Presidential Election 2023 candidate Ng Kok Song announced his defeat to fellow presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam after sample count results were released on Polling Day on Sep. 1.
Sample count results released by the Election Department showed Tharman receiving an estimated vote share of 70 per cent while Ng had only 16 per cent.
The third candidate, Tan Kin Lian, received an estimated 14 per cent vote share.
Congratulates Tharman
Ng started his speech by sharing that he had just received a phone call from Tharman, who told Ng that he thought Ng and Ng's team had put up "a vigorous campaign".
In response, Ng said he congratulated Tharman on the latter's "magnificent victory".
Ng said his number one goal when he came forward to stand for the presidency was to "ensure that the people of Singapore could have the right to vote in this presidential election".
He believed he had accomplished this goal.
Ng also shared that he was delighted Tharman earned a mandate from Singaporeans.
He expressed his gratitude to the 400,000 Singaporeans for their faith in him, his campaign staff, his family, his pets, and his fiancée, Sybil Lau, who was standing by his side.
Ng also thanked his proposers, seconders, assenters, and character referees, who put their names behind his name and lifted him from a "relative nobody to somebody".
At the end of his speech, Ng said he wished Tharman success in his new role as the President of Singapore, and he is confident that Tharman will make a very good president.
Top image via Mothership