Watch: Second Singapore presidential candidate broadcast

SINGAPORE: The second of two presidential candidate broadcasts aired on Wednesday (Aug 30), the final day of campaigning ahead of the Sep 1 Presidential Election.

The messages from Mr Tan Kin Lian, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr Ng Kok Song were broadcast in that order, a reverse of the sequence from the first candidate broadcast on Aug 24.

In his message, Mr Tan said he would use "soft influence" to bring about change, if elected as President.

The former NTUC Income chief repeated his apologies to people offended by his social media posts, and said he would be "more mindful" of what he says in future.

"I believe my knowledge and experience will be useful in performing the key duty of the President. As custodian of the reserves, I will ensure that our past reserves are managed prudently to benefit Singaporeans both present and future," he added.

Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he has a track record of connecting with people from all backgrounds during his time as a Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC for more than two decades.

He also highlighted his "breadth of understanding" in the key areas of guarding the country's reserves and ensuring the integrity of key public service appointments. 

"Put simply, I know our whole system of reserves inside out. Most importantly, for the President, this involves understanding how the reserves are safeguarded and used by the government."

Former GIC chief investment officer Mr Ng said Singapore cannot afford to have a President who may be beholden to political parties to serve their agenda.

In his message, he again stressed his position as a "non-partisan" candidate, having never belonged to any political party.

"We cannot rely on an 'ownself check ownself' mechanism to safeguard our reserves or the integrity of the public service," he added.

More than 2.7 million Singaporeans will head to the polls on Friday to vote for the country's ninth President.