ingaporeans First Party (SFP) chief Tan Jee Say is indeed a polarising figure.
Some consider him an intellectual, with a sharp mind and keen sense for economics and policy-planning who would be perfect for the position of parliamentarian, if not, cabinet minister.
Others consider him a government pariah who left the civil service because he just couldn’t cut it, and is now participating in politics for self-validation.
And yet some others believe he’s a stooge of the ruling party, bent on disrupting opposition politics and splitting unity amongst opposition supporters.
But sticking to the facts, here’s what we know about Tan:
He attended University College Oxford on a Government Overseas Merit Scholarship.
He graduated with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
From 1985 to 1990, he served as then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s Principle Private Secretary
In 1990, he became director of corporate finance of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in 1990.
In 1994, he became head of Peregrine Capital Singapore.
From 1997 to 2001, he was regional managing director for AIB Govett, an asset management company.
In 2006, he was appointed as a Regional Director for ACCA in the Asia Pacific region.
In 2011, he contested the General Election under the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), but failed to win a seat in parliament.
In the 2011 Presidential Election, he finished in third place with 25% of the national vote.
In 2014, he started the Singaporeans First Party (SFP).
