Presidential candidates spent most on advertising, promotional materials
by Teo Xuanwei
SINGAPORE - Getting their names and faces out to the electorate during the whirlwind nine-day campaign period was the top priority for all four candidates who contested in the August Presidential Election, with advertising and printing of promotional materials constituting the bulk of their campaign expenses.
The top spender, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, for example, used more than 86 per cent of his total expenditure of S$585,045.03 on traditional publicity paraphernalia, such as posters, leaflets and namecards, as well as on more novel means such as smartphone apps, SMS and email marketing, according to the expenses filed, which were made available for inspection yesterday.
For President Tony Tan Keng Yam - who spent the next highest amount at S$503,070 - the ubiquitous black-framed-spectacle magnets, beige and purple caps and almost 1.5 million leaflets that were mailed to every household, among other items, used up more than 58 per cent of his budget.
He too realised the importance of new media, spending nearly S$50,000 on Google banners, Facebook advertisements, as well as on videography for clips of his walkabouts and public events that were posted on his website.
Ensuring a positive image in the public eye was evidently a big part of Dr Tan's strategy as he spent more than S$130,000 on designing and maintaining his website, fees for market research and a feedback session, and even on media training on five days, among other things.
Most of Mr Tan Jee Say's expenditure was also on advertising and publicity. The second runner-up at the election spent S$72,442 of his $162,337 expenditure on this, while Mr Tan Kin Lian who spent the least, doled out just S$70,912.16 in total on his campaign, or 3 Singapore cents on each of the 2,274,773 registered voters.
And there was other trivia spotted in the candidates' election expenses.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock, for instance, was the only one who bought insurance coverage for himself and 115 other helpers during his campaign.
And what did Dr Tony Tan and his helpers snack on at his campaign office in Emerald Hill before he was declared the Republic's seventh President?
Peranakan-style mackerel satay and ketupat.
That is alot of money spend.
I think okay. Other countries even worse.
Originally posted by Dalforce 25:I think okay. Other countries even worse.
Compare? How to compare when the candidates in other countries are allowed election campaign for a few months when it is only 9 days in Singapore?
Dumboo is the election dept which is under the "leadership" of the pariah cbl Lee Hsien Loong. No country allows the member of election dept to be from a ruling party. Kelong kelong!