Workers’ Party (WP) new face Harpreet Singh Nehal says he has no interest in being “parachuted anywhere safe” for the upcoming general election, stressing that he wants to contest a challenging ward and earn every vote.
“If it’s up to me, I will fight tooth and nail against it. That is not who I am,” the 59-year-old senior counsel said in an April 11 interview, responding to speculation he might be fielded in WP strongholds like Aljunied or Hougang.
Mr Singh has been most visible in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC but has also been linked to East Coast GRC and other battlegrounds. He began volunteering in 2021 and became a WP member in 2023.
“I stepped up because I felt Singapore was heading in the opposite direction of where we need to go,” said the managing partner of Audent Chambers.
He cited troubling developments such as comments ruling out a non-Chinese prime minister, changes to the elected presidency, and the passing of sweeping laws like POFMA and FICA. These, he said, reflect a political system “clamping down when it should be opening up”.
Mr Singh also called for greater affordability and financial security for citizens, a society that encourages innovation and risk-taking, and fairer politics supported by stronger institutions – including a more independent People’s Association.
A Harvard-educated lawyer, he rose to become senior counsel in 2007 and held senior roles at Drew & Napier and Clifford Chance. Though he once applied to join the PAP and sought a Nominated MP role, he says his path to the WP is not one of bitterness or rejection, but of conviction.
On party unity, he dismissed talk of internal competition. “There is only one tiger,” he said, referring to WP chief Pritam Singh. “In my heart, there’s no question that Pritam is the right leader.”
Asked what voters can expect from him on the campaign trail, Mr Singh said: “Whatever I say – in Teochew, Malay or English – I will speak from my heart.”
