Scroobal,
No offense, but why do people think GY is a nice guy? And why is the perception out there that he will make an excellent President? (a bit of background.. I think both Tharman and GY are pricks but obviously my view is the minority).
Let me explain why I think GY is an ass. In his tenure as a Cabinet minister, I see zero evidence that he has stood up to criticize the ruling party or at least question the direction which the government hence PAP is heading. Perhaps one can say he is by the nature mild and not used to direct confrontation. However, I am aware he did offer stern words to the public, warning them to observe the rules of engagement between those in power and those who are not. (what is up and what is down, then we can have a proper discussion). It does not speak of a mild person. Likewise, he came up to criticize a fellow PAP member, TCB, for questioning the FT policy. That of course is many years ago and people can change...
So I look at his recent conduct. In the recent elections, he conducted a rather lack lustre approach. Although people may feel that he was facing odds since WP fielded the A team, I personally felt this was an uphill task. When LTK said that he was going up the tiger mountain in spite of knowing there was a tiger there, I felt the description very apt and honestly, very touched. To have change, it requires sacrifice. It requires someone to be uncomfortable. But I digress... George Yeo said nothing about change until the very end of his campaign when it become clear through the massive turnouts at WP rallies, polling data and social media feedback that it was going to be a very close fight. Then and only then, he started crafting a political way out for himself, indicating he was hoping to change the PAP from within, but sadly he could no longer do so. When asked if he was going to run for the presidency, he said no, he was temperamentally unsuited to the task as he was a free spirit (unlike Nathan). I do not know if he was already planing for the presidency but he milked public sympathy to the very last drop. We saw glimpses of the intellect that brought him the president scholarship and his Harvard degree then.
Then of course, we saw the back flip that led to him "reluctantly" thinking about the presidency and his extreme post election Facebooking frequency. He became aware that he had significant support and no doubt, brokered(or is brokering a deal with the real PAP, ie LHL/LKY). $4m, unfortunately, is really peanuts in the scheme of things, i suspect something greater is being negotiated. Money at those levels, is no longer an issue, power is. Same with GCT. Now whether or not, he is right remains to be seen. I feel he is overestimating his facebook popularity but who knows until the results are shown?
So to tie up my post, I don't think he is a nice guy at all, and in fact very much like an Ah Neh snake. However, I am open to understanding more about this person as all good candidates that can bring about change would be appealing to me. Hope someone with geniune knowledge of GY can contribute (saving little rabbits and kissing babies do not count).