WP wants more female MPs: Pritam Singh on selecting Eileen Chong as NCMP

With Parliament set to reopen in a matter of days, Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh appeared on Singapore podcast Yah Lah But, with hosts Haresh Tilani and Terence Chia, to share what he's been up to.

In the nearly two-hour-long episode on Monday (Aug. 25), the Leader of the Opposition spoke about the party's two new Members of Parliament (MPs) — Eileen Chong and Andre Low.

Both were appointed under the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) scheme following GE2025.

Explaining the new appointments, Singh said that Low was not a "question of choice", as he was the "best loser", having lost by the thinnest margin of GE in Jalan Kayu.

The only choice left was who to elect from the party's Tampines GRC team — the second-best loser in the election.

Chong, the youngest at 33 and the only woman in the Tampines team, was chosen over more experienced candidates like former MP Faisal Manap.

Why Chong? Currently, the WP only has two women in Parliament — Sengkang MP He Tingru and party chair Sylvia Lim, Singh explained.

"Our position [in the Workers' Party] is that we don't have enough women, and we want more women in our party. We want more women to take up leadership positions in our party, and to become MPs."

The party also hopes to "appeal to a broader base of women", he said.

"So that was one important consideration, insofar as Eileen is concerned. Apart from the fact that she will be an excellent Member of Parliament, and she speaks well, she connects well."

Leader and father

Singh also spoke about his more paternal side, both in the party and at home.

With young candidates, while he is heartened that they pursue new things — such as Chong and Low's new WP podcast, on which they intend to detail their NCMP experience — he does see the "trip wires".

"There's a part of me as the leader of the party, who also wants to protect them. And I don't want anything to go awry, so I may end up looking like a bit of a paternalistic figure," he quipped.

"[But] you got to let them try things, and you got to trust them."

An example is how he dealt with the controversy surrounding leaked messages by Low during the election.

"I'm sure anyone who is faced with that information at a very sensitive time, you will have the wind knocked out of your sails a little bit," he said.

But Low owned up, apologised, and faced the public. "I didn't have much to say to him, because he's a very capable person, and I think he knew what was at stake, and he knew how to deal with it."

At home, as the father of two young daughters — whom he affectionately called "monkeys" — it is a little different. But not so much.

Aged seven and ten, the girls have their PSLEs coming up in the near future. "I always thought I would be this quite relaxed, chill parent...But I look at some of the questions, and I see sometimes the struggle," he said.

"And I get a bit worried, and I get concerned."

What if they express an interest in following in his footsteps and joining politics as well?

If they're serious about it, "of course I would encourage it", Singh said.

"But being a father — a father is always a father. A mother is always a mother. You always want to protect your children."

Succession plans

With the next GE still a ways to go, Singh was more contemplative about his own future in the party.

Back in 2006, he started a blog, "Singapore 2025", to document his writings and views on current affairs. That was four years before he joined the WP.

Cut to 2025, and that blog has since been supplanted by the new Leader of the Opposition website.

All this is evidence of the transition in Singh's own life and career, from politically-opinionated to politician.

When asked what would make him stop being in politics, Singh humorously quipped "tired lah", before going into some criteria he will look out for.

"I don't think I can look too far into this...I don't think it's so much something which is in my hands like that," the 49-year-old said.

"But as long as I feel I'm useful, as long as my colleagues feel I'm useful, then those will be some considerations I will keep in mind."

Neither did Singh shy away from questions about a potential successor. When Terence asked if a new candidate would come in, expressing their intent to replace him, and even to become the Prime Minister, how would Singh react to that person?

"Be my guest," Singh said.

"If the person genuinely is able to work well, and thrives in that space, and he or she is able to organise the party — well, I'm not suggesting I'm doing all of that.

But if that person has got the ability and the capability, I mean, that's not a veto factor. That can't be a veto factor."

Top image from Yah Lah But