Dr Haresh Singaraju, who is set to be appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP), has confirmed that he is no longer a member of any political party after a photo surfaced of him wearing a shirt with the People’s Action Party (PAP) logo.
The family physician at National University Polyclinics initially told the South China Morning Post on Monday (Jan 5) that he was a former PAP member and that the 2023 photo was taken at a People’s Association (PA) event. However, following a follow-up query from CNA, Dr Haresh issued a correction on Instagram on Tuesday.
He stated, “In my response to SCMP, I had incorrectly referred to this as a People’s Association activity. The activity did not involve the PA.” He also added that he is “now not a member of any party.”
The Photo and Its Context
Dr Haresh explained that the image was taken at a party activity where he had previously volunteered. The post, which circulated online as a screenshot, has since been deleted from his Instagram account. He noted that the deletion was “part of a clean-up of the Instagram account, to protect the identities of individuals in the pictures as I made my account public.”
Discussion on NMP Independence
The photograph has sparked online discussion about the independence of the NMP scheme, which was set up in 1990 to bring non-partisan voices into Parliament. Similar concerns were raised last year when two NMPs – Mr Raj Joshua Thomas and Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi – resigned months before the General Election. Dr Syed Harun later stood as a PAP candidate and now serves as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and National Development, while Mr Thomas was not fielded as a candidate.
Dr Haresh is not the only former PAP member to be appointed as an NMP. Past NMPs with PAP links include Mr Calvin Cheng and Ms Tan Su Shan, who resigned from the party before their appointments, and Mr Gerard Ee, who remained a PAP member when he assumed the position.
He is among eight new faces scheduled for appointment on Jan 8, alongside Mr Mark Lee Kean Phi, CEO of Sing Lun Holdings, who returns for a second term.
