Singaporeans began voting Saturday in a presidential election seen as a test of support for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's People's Action Party (PAP), dpa reported. Polling stations close at 8 pm (1200 GMT) and results are expected to be announced late Saturday. Following a heated campaign with calls for stronger checks on the ruling PAP, voters will cast their ballot for one of four contenders who all bear the surname Tan but are not related. Former deputy prime minister Tony Tan, 71, is regarded as the favourite in the first contested presidential election in nearly two decades.The other candidates are Tan Cheng Bock, 71, a former legislator for the PAP, Tan Kin Lian, 63, the former head of insurance cooperative NTUC, and Tan Jee Say, 57, a former civil servant and the only candidate who never joined the ruling party. In general elections in May, the PAP held power with its worst result since Singapore gaine independence in 1965, winning just 60 per cent of the votes. -- SPA
