Published on 01-Aug-2020
Vanessa Gu, Khushboo Razdan
"I'm not feeling euphoric at all. In fact, I think there's a lot of work to do."
These were cautiously optimistic words from Pritam Singh, Singapore's first official leader of opposition since the country's independence in 1965, after a historic win of 10 seats by Workers' Party (WP) during the city-state's July 10 election. He pointed out that with fewer than a third of the 93 seats in parliament, it was hardly a "quantum leap."
Eugene Tan, a former parliamentarian and law professor at Singapore Management University, who taught Singh in 2009-2010, told CGTN Digital that how Singh rallies the opposition will very much shape how the newly-established Office of Leader of Opposition evolves going forward, "what the opposition can and should do, and how it can grow."
Describing his former student as "diligent and well-prepared," Tan said "his legal training has stood him in good stead."
"I also had the opportunity of seeing him in action in parliament as a fellow parliamentarian; he was still a very young first-time member of parliament and over the years I have also seen him perform in parliament and he has grown in maturity," he added.