Entrepreneur George Goh, who brought Harvey Norman to S’pore, announces bid to run for President

Entrepreneur George Goh, who brought Australian retailer Harvey Norman to Singapore, announced in a press release on Monday that he will be running for the presidency, putting an end to several months of speculation.

The 63-year-old is the group executive chairman of Ossia International, a Singapore Exchange-listed company that deals in consumer products such as footwear and apparel.

He is also the non-resident ambassador to Morocco, a post he has held since 2017. He was renewed for a second term as ambassador in September 2020.

To contest the elections, and to maintain his independence, Mr Goh tendered his letter of resignation to the Foreign Affairs Ministry on June 9.

His announcement comes after Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said on June 8 that he would be resigning from the Government and People’s Action Party on July 7, to stand for election in the upcoming poll.

President Halimah Yacob has said that she will not stand for re-election when her term ends on Sept 13.

“Being so closely aligned with the ruling political party, the question is whether (Mr Tharman) is the right man to become President. This is especially so, given the President’s role in checking the Government in the two important areas concerned with the national reserves and key public office appointments,” said the press release.

“To maintain the integrity of the office, the President must not only be above politics but be perceived as such.”

The release added that Mr Goh will contest as an independent candidate.

“He has no political party affiliations - past or present. He has no political baggage. He was never in the public sector,” it said.

The statement also said that Mr Goh had made his decision to run for the presidency in 2017, after the eligibility criteria for private sector candidates was raised.

“He was concerned that the more stringent conditions might lead to another uncontested election, as was the case in 2017 with President Madam Halimah Yacob, a former Speaker of Parliament,” it said.

According to his personal website, Mr Goh has owned seven listed companies across Singapore, Britain and Australia, including the company that runs sports retail store World of Sports.

In 2015, he and his wife Lysa Sumali co-founded Border Mission, a charity meant to support those in need in Singapore, the Himalayan region, and developing countries.

Observers that The Straits Times spoke to previously had said that it was unclear if Mr Goh would be eligible to run for the presidency.

To fulfil the private-sector requirement, a person must have served as chief executive of a company for at least three years, during which time the company must, on average, have at least $500 million in shareholders’ equity and made profit after tax throughout.

The three-year period has to be the most recent such period.

The law also states that a person who was the most senior executive in such a company may qualify.

According to market data from the Wall Street Journal, Ossia International averaged about $50m in shareholder equity from 2021 to 2023.

Candidates interested in running for the presidency will, from June 13, be able to collect forms from the Elections Department or its website.

If eligible, the presidential hopefuls will be granted a certificate of eligibility ahead of Nomination Day, along with a community certificate declaring them a member of a specific community.

The date of Nomination Day has not been announced.

The Presidential Elections Committee can exercise its discretion and give potential candidates the green light, even if they do not meet the private or public sector requirements.

ST had reported in May that Mr Goh was among the list of potential candidates stepping forward in the upcoming election.

He did not reply to ST’s queries at the time.

Multiple attempts in the past month to confirm his candidacy, whether directly or through his spokesman, went unanswered or were met with a “no comments”.

Rumours had been swirling around Mr Goh and the upcoming presidential election since January, when he launched a website which listed his achievements in various fields such as philanthropy, diplomacy, entrepreneurship and education.

The father of four has also, within the last year, been posting regularly on his recently set-up social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

These updates include meetings or meals with prominent personalities such as national swimmers Yip Pin Xiu, Theresa Goh and Joseph Schooling, actor-filmmaker Jack Neo, singers Annette Lee and Nathan Hartono, Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement and Ambassador Ong Keng Yong.

Mr Goh has also posted about visits to hawker centres, social service agencies and charities, and shared about family moments like celebrating birthdays and his daughter’s graduation.

He has been featured in local media several times this year.

These include an interview with Lianhe Zaobao in February that was in its business pages, and a video interview with online Christian publication Salt&Light, released on June 8.

Mr Goh, who received a degree in music performance from Trinity College London in 2022, revealed his opera singing chops in a video with Salt&Light.

In the same interview, Mr Goh also shared that his current wife Ms Sumali is his second wife. His first wife, with whom he had three children, died when he was 40.