Tan Kin Lian Shifts Presidential Campaign to Target Wider Audience with Door-to-Door Flyer Distribution

SINGAPORE — Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian’s campaign strategy took a new direction on Tuesday (Aug 29) as his team shifted from public walkabouts at hawker centers to a targeted door-to-door flyer distribution campaign. With only two days remaining for voter outreach, the campaign now focuses on reaching residents who are less engaged on social media or who seldom visit popular public spaces, according to campaign manager Allan Yeo.

On Tuesday morning, around 20 volunteers set out to distribute campaign flyers across neighborhoods including Queenstown, Dover, Clementi, Jurong East, and Buona Vista. Mr. Tan, 75, did not join the volunteers, who went door-to-door in housing blocks near Queenstown MRT, delivering flyers directly or leaving them at doors if residents were not home. The plan was to circulate about 30,000 flyers in the western region on Tuesday, with further outreach scheduled in other parts of Singapore on Wednesday.

Campaign manager Yeo noted that around 150,000 flyers had been printed at a cost of nearly $15,000, aiming to reach audiences that traditional media or social media may not engage. “We are trying to reach the middle ground: We’ve done podcasts for younger audiences, hawker centers for older residents, and now flyers for those not active on social media,” Yeo explained.

During the remaining campaign days, around 20 volunteers will distribute flyers each day, with teams assigned to various neighborhoods to cover as many residential areas as possible. Initially, Mr. Tan had planned to visit Boon Lay Place Market and Food Village and Ayer Rajah Food Centre on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, but canceled these walkabouts to prioritize flyer distribution efforts in HDB areas and MRT stations.

On his Facebook page, Mr. Tan confirmed that the walkabouts were replaced by the flyer campaign to reach more residents directly. Since Nomination Day, Mr. Tan had consistently held walkabouts, pausing only briefly on August 26 for a private dialogue hosted by the National University of Singapore Society.

Residents, particularly seniors or those working from home, welcomed the direct engagement. Former cleaner Tan Bon Yeo, 73, mentioned that the home visits helped reach residents who rarely go to food centers and might not otherwise see candidates in person. “Knocking on our doors shows sincerity,” Madam Tan said in Mandarin. Digital marketer Cherilyn Lim, 32, also appreciated the effort, describing the door-to-door approach as a “very manual process” that personalized the campaign experience.

Additionally, Mr. Tan announced on Tuesday that his online rally, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was “shelved.” This virtual event, which he announced on August 25, had been planned as an alternative to a physical rally, which was canceled due to high costs. Instead, Mr. Tan intends to join his volunteers in flyer distribution across the north-eastern neighborhoods of Hougang, Sengkang, and Punggol on Wednesday.