Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam unveiled his Presidential Election 2023 pineapple symbol by waving a pineapple around and shouting, "Ong lai!"

"Ong lai" is Hokkien for pineapple and a homonym for "fortune comes".

He was seen waving the fruit around at the nomination centre on Aug. 22.

As seen in a video, he said: "We are launching our symbol for this campaign. It is a perfect symbol."

He then said, "Ong lai!", and the crowd responded with, "Huat ah!"

This went on a few times.

Speaking to the media, Tharman 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.

Top photos via 8world News