Pritam Singh calls Sylvia Lim’s husband, Quah Kim Song, ‘a Singapore legend’

SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh is a well-known football fan, having made public his preference for Manchester United over a decade ago. On a walkabout at Compassvale in 2022, he had a chance encounter with former national football coach PN Sivaji and took the opportunity to thank him for having built a “dream team”.

The Leader of the Opposition is also apparently a big fan of a football great quite a bit closer to home, Quah Kim Song, whom Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim married on Jan 4.

In a social media post on Thursday (Apr 3), Mr Singh called Mr Quah a “Singapore legend” in the context of having met another of Mr Quah’s super fans.

“As I was making my rounds at the Blk 630 Hawker Centre in the Eunos ward of Aljunied GRC this morning, I met a star-struck resident—Mdm Kng,” Mr Singh wrote, posting a photo of Mdm Kng with her phone showing her with Mr Quah.

He added that she had met the “Singapore legend” known as “The Speed Demon a.k.a Mercurial Quicksilver Quah!”

When a commenter on the post joked that “now Sylvia has proof,” Mr Singh answered that the picture was “posted with Mrs Quah’s permission!”

As further proof of his super-fandom, Mr Singh posted a video of “the Greatest Goal,” which Mr Quah scored to clinch Singapore’s win at the 1977 Malaysia Cup.

This is not the first time Mr Singh has posted about the football great. In 2023, he quoted him when he expressed his support for national marathoner Soh Rui Yong over tea with residents at Eunos, the ward at Aljunied GRC that Mr Singh represents in Parliament.

As he sent his best wishes to the Singapore athletes competing at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, he recalled the words of Mr Quah, whom he described as “a giant in regional footballing circles.”

“I’ve not shortchanged my team, my country, and myself. Even on my not-so-good days, I would be above average. On my good days, I would be magical.” Mr Singh quoted Mr Quah as having said.

The Leader of the Opposition added that he hoped the footballer’s words would inspire the athletes to do their best.

Read related: PAP MP fangirls over football legend and Sylvia Lim’s longtime partner Quah Kim Song

Mr Quah is a former striker for the national football team who won the hearts of Singaporeans during the 1977 Malaysia Cup Final at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Quah’s skills were fully displayed as he scored two goals for Singapore, which won 3-2 against Penang.

It should not come as a surprise that Mr Quah belongs to a big football family. Four of his ten siblings — Kim Beng, Kim Siak, Kim Swee, and Kim Lye, a former Singapore national football team captain  — also played for the country. Another of their brothers, Kim Tiong, was a triple jumper.

The 73-year-old Mr Quah first met Ms Lim over a decade ago, at a 2013 concert organized by the Workers Party. After friends convinced Mr Quah to get up on stage to perform Keith Locke & The Quests’ Don’t Play That Song, he and Ms Lim, who is also known to belt out a tune or two, ended up dancing on stage.

The WP chair later told journalists that she had been impressed by Mr Quah. She has also gone on record as having been a football fan who watched Mr Quah play years before.

However, a commenter on Mr Singh’s post wrote, “Alamak, I thought she would be starstruck with you, Mr Pritam. Anyway, you are a star in your own right. Thank you, Sir, for being our voice in Parliament, and I wish you and your party a successful campaign.”/TISG

Read also: Sylvia Lim, Quah Kim Song go on honeymoon before the ‘busy months ahead’