Say what? Presidential aspirant Seng Soon Kia claims he was president in 1951, but he was born in 1952

If you need an example of perseverance, there is presidential hopeful Seng Soon Kia. 

This former secondary school teacher said it's his third time showing up at the Elections Department (ELD) on Tuesday (June 13) and in a TikTok video posted by Sgprimememesters on Wednesday (June 14), the retiree told an interviewer in Mandarin: "I want to be president." 

He later said that he was born on March 16, 1952. 

But he also claimed in that same interview that he was Singapore's president for a year from 1951 to 1952. 

"Oh, you were president in 1951. But weren't you born in 1952?" asked the interviewer. 

To that, Seng simply replied: "Correct." 

For the record, Yusof bin Ishak became Singapore's first president upon the nation's independence on Aug 9, 1965.

The interviewer also asked him if he was familiar with the election's criteria and if he thinks that he meets it. 

"I roughly saw the report, I think I meet the criteria," he maintained.

@sgprimememesters Second presidential hopeful to show up at elections department office is ex-secondary school teacher Seng Soon Kia #singapore ♬ original sound - sgpmo

Seng revealed that previously, he was a technical teacher who taught woodwork to secondary school kids from 1971 to 1988. 

But despite his tenacity, he is still nervous about his application. 

"I don't know whether I got chance," he told the interviewer bluntly. 

Wants to improve condition of public toilets 

Seng arrived at ELD on Tuesday around 2pm and paced outside the office for 20 minutes before entering to pick up his forms, The Straits Times reported.

When asked why he wanted to run for president, he said there were several issues in Singapore that he felt had to be addressed.

This included pushing for a return to a work schedule common during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people could work from home and return to their workplace only a few days each week.

He also wished to improve the condition of public toilets and the standard of public bus services.

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melissateo@asiaone.com