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Singaporeans go to the polls on September 1, 2023 to elect our new president. We choose from three candidates: former senior minister and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC Ng Kok Song, and former CEO of NTUC Income Tan Kin Lian. 

An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Singaporean youth, or about 15 per cent of the electorate, will be voting in the presidential election for the first time. In the lead up to Polling Day, in this mini-series, we speak to three first-time voters – all of whom are students – about their thoughts on the presidential candidates, the institution of the presidency, as well as the issues and considerations they are prioritising.

Today, in the final episode of our three-part mini-series, we have 24-year-old Aamir Bana, a student at Yale-NUS and the National University of Singapore. He is part of CAPE, but speaks in his personal capacity in this episode. This was recorded on August 22, 2023.

Listen to the full mini-series:

1. Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
2. Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
3. A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
4. Singapore’s presidential… Group job interview? (PE2023)
5. Veteran journalist Bertha Henson on PE2023, the PEC and CPA, and the office of the elected presidency

Resources for information about presidency: 

• The president’s constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
• A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
• An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
• Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
• The Menon Commission Report.

This episode is part of the “Civic Engagement and Action” series of the podcast’s sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Max Oh on Unsplash.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE.