Singapore ready for non-Chinese PM: Indian origin candidate Tharman

Singapore: Singapore, which has a predominantly Chinese origin population, is ready for a non-Chinese prime minister any time, presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said.

Race is a factor in politics everywhere, he said on Friday, citing former United States president Barack Obama, who has spoken and written about it.

However, Singaporeans today, unlike 40 or 50 years ago, look at all factors and not just race, said 66-year-old Tharman, a Singaporean of Indian origin.

"They look at people in totality... Singapore is ready any time. If someone comes up who is a superior candidate for prime minister, the person can be made the prime minister. I believe they can," he said during an election meeting to share his vision for the presidency.

It is a marker of Singapore's progress as a society, added the former senior minister who resigned the ruling People's Action Party in July to contest for the presidency.

"Singapore is ready any time for a non-Chinese prime minister," The Straits Times quoted Tharman, who goes by his popular first name, as saying.

Singaporeans are to vote for the Ninth President on September 1.

Tharman, an economist, also said that as important as they are only government policies cannot make Singapore a fairer and better place.

Instead, things must go much deeper, and the next phase of Singapore's development is to pay attention to things that cannot be measured, he continued. Noting that there are many people who are doing meaningful jobs that are not visible, he said, “Every skill and every job deserves respect. Better pay for the low-paid – but (also) respect and dignity." Chinese origin Singaporeans Tan Kin Lian and Ng Kok Song, are also contesting the presidential election. Tan, 75, is a former trade union related insurance group NTUC Income’s chief executive while NG, also 75, is former chief investment officer at the state-owned GIC.