Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam's symbol is a pineapple, but he's also using the fruit as more than a symbol.
When the symbol was unveiled on Nomination Day on Aug. 22, he waved a pineapple around and shouted, "Ong lai!", to cheers of, "Huat ah!" from supporters who had gathered. ("Ong lai" is Hokkien for pineapple and a homonym for "fortune comes".)
Tharman was once again seen with an actual pineapple on Thursday (Aug. 24), while on a lunchtime walkabout at Lau Pa Sat.
At one point during the walkabout, he approached the fruit stall, leaned over the counter, and handed the tropical fruit over to one of the stall's workers.
Screenshot via Mothership's TikTok livestream.
He was also seen posing with it for photos.
Screenshot via Mothership's TikTok livestream.
Tharman was also given a box of pineapple tarts.
Screenshot via video by Hannah Martens.
Tharman previously explained that the pineapple is "a symbol with a lot of meaning to all our communities".
"It is a propitious and welcome symbol for many people," Tharman added, explaining that the pineapple is used on occasions like moving into a new home, starting a new business, and "when we want good luck and good things to happen".
"It is our future," he added.
Campaign has been "extremely rewarding and very engaging"
Tharman also spoke briefly to the media.
Asked to respond to fellow candidate Ng Kok Song's comment earlier on Aug. 24, that it is “difficult” for a president to discharge his responsibilities objectively if he has too close a relationship with the prime minister, Tharman said:
"It depends entirely on the character of the person and their track record and what they're known for. So I think we have to think about this objectively, based on the personal attributes of each of the candidates. And simple labels are not very useful when you're thinking of a leadership contest."
Ng's comments had come after Tharman said the president’s soft power depends “entirely” on the relationship with the prime minister.
Tharman also said his experience campaigning so far, including meeting people at hawker centres and markets, as well as organising dialogues has been "extremely rewarding and very engaging".
He was also asked about calls to spoil votes, and said, "I really don't have comments on that at all."
However, he added that "this is an extremely important election for our future."
"I think we should not look at it through a political lens," he said. "We're electing an individual. And we have to look at what the individual represents [and] has represented through their lives, and what they're bringing for the future."
Queue to take photos with Tharman
After Tharman spoke to the media, people wanting to take photos with the presidential candidate and his wife formed an orderly queue:
GIF from video by Foo Chan Seng.
Top image from Mothership's TikTok livestream