Presidential candidate Ng Kok Song officially received 390,041 votes out of a total of 2,480,760 cast (excluding spoilt votes).

This means he has retained his election deposit of S$40,500, after getting 15.72 per cent of the vote.

For a candidate to retain their deposit, they must get more than one-eighth of the number of votes cast in an election in Singapore.

Ng came in second place, ahead of two-time candidate Tan Kin Lian but significantly behind the eventual winner, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Ng's campaign

During the election, Ng ran as a "non-partisan" candidate.

Ng was the former director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and chief investor of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

He declared his interest to run for presidency on Jul. 15, 2023, and picked up his Presidential Election Candidate form at the Elections Department (ELD) four days later on Jul. 19.

The 75-year-old said on Nomination Day, Aug. 22, that he was running for presidency to protect Singapore's three national "treasures": Singapore's reserves, good public administration, and social stability.

His campaign made heavy use of social media, with his cat Max Ng and his fiancee Sybil Lau garnering interest from the public.

In the final days of the campaign, Ng tangled with Tharman over a point made in the CNA live forum, but eventually said that he and Tharman were "good friends".

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Top photo by Alfie Kwa