SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party MP Dennis Tan’s recent visit to the mother of Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh appeared to be a notable one for everyone involved, and ended with the Member of Parliament being named an honorary member of the family.
“WP MP DENNIS TAN IS NOW AN HONORARY PUNJABI,” wrote Mr Singh in a Facebook post on Wednesday (May 8). The Senior Counsel is strongly rumoured to be a potential WP election candidate.
Mr Singh, who was first spotted in a blue Workers’ Party shirt last September, noted that Mr Tan “works very hard on the ground, having succeeded Mr Low Thia Kiang, the (late) Mr Yaw Shin Leong and Mr Png Eng Huat.”
Hougang, where Mr Singh’s mother lives, is a WP stronghold, having been represented in Parliament by the party since 1991.
The Senior Counsel added that Mr Tan had been asking him to join him in visiting his mother for some time, and they did so on Sunday (May 5), after a WP outreach in Serangoon.
“Needless to say, mum was thrilled with the double treat,” wrote Mr Singh, adding, “What was most interesting and touching was this – at some point in their discussion, Dennis asked mum what he should call her.”
Mr Singh wrote that he thought his mother would ask the MP to call her either “Aunty” or “Madam,” or that she would ask to be addressed by her name.
However, after telling Mr Tan that he looks “very young,” she told him, “You call me Dadiji”
As “Dadiji” is Punjabi for Grandma, this is what her grandchildren call her, wrote Mr Singh, and added, “Well, Dennis, you are now part of this Punjabi family!”
He added jokingly that “the next step is for us to take you to the Gurdwara, partake in the ‘langgar’ (communal meal), train you to do the Bhangra, and teach you how to play the ‘dholl’ (the Bhangra drum),” and that a suitable Punjabi nickname should be found for Mr Tan, since “practically every Punjabi boy has one.”
Noting that his nickname is “Happy,” he ended the post with the traditional Punjabi greeting, “Sat Sri Akal!”
There has been much speculation that Mr Singh will contest at Marine Parade under the WP banner in the next GE, though he has yet to be named or tagged in the party’s photos online when he has joined the party’s on-the-ground activities.
Mr Singh was admitted to the bar as an advocate and solicitor in 1992 and appointed Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2007. He has also been appointed an independent reviewer by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in an investigation into an international bank in relation to a corruption scandal. /TISG
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