'I'm not a TikTok politician': WP's Harpreet Singh on playing the sax, speaking Teochew & being a 'star catch'

When Harpreet Singh told his family he would be running in the 2025 General Election, his children advised him not to set up a TikTok account.

His four adult children, who are currently living overseas, are "completely aligned" with what he wants to do, the 59-year-old said in an Apr. 11 interview with The Straits Times.

One of those topics was about going on TikTok.

"They told me, Dad, don't set up a TikTok account. Don't do these things some other people do," he recounted.

"I've taken that advice to heart. I'm not a TikTok politician. I've got something serious to say, I'm not out there to win a popularity contest.

The issues ahead are serious, and I'm a serious person."

On not being parachuted

The senior counsel, a co-managing partner of his boutique law firm Audent Chambers LLC, has been out and about with the Workers' Party (WP) since 2023.

He began volunteering with the party during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been spotted on walkabouts at Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC more recently.

There was speculation that he may be fielded at the hotly-contested East Coast GRC, where WP has contested in the past four elections.

Singh has not confirmed where he will be fielded this GE.

But he told ST that he hopes to avoid being "parachuted anywhere safe".

"I made it very, very clear, I don’t want to be parachuted anywhere safe. That is not who I am," he said.

He added that he would "fight tooth and nail against it" if asked to do so.

Correcting the course

On his rationale for joining politics, Singh said he intends to help correct the course that Singapore is taking.

"We are going in the very opposite direction of where Singapore needs to go," he said.

This led him to step up, despite being at a point in his life that he should "actually be taking it easy".

Topics that have troubled him include the changes to the elected presidency in 2016 and the passing of "very broad, wide, sweeping laws", like the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) and the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA).

He said:

"We need sensible people in the alternative parties, not people who are bitter or angry or who have got an axe to grind or who have got an agenda, but people who believe Singapore can be better and that we must change."

Previously, Singh went through the People's Action Party (PAP) recruitment sessions but was not selected.

He similarly failed in his application in 2007 to be a Nominated MP (NMP).

But he was just not a right fit, and it was nothing personal, he said.

Despite being largely regarded as a rising star in the WP, Singh has not asked for any role within the central executive committee.

Neither does he aspire towards any titles or positions.

"In my heart, there is absolutely no question that Pritam is the right leader for the Workers’ Party. And long may that continue," he said.

On playing the sax

While he's a self-proclaimed "serious person", Singh maintained that he has "got a good balance".

An avid saxophonist, he lamented not having had enough time to practise the instrument in recent months.

But he hopes to be able to one day get together with his colleagues — and even his rivals at the PAP — to jam together.

"I think it'd be a wonderful day if members of the PAP and my colleagues and I, can just jam and sing together," he quipped.

"They bring the guitar, I'll bring the saxophone. And maybe it'll be the start of a new chapter in our politics where we can chill and hang out and move this country forward, without letting our politics divide us."

"We can do so much better."

Top image from Harpreet Singh/Facebook