'I poorer than you sir': Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian's call for donations draws mixed reactions
Tan Kin Lian and his wife Vivian Tay Siew Hong was all smiles at Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre
PHOTO: AsiaOne
PUBLISHED ONAugust 25, 2023 9:15 AMByAmierul RashidKeep an eye out for scammers if you're donating to Tan Kin Lian's presidential campaign.
That was a statement from Tan himself during a walkabout at Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre this morning (Aug 25).
On Aug 20, the former NTUC Income chief announced that Singaporeans may make a donation towards the cost of his campaign as a sign of their support.
In his post, he said that donations of $10 to $9,999 can transferred to a mobile number via PayNow while any donation of $10,000 or more would have to be made separately.
Reaction from netizens were varied.
Some championed his presidential campaign and wished him the best of luck, declaring in the comments section that they've made their donations.
"Thank you for providing people of Singapore to vote for an independent candidate. We wish you best of luck, $50 has been transferred," a netizen said.
Another donated $100 and wished Tan good luck for his campaign.
Others weren't as jovial.
"I poorer than you, sir. Wish you all the best! Give you my physical support instead," one netizen commented.
During the walkabout today, Tan revealed to reporters that "someone is using his name to scam" donors.
He added: "People donating to me will use my mobile phone. Someone has been sending around a post on donating using a UEN number."
Tan offered a solution by suggesting that one can simply pay $1 to the UEN number first.
In order to detect who the scammer is, Tan said that he will use his own bank account to transfer $1 to the UEN number.
"When you pay $1 to the UEN number, you'll know who's the recipient," the 75-year-old said, adding that one should make a police report with the details of the scammer if they do come across one.
With the Presidential Election in full swing, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore also released an advisory on Aug 23 urging voters to watch out for scams and cyber attacks.
Threat actors could create fake social media accounts or circulate fake websites that mimic the content of official campaign websites in order to carry out phishing or social engineering attacks.
Voters are advised to download apps from only official sources and pay attention to the security permissions required by the app.
Projected campaign expenses
On Aug 14, Tan told AsiaOne that his projected expenses for the campaign will be "between $50,000 and $150,000".
The Elections Department sets election expenses limit at $812,822.10.
As for fellow presidential candidate Ng Kok Song, he announced on Aug 24 that he will not be accepting any donations to finance his election campaign.
Ng will be dipping into his personal savings and explained that this decision was taken in order to "not be beholden to anyone" in standing for the presidency.
The 75-year-old suggested to potential donors that they may choose to donate the money to charitable causes instead.
Unlike Tan, Ng declined to provide a projected expenditure for his presidential campaign.
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