Singaporeans were rocked on Sept. 5 when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that he would be nominating Tan Chuan-Jin, soon-to-be ex-Minister for Social and Family Development, to the post of Speaker of Parliament.

This led to a reshuffle of sorts in the Cabinet, which will see Desmond Lee taking over as Minister for Social and Family Development and Josephine Teo assuming the role of Second Minister for Home Affairs.

Tan shared the news in a Facebook post on his personal page:

However, later in the evening he shared another, seemingly more heartfelt and emotional Facebook post:The original text of the post went like so:

"May God continue to grant me wisdom, courage and love in all that I do. However inadequate as I may be, I hope that I can fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith. And of course. My family. Words cannot express how much your continued love and support mean to me in carrying out my duties and responsibilities."

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Literary analysis

The post seemed a tad morose, especially with Tan quoting from the Bible verse 2 Timothy 4:7. "I hope that I can fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith."

According to this website:

"This well-known and oft-quoted passage is quite significant in that this epistle was Paul’s last before his martyrdom in A.D. 67. It is a deeply moving affirmation of his unwavering faith and unyielding love for the gospel of Jesus Christ."

You may also have heard this verse being quoted during Christian funerals.

Some netizens also commented on Tan's use of the word "inadequate", with Tan using it again in a reply to one of them.

Perhaps the melancholy overtone of his Facebook post was Tan expressing his emotions at no longer being considered a front-runner for the role of Prime Minister of Singapore.

Tan was also asked his thoughts on no longer being thought of as part of Singapore's 4G core leadership in a doorstop interview:

"There are many different roles, many different pathways that we all need to take. I would say that we are all in the same direction, all running in the same race. The end outcome we are all working towards is how to make things better for Singapore."

No need to over-interpret

However on Sept. 6, Tan edited the original Facebook post and added the following paragraph to it:

(btw, no need to read too much into this post :) I notice some doing serious practical criticism of every word and punctuation! It's a personal post on faith and family, hence I kept it separate. It's an affirmation of what I believe and cherish, as best as I can manage. I've shared these sentiments before so relax...no need to over-interpret LOL :) )

So in his own words, Tan implores everyone not to read too much into what he earlier wrote, and that it was merely a personal post on faith and family.

Tan will most likely be elected Speaker at the Parliament sitting on Sept. 11. Meanwhile, he has this message of encouragement from a well-wisher.

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Related stories:

PM Lee nominates Tan Chuan-Jin for Speaker of Parliament, Desmond Lee to take over as MSF minister

Tan Chuan-Jin being nominated as Speaker of Parliament means he’s out of the PM race

Tan Chuan-Jin nominated Parliament Speaker leaves awkward questions on our minds

Tan Chuan-Jin will be 4th in line after the president of S’pore

Top image from Today Online YouTube video.