Tan Kin Lian doesn't mind sharing his personal information publicly, says bank account details 'not sensitive'
Tan Kin Lian on a walkabout at Senja Food Centre during Presidential Election 2023.
PHOTO: AsiaOne
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 21, 2023 1:00 AMByClaudia TanHe may have lost his second presidential bid earlier this month, but Tan Kin Lian has been keeping busy with social media.
Besides sharing his views on a range of topics on TikTok, he's also been regularly updating his blog.
On Wednesday (Sept 20), the 75-year-old shared his two cents on posting his contact details online.
"I do not worry about posting my bank account, mobile number or email address online, because I consider that these information are not sensitive," he wrote.
These personal details are easily found on his website.
In the same blog post, Tan explained that scammers will not be able to steal money from his bank account as they will have to provide the password and the 2FA code before logging in.
"The security is quite safe. The scammer, or any member of the public, is welcomed to credit money into my bank account," jested Tan.
To combat strange messages he received from members of the public, Tan said he'll ask them to "introduce themselves" by providing their full name, age and occupation.
"If they do not introduce themselves, I block them."
For emails, Tan said he chooses to ignore spam mail, and only looks out for legitimate mail sent to him. And if he misses out on important messages, he recognised it as something "unavoidable".
Ending off his blog post, Tan addressed the individuals who had warned him about sharing his personal details online.
"I told them that it is not necessary. They did not think about the real risk, which does not exist.
"Indeed, I feel more stressed by their good intentions, because I felt obliged to reply to them. I wished that they do not stress me with their paranoia," he said.
Locked out of his own SingPass
Back in 2019, Tan also took to social media to say that the paranoia about the privacy of National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) and contact details was "overblown".
To prove his point, he even posted his NRIC number, email address and date of birth on his Facebook page, and dared anyone to hack into his SingPass account.
"If you manage to hack into my account, you can check my health, education and tax record. There is nothing interesting for you to find out," he wrote then.
Unfortunately, a mere seven hours later, Tan realised he was locked out of his SingPass account after someone entered the wrong password too many times.
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