SINGAPORE, July 12 — The Workers’ Party (WP) said it will work with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and other opposition parties as it endeavours towards getting “good outcomes for Singapore and Singaporeans”.
WP chief Pritam Singh, who is set to be appointed as Leader of the Opposition, said on Sunday (July 12) that Singaporeans have to unite to steer the country out of “turbulent waters”.
With the WP securing 10 seats in Parliament, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said after Friday’s General Election results were announced that Singh would be formally recognised as leader of the Opposition.
Asked how the WP would work with the PAP government and the other opposition parties, Singh reiterated the WP’s approach to Singapore politics: Which is that it wants to be a responsible party.
“And as a responsible party, you do what is good for the people and for the country,” the 43-year-old said.
“It doesn’t matter who the Government is and who the other opposition parties are, as long as we are focused on ensuring good outcomes for people, that’s what the Workers’ Party will endeavour towards.”
The Covid-19 situation has brought suffering to people, he noted.
“The situation is not positive in certain industries... people are starting to get retrenched in certain jobs, and they need help and assistance,” Singh said.
“We are in turbulent waters and a whole country has to unite to come out of this situation… I think we should be very focused on what is at stake here, rather than think about the political position that the party should take or should hedge.”
WP had a strong showing at the General Election in not only retaining its seats in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Hougang Single Member Constituency but also by pulling off a shock win in the four-member Sengkang GRC.
This means the party has snatched 10 seats in Parliament, the highest number since Singapore’s independence.
When asked about his role as the Leader of the Opposition, Singh said he does not have any further information beyond what had already been reported in the media.
PM Lee had said that as the Leader of the Opposition Singh will be provided with “appropriate staff support and resources to perform his duties”.
Not an overnight achievement
Singh said that WP’s strong showing was due in part to the work that his predecessors had put in.
He said this in response to a question on how he rated his party’s success in this GE, being able to take a second GRC on his first outing as party chief, while former secretary-general Low Thia Khiang took a decade to achieve the first — Aljunied GRC in GE2011.
“Insofar as this allusion to Low taking more time, let me disabuse anyone of that notion,” said Singh. “The reason why the Workers’ Party took a second GRC, a major reason was because of the very foundation that Low had laid, and leaders that came before me had made.”
He said leaders such as Low and party chairman Sylvia Lim had “created this culture in the WP of a rational, responsible opposition”, and that what has been achieved is “not mine to parade, or brandish about”.
“It’s a collective effort from the Workers’ Party people who came before us. Many volunteers, who are too numerous to name, who basically put an agenda forward for Singaporeans to consider,” he said.
“Without this team and the people who came before us, there would be no achievements to crow about today.”
The PAP will ‘try its hardest’ to take back WP constituencies
Asked if this GE result is indicative of WP’s progress as much as it is of PAP’s “poor” showing, Singh dismantled such notions.
He alluded to Tora! Tora! Tora!, a war movie he had watched about the Japanese bombing of USA’s Pearl Harbor during World War II, and how the Japanese soldiers were celebrating in the aftermath.
“The Japanese high command is telling itself that it’s very happy that it struck off so many battleships... And then Admiral Yamamoto, who was in charge of (the whole fleet), he basically said, ‘look, I’ve been to the United States, and I know what deep resources this country has and how awesome it is’,” Singh said.
“And so, (Yamamoto) was very pensive about what immediately happened when everybody around him was celebrating.”
Singh said that the WP cannot be like the Japanese during World War II.
“I think we have to be very careful, we have to be very mindful about what we have and we have to work very, very hard,” he said. “We have to appreciate that the PAP will try its hardest to take back (Sengkang, Aljunied and Hougang).”
“That means we’ve got to work even harder to make sure that we reach out and serve the people honestly and sincerely,” he added.
He said that a quote from Low still “rings in (his) ears”.
“( Low) always told me: ‘Singaporeans don’t want us to fail. So let’s not fail them.’” — TODAY
