made "malicious comments" about his fellow presidential aspirant Ng Kok Song.
Tan alleged that Ng had given quotes which are similar to his own Facebook posts, and that Ng has a harder time than him addressing such comments.
"I don't think it is polite," Tan added.
He then reiterated that the number of such comments against him is quite small compared to the other two candidates.
"So therefore don't give the impression that I'm the worst target of malicious people. I'm not. I think I got more people who look at me more favourably because they understand my purpose of standing for election."
Tan elaborated that this purpose is not for his own glory, but because the people of Singapore needs a person to influence the government in making some changes.
Top photo by Alfie Kwa