Lawyer Harpreet Singh At WP Walkabout In Marine Parade GRC
The high-profile resignations of Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera and Nicole Seah have left a void in the Workers’ Party (WP).
Many will be forgiven for thinking losing an MP and a potential MP are huge blows to the party’s ambitions. However, a particular individual might bolster WP’s hopes at the next election.
Recently, keen-eyed netizens spotted Senior Counsel (SC) Harpreet Singh in pictures of WP’s walkabout in Marine Parade GRC.
Due to his burgeoning portfolio, his appearance with WP garnered attention on the Internet. However, WP is currently tight-lipped on Mr Singh and his role in the party.
Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh sighted at WP Marine Parade GRC walkabout
On 12 Aug, Mr Nathaniel Koh — act president of WP’s youth wing — shared several images on Facebook of his team’s walkabout along Terang Bulan Avenue in Joo Chiat division.
Source: Facebook
There was a new face — that being of Mr Singh, featured prominently in one of the images together with Mr Koh.
Source: Facebook
Mr Koh’s previous walkabout posts did not include Mr Singh in any of them.
This might mean that he only recently joined Team Marine Blue — the WP’s Marine Parade group.
Mr Singh also appeared as one of the faces — far left — at a National Day celebration dinner held by WP on Saturday (12 Aug).
Source: Facebook
Mr Koh shared the image on this occasion as well.
Senior Counsel of Supreme Court since 2007
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Singh is a managing partner at his own boutique litigation firm, Audent Chambers.
The website states it is a disputes practice with a “strong pro-bono culture”.
It takes on “select public law and criminal law cases which raise novel and important issues of law.”
In 2012, Mr Singh wrote about his experience as a pro-bono lawyer, calling it a “very meaningful way of employing [a lawyer’s] expertise”.
His profile also states he is a former Justice’s Law Clerk, as well as a graduate of National University of Singapore and Harvard Law School.
He was appointed as an independent reviewer by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to investigate a corruption case involving an international bank.
Additionally, Mr Singh was appointed by the Minister-in-Charge of MAS to the Appeal Advisory Panels under several acts from 2019 to 2023:
- Business Trust Act
- Financial Advisers Act
- Insurance Act
- Securities and Futures Act
- Trust Companies Act
He also sits on the Disciplinary and Appeals Committees for SGX — the front-line regulator of Singapore’s capital markets.
Mr Singh has also been a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court since 2007.
According to the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), Senior Counsels are “an elite group of advocates who have top-tier advocacy skills, professional integrity and are learned in the law.”
Just 98 people are Senior Counsels in Singapore and applications are open only once a year.
Other prominent SCs include Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.
Commented on Ridout Road and Keppel bribery case
Mr Singh is noted as a regular commenter on socio-political affairs.
He has recently written at least two commentaries published in local newsletter JOM.
The first, “Strengthening the Singapore system: the Ridout saga and conflicts of interest“, was published on 26 May.
The second, posted on 1 Jul, is titled “An assessment of the ministerial review on the Ridout bungalow leases“.
In February, Mr Singh also wrote a piece on Singapore Law Watch regarding a Keppel bribery case involving US$55 million (S$73 million) in bribes. However, the article was later taken down.
Internet abuzz over Harpreet Singh
The images of Harpreet Singh at the WP walkabout caught the attention of some on the Singapore subreddit.
One comment called Mr Singh an “actual big fish”, implying that WP had landed on a prized catch.
Source: Reddit
Another commenter went even further, likening Mr Singh to a shark.
Source: Reddit
In a post sharing the sighting, Wake Up Singapore referred to Mr Singh as “an amazing addition to the Workers’ Party“.
As of press time, Mr Singh has not come out to confirm if he is indeed a member. WP declined to comment for this article.
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Featured image adapted from Nathaniel Koh on Facebook and Harpreet Singh Nehal on Facebook.
