Among the 192 candidates who will be competing for 93 seats in the upcoming general election in Singapore is a Sikh named Harminder Pal Singh. Contesting on a Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) ticket, Singh, who also serves as the Chief Media Officer of the party, is currently conducting campaigns to fetch maximum votes on the D day.
This is for the third time that Singh is contesting in general elections of Singapore. His earlier two attempts didn't bring him the desired results as the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) continued its winning streak.
Who is Harminder Pal Singh?
A Gursikh politician of Singapore, Singh had started his journey in politics back in 2011 when he contested the general election for the first time as a candidate of SDA. Four years later, he once again stepped up to compete in the 2015 election but PAP didn't budge.
However, despite having no electoral success so far, his popularity remains intact. An excellent orator, the 48-year-old is known to possess some rare qualities of leadership which makes him a favorite of the crowd.
Having strong convictions to help the weaker segments of society, he credits his success to his parents S. Gurcharan Singh and Daljit Kaur. "The Gurbani lessons that my parents taught me and my younger sister come in so useful in strengthening my soul. It gives me the ability to face daily obstacles," he says.
The online portal Sikh Role Models describes him as a "polite, courteous, soft-spoken and helpful human being who takes care of the needs and aspirations of his community."
Singh intends to empower the weak
Talking about why he embarked on the political journey, Singh told Asia Samachar, "We are doing this for one reason only - to be the voice of the people, to speak up on issues that no one else wants to talk about. There are so many bread and butter issues."
"From the Sikh perspective, it's about caring for the downtrodden and the meek, giving voice to the voiceless. Our people may not be suffering under a tyrannical regime like how Sikhs suffered under the Mughals once upon a time, but let me tell you something, there is still a lot of suffering out there," he pointed out.
