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| Chee Soon Juan |
But Mr Tan Jee Say, 57, is no ordinary man.
A former high-ranking civil servant and Government scholar, he's being pursued by opposition parties to join their ranks.
On Monday, The New Paper spotted him having a drink and a half-hour chat with Dr Chee Soon Juan.
With Nomination Day set, a sip with Dr Chee, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), suggests Mr Tan is likely to contest this election.
With SDP?
He told The New Paper: "No, I have not decided yet. Still thinking, still thinking. Still meeting people. I have not decided on anything yet."
Mr Tan has the qualifications to make him attractive to the opposition parties. Between 1985 and 1990, he was with then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong as principal private secretary.
After he graduated from Oxford University, Mr Tan was with the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 1979 to 1985.
But after he left for the private sector in 1990 and went into investment banking, little was heard of Mr Tan in the political arena.
Then last week, news broke that he had met a number of political party leaders including National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng.
There was also talk that he could be a candidate under the Workers' Party (WP) banner at the next election.
Mr Tan told The New Paper he is friends with Mr Chen Show Mao of the WP.
Mr Chen was the top A-level student of the 1979 cohort and studied at top universities including Harvard and Stanford.
So a WP candidate then?
He said: "No, I'm open to (possibilities), I look at all others as well. I have some friends there, so we always meet up socially but we never talk about all these party matters, it's just social."
While the investment adviser claimed he hasn't decided which party he will join, he's clear about why he's entering politics.
He said he didn't like the shape the economy was taking and cited two things in particular.
He was against the Government's strategy of using foreign workers, which he argued was to boost growth.
The second - the casinos.
He said: "It all happened during the (recent) recession. I disagreed with the report of the ESC (Economic Strategies Committee)."
Mr Tan said his view is well-known, citing a 45-page paper he had written titled "Creating Jobs and Enterprise in a New Singapore Economy - Ideas for Change" in which he set out ideas for regenerating the Singapore economy.
In February, he spoke about his paper as one of three panellists at a post-Budget forum organised by socio-political website The Online Citizen.
On the two integrated resorts, for instance, he wrote: "Economic development is more than just about generating jobs and income growth.
"There is a moral purpose as well, otherwise we might as well turn Singapore into a prostitution hub or a distribution centre for drugs which will bring us untold riches...
"(C)asinos are a soft option that preys on human weakness to generate profits."
Mr Tan, who is married to a housewife, has four children, aged 11 to 16.
His family is supportive of his decisions, he said.
Did his religious belief shape his decision to enter politics?
"I'm a Christian. I'm answering a call," he said, adding that religion did motivate him to contest this election.
But he was also moved by the positive comments and encouragement from strangers and friends he got after his presentation.
"(They) said that you should come out and implement what you write about and you have our support and all that. So I was quite encouraged," he said.
"(Going into politics) is the only way to get it heard in a proper forum. I thought that maybe I should have a proper forum to articulate my views and push for it."
And soon after his presentation, several political party leaders approached him for a drink.
Not tea with the People's Action Party (PAP)?
He said: "I think my view is quite different. I think it's not easy from within because it's quite different, quite radical from what they (the Government) are doing now."
And because his views are, as he puts it, radical, he doesn't believe he can influence change from within the PAP.
He said: "There is a dominant thinking within the Government.
"They will always start from the point of a strong government, dominant government, right? So that's the way it begins, that's how it all begins."
Does he mean that the PAP will only implement policies that ensure the party stays strong?
"It's a bit more complicated than that...Obviously so many years of success make them feel that they are very confident, whatever they do is right.
