A photo circulating on social media showing a guard post being hoisted by the side of a road claims that it is meant for the new residence of President Halimah Yacob, who was elected as the new President in a walkover Reserved Presidential Election.
The message wrote,
“My friend that lives opposite says heavy police presence.
All cars are screened.
And some neighbours have been interviewed.”
Following the information, The Online Citizen dropped down to the said location along Bournemouth Road and discovered the guard post shown in the photo to have been fixed into place and manned by two Gurkha soldiers.
Gurkhas are foreign mercenaries hired by the Singapore Government to guard key government installations and residence of important figures of the country. Late Lee Kuan Yew had the similar security set up at his home at 38 Oxley Road.
When TOC visited the location on Saturday, there were people working in the house, moving furnitures and doing up the fixtures.
For those who are interested, this property at Bournemouth Road is not owned by Mdm Halimah nor her family and neither is it a property of the Singapore government
Prior to this, there had been rumors about the President buying a property at Fifth Avenue months prior to the election. After checking with records in the Singapore Land Authority and dropping down to the alleged property of the President, no evidence is present to back the allegations.
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had announced on Monday (2 Oct) that President Halimah will be moving out from her home at Yishun Avenue 4.
MHA said it has conducted a careful assessment of the security arrangements for the President and has informed the President that the security agencies face several challenges in ensuring her security and protection, if she continues to stay in her current home.
It then strongly advised the President to consider moving to another place. This will enable the agencies to ensure her safety and security with greater assurance.
“President has accepted MHA’s security recommendation. She will make arrangements to move to a new place soon,” the press release said.
According to the accredited media, MHA declined to provide further details about the moving out of the President. There is no information as to where would she be moving out to.
The President had earlier expressed her intention to stay at her Yishun residence prior to the Presidential Election and had no intentions of moving out from the residence after appointed as President-Elect due to a walkover at the election. She and her family has been staying at the Yishun jumbo flat for more than three decades.
However, her intentions were not taken in a positive light as many citizens feel that her decision will inconvenience residents around her block due to the security arrangement and it will increase the expenses that the President incur due to the security arrangement.