Tan Kin Lian will proceed with the sale of his campaign paraphernalia in Bedok on Saturday, Sep. 9.
This was after he claimed he was advised by a member of his team to apply for a permit before carrying out the sale in public, in the event he contravenes any existing laws against illegal hawking, the 75-year-old wrote in an early morning Facebook post on Sep. 6.
However, Tan revealed he has not been able to secure a permit after trying to go about applying for one.
The two-time presidential hopeful has taken to social media repeatedly to announce that he will be at the concourse between Bedok MRT station and the Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre from 9am to 11am to personally see to the sale.
His latest post was to make public his intentions about wanting to remain on the right side of the law and not being sure how to go about doing it.
Tried to apply for permit
Tan wrote that he did not think that applying for a permit from the National Environment Agency (NEA) was "applicable", and he claimed he has not received a reply from the Elections Department (ELD).
Tan also hit out at online commenters who suggested that the authorities ought to be alerted to his hawking activities in Bedok.
Proceeds will go to charity
His latest post also indicated that he will no longer use the money earned to pay a "friend" for putting up and taking down the posters.
Instead, the money will be donated to a "Muslim charity that takes care of the poor and destitute".
"This is a small sum anyway," he wrote.
An earlier version of his post read: "I chose the Muslim charity because the Malay community probably need help more than the other communities."
This sentence has since been edited out of his Facebook post.
In a follow-up comment to the post a few hours later, Tan said he would get a shop to help him sell his posters if he runs into any issues.
He would then reimburse the shop for each sale, he added.
Tan lamented at the end of his post: "I cannot understand why it should take so much trouble just to sell the used posters to my supporters who wish to keep them as a souvenir."
Plans for poster sale changed repeatedly
The plan to sell his presidential election posters have been tweaked several times.
The initial plan he announced was to sell posters that did not bear his autograph.
Autographed posters were to be sold online to "other people".
Tan then put up a bundle of merchandise, including autographed posters, for sale on his website for S$50.
via tankinlian.com
He then said he will distribute smaller autographed posters to those who helped him during his campaign.
He then put up the large and small autographed posters for sale for S$20 each.
At one point, he even asked members of the public to remove his posters for him and transfer S$10 for each poster removed.
via Tan Kin Lian Facebook
This post by Tan has since been deleted.
In response to Mothership's queries, Tan said this idea was shelved as it was "quite troublesome".
Tan said: "I decided that it is better to get the supporters to collect the poster at the concourse outside of Bedok MRT station. The earlier arrangement was quite troublesome. Some of my supporters find that it is difficult to reach the posters."
Top photos via Tan Kin Lian Facebook