Elected President: Statistically speaking?

By: Leong Sze Hian

I refer to the article “Parliament passes changes to elected presidency” (Straits Times, Nov 10). It states:

“It means Singapore’s next president is likely to be Malay, as next year’s election will be reserved for Malay candidates. The amendments also raise the maximum number of Non-Constituency MPs from nine to 12, and give them the same voting rights as elected MPs. All 77 People’s Action Party MPs present voted in favour of the changes, while all six elected Workers’ Party MPs opposed them.”

These are the statistics for the next Presidential Elections:

• 99.9% (estimated) of the people may not qualify
• Over 90% (estimated) of all the countries’ presidents may not qualify
• Probability of being “Indian and the minorities” – 0
• Probability of being Chinese – 0
• Probability of being Malay – 100%
• Probability of this happening in another country – slightly greater than 0 (estimated)
• Probability of anyone in the world laughing when they know about this – close to 100% (estimated)
• % of PAP MPs who voted for the changes – 100%
• % of WP MPs who voted against the changes – 100%
• % of MPs who participated in the debate – 41%
• % of the people who may qualify under “Private-sector candidates must have helmed a company with $500 million in shareholder equity” – 0.1% (estimated)