It will be sensible for the Singapore government to back off from the ill conceived idea of an elected President from a small pool of qualifying candidates. An election that excludes at least 99.999 % of the population cannot be democratic by any norm.

They will make matters worse if they have to make concessions to their own rules. Does a person of mixed origin qualify for Mendaki or fall under the quota reserved for Malays under HDB rules if he or she identifies as being Malay? Rules no matter how flawed should not be bent by the originator.

Halimah cannot be a unifying President if she only qualifies by identifying with one part of her mixed heritage and denying the other. Is she being respectful towards her late father and would her Indian relatives be offended? Would a candidate of mixed Indian Chinese heritage stand a chance of being elected in a future Presidential election by solely identifying with his or her Indian heritage.