Despite what many would have you believe, there isn’t a single path to greatness.
People often assume that if you’re not from a particular school or if you don’t have a certain educational qualification that there are some heights you’ll never be able to reach.
But, as Pritam Singh has shown, this is patently untrue.
Post by Pritam Singh’s Teacher Shows One Doesn’t Need to be From an Elite School to be a Politician
With their capture of two GRCs and one SMC, the Worker’s Party (WP) has made electoral history.
Much of the media attention was on master debater Jamus Lim and activist Raeesah Khan, but many praised WP chief Pritam Singh for his strong leadership skills, especially in the handling of Khan’s controversy.
After WP’s stellar performance in the election, St. Thomas Secondary School, Pritam’s alma mater, shared a post on Facebook from one of Pritam’s former teachers Lorene Nalpon.
“Who would have thought that one of my quiet shy boys from Sec 1 Normal (5) of Saint Thomas would turn out to be a wonderfully eloquent and enigmatic leader of the opposition of Singapore’s political arena”, she said.
Nalpon added that she believes that being in a “non-elitist school” prepares an individual to “understand and appreciate all that we have in Singapore and how to truly move society forward”.
According to Mothership, Nalpon shared the post two years ago, presumably when the two met.
“It was a joy sitting down with him and listening to his story”.
After WP’s historic win of 10 seats in parliament, many ex-schoolmates took to Facebook to congratulate him.
Didn’t Do Well in PSLE
In an address to new graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at NUS in 2018, Pritam detailed how he initially struggled through the education system.
“I fumbled badly at the Primary School Leaving Examination, entering the Normal stream in secondary school, and really bumbled my way into junior college and university”, said the WP secretary-general, who studied at Woodsville Primary School and Belvedere Primary School.
He said that when he discovered he had successfully enrolled in FASS, it felt like he had “hit the lottery”.
Pritam was awarded a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) local study award scholarship for his undergraduate studies at NUS and later won the Straits Steamship Prize in 1999, which is awarded to the top history and political science undergraduate of each cohort.
First Official Leader of the Opposition
In 2011, at the age of 35, Pritam entered politics and was successfully elected in Aljunied GRC as part of the WP team led by then-secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.
Then, in 2018, three years after retaining Aljunied GRC in GE2015, Pritam was elected unopposed as the new WP chief after Low Thia Khiang stepped down.
His onward ascent continued in the 2020 general election, where he led his party to a historic capture of two GRCs and one SMC and was designated as the official leader of the opposition by PM Lee.
Pritam has proved that greatness is not beyond the reach of those from non-elite backgrounds and that a climb to the top is possible with diligence and determination.
And on a side note, politicians have been talking about NCMP (Non-Constituency Member of Parliament) in recent days. So, what’s an NCMP? Do you know that it’s just like an MP but the allowance is much lower? Watch this video to find out more:
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
