The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) Secretariat have issued a statement on presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam's son Akilan.

This comes after screenshots of Akilan's job role was being circulated online on Aug. 30, showing Akilan's previous posting as a senior associate at MOF's reserves department.

No conflict of interest

Akilan has been with MOF since June 2022, the statement said.

"He is currently working on education and manpower policies in the Social Programmes Directorate," it added.

Akilan's job role on the Singapore Government Directory website has since been updated.

The statement further clarified that there is "no conflict of interest" between Akilan's current job and his father's candidacy for presidency.

"Akilan was previously working in the Reserves and Investment Directorate at MOF. No conflict of interest occurred in his previous work at the Directorate.

The decision was made in July to rotate him and preempt any possible potential for conflict of interest situations in the presidential election.

Akilan was treated like all other Overseas Merit Scholars, according to prevailing policies.

Akilan disrupted from his NS in 2011, resumed his NS duties in 2015 and finished his NS obligations, like his other PSC scholarship peers who had disrupted."

Top images via MOF/FB & Mothership.