Singapore — A conversation thread on the Reddit online news forum has tackled Workers’ Party (WP) leader Pritam Singh’s name as it sounds in Mandarin — Bie Dan Xin, which means “Don’t Worry”.
A Redditor has suggested that it could be one of the reasons why Mr Singh is popular among Chinese voters.
Redditor @Newez on Tuesday (July 14) posted a photo of Mr Singh on the forum, with the caption, “Why Pritam Singh is popular among Chinese elderly.” Edited onto the photo were Chinese characters which mean “don’t worry”.
Why Pritam Singh is popular among Chinese elderly
byu/Newez insingapore
In the recent elections, Mr Singh lead the WP to a historic victory, winning 10 parliamentary seats.
In a news conference following the elections, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made reference to the win and said he had called Mr Singh to congratulate him. He added: “I told Mr Singh that with 10 MPs, I think it is right that he, the Workers’ Party leader, be formally designated as the Leader of the Opposition, and that he will be provided with appropriate staff support and resources to perform his duties.”
In response to this, Mr Singh took to Facebook to convey that he was “look(ing) forward to serving as the leader of the opposition and will carry out my duties to the best of my abilities”. He also said that he will strive to make sure that the WP will remain dedicated to the nation and its people.
https://www.facebook.com/pritam.eunos/posts/3280407391981551
Other Redditors made reference to Mr Singh’s multilingual abilities, which many found commendable. One even remembered that he had delivered a speech in Chinese during the previous General Election.
The thread on Reddit has had more than 1,000 upvotes.
/TISG