‘Court of public opinion can be a bigger court than any court in the world’: Pritam Singh
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Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition, fielded questions in an episode of CNA’s The Assembly programme that aired on Nov 5.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
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- Pritam Singh says being called a liar over Raeesah Khan's case didn't cause him to lose much sleep, as he is in the business of politics.
- Singh addressed the affair between Leon Perera and Nicole Seah, acknowledging the difficulty of handling private matters that become public.
- Singh noted that dealing with issues like these requires learning, adapting, and moving forward, as there's no easy "manual".
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SINGAPORE – Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh has said he believes the court of public opinion can be bigger than any court in the world, and that the WP’s respectable performance at the May general election showed what the public thought of his role in the Raeesah Khan case.
Asked about being called a liar due to his handling of Ms Khan’s false anecdote in Parliament in 2021, Mr Singh said this was not something he had lost much sleep over because he was “in the business of politics”.
Mr Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition, fielded this and other questions in an episode of CNA’s The Assembly programme that aired on Nov 5.
The programme, which features a panel of neurodivergent individuals interviewing different guests in each episode, was recorded prior to Mr Singh’s appeal on Nov 4
On this issue, he said: “My political opponents will do whatever it takes to lower my esteem and the esteem of my party in the public eye. But ultimately, you answer to your conscience first, and if your conscience is clear, then people can throw whatever they want at you, and you will still be standing.
“If there was something my conscience was not in agreement with, I don’t think I’ll be sitting here today, and I don’t think we would have done how we did in the last elections. We did pretty respectably,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the court of public opinion can be a bigger court than any court in the world,” he added. “And I think people have eyes, people can see what is happening, and you are thankful for the support that you get, no matter what people try and throw at you.”
Mr Singh was fined $14,000 for the two charges of knowingly lying to Parliament’s Committee of Privileges,
At the election, he successfully defended his parliamentary seat in Aljunied GRC,
Replying to another question about the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) case, Mr Singh said that ultimately, the public “is a very, very good mirror in terms of what the truth really is”.
The AHTC case was a pair of civil suits brought by two town councils against the leaders of the WP. The 13-year saga came to a close in July after the parties reached a settlement after mediation.
“When the public turns around and they continue to vote you, and they continue to show support for you, then you should really reflect on that and appreciate that strong wind you have behind you,” Mr Singh said.
The WP chief was also asked whether he felt betrayed by the affair between former party members Leon Perera and Nicole Seah,
In July 2023, a video of them sharing an intimate moment at a restaurant emerged, and both Mr Perera, who was then an MP for Aljunied, and Ms Seah, then the president of the party’s youth wing, came clean. Both resigned from the WP, with Mr Perera also resigning his parliamentary seat.
Said Mr Singh: “I wouldn’t say I felt betrayed, because some of the things that had happened with them – it’s quite a private matter... But you know, in politics, there are very few private matters.
“Everything tends to come in the open, and some things that come in the open are not so simple to deal with.”
One participant said both controversies involved integrity as a central issue, and asked Mr Singh how well he really knew what was going on in the WP.
Mr Singh said that every organisation will have people who come from different walks of life, and similar things have happened in other political parties.
There is no manual that can be pulled out with answers, and one has to deal with the situation as best as possible when it comes up, he added.
“Things happen, learn from it, do your best, move on,” he said. “That’s the best thing I can do, and that’s the best thing that I advise people to do when the going gets a bit tough.”
