SINGAPORE, Aug 26 — A president and his spouse need not have been born in Singapore to contribute effectively to its welfare, said presidential candidate Ng Kok Song, in response to fellow candidate Tan Kin Lian’s claim that voters "prefer a chance to have” both the president and his or her spouse to be "true Singaporeans” born here.

"If you look at some of our political leaders, people like (former deputy prime minister) Goh Keng Swee, (former minister of finance) Hon Sui Sen, many of them, were they born in Singapore? No,” said Ng.

Both Goh and Hon, considered to be among Singapore's founding fathers, had been born in Malaysia.

Ng, a former chief investment officer at sovereign wealth fund GIC, was speaking to reporters during a walkabout at Chong Pang Market and Food Centre on Saturday, where he spoke and took photos with various members of the public.

Yesterday (August 25), his rival Tan had told reporters that he and his wife were "blue-blooded” Singaporeans, and that "deep down”, he believes Singaporeans would prefer "at least a chance” to have the President and the first lady to be "true Singaporeans from birth”.

This was an apparent jab at Ng’s fiancée, Sybil Lau, who was born in Canada and became a Singapore citizen 18 years ago, as well as at fellow candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam's wife Jane Yumiko Ittogi, who moved to Singapore when she was three years old.

Ng added that if one were to look at the "history of our leaders in Singapore”, such as Goh and Hon, then they should take a more open stance towards accepting naturalised citizens.

"We should welcome people from other nationalities who want to come and live in Singapore and take up citizenship and contribute to the welfare of Singapore, either in political office, in presidential office, or as a citizen,” said Ng.

He added that Singapore is in fact "very fortunate” to have people who come from overseas who admire the country and then want to become citizens.

His fiancee, Lau, 45, came to Asia 20 years ago and has lived in Malaysia and China, he said.

"And then, finally, she came to Singapore 18 years ago... And she discovered that Singapore is where she wants to live for the rest of her life,” said Ng. "So she decided to give up her Canadian citizenship to become a Singapore citizen.”

Ng was also asked by the media if he had been trying to build up the public’s impression of Ms Lau over the first few days of the hustings.

In recent interviews, Ng said that when he first told Lau about his bid to become president, she had expressed concern over whether she could be a "liability” to his campaign, given the questions they would face over their 30-year age gap.

Ng said that he did not need to help Lau build an impression.

"Sybil is here today. You can meet her. You can talk to her. You get to take photographs with her and find out the person she is, so I don't have to build up a good impression,” he said.

"When you say you build a good impression, you mean to look good. We don't have to look good, we want to be good.” ― TODAY