Pritam Singh draws praise for his appearance on Yah Lah But podcast AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: Before this year, Workers’ Party (WP) chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh had never guested on a podcast, which has recently become an increasingly popular form of media.

In June, he caused a bit of a stir with his first-ever podcast appearance on Malaysia’s Keluar Sekejap, and three weeks ago, he was a guest on the radio show Kiss92.

Earlier this week, however, he spent time with the hosts on the popular Yah Lah But podcast, much to the delight of many in Singapore, who commented that they were glad to hear from the LO.

His conversation with hosts Haresh Tilani and Terence Chia, which lasted over one hour and 45 minutes, spanned a wide range of topics—from the personal, including parenting his daughters, to the political, with the opening of the next Parliament, opposition politics, the party’s future, and the WP’s new Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Andre Low and the controversy he faced in the run-up to the May 3 polls.

He praised Mr Low for owning up to his shortcomings, saying he dealt with the controversy in a very straightforward way. It was “probably the only way to deal with it,” said Mr Singh.

As each Yah Lah But episode ends with the hosts and their guest discussing their “One Shiok Thing,” Mr Singh said that for him, it was the 1944 Memorial Lecture delivered by British writer C.S. Lewis at King’s College, University of London, titled “The Inner Ring.”

He said he would recommend the essay to people, especially those who are younger.

Mr Lewis was “speaking to this crowd of younger people, and he’s basically saying, ‘Look, in your life you’re going to try and always be part of a select group. It’s almost like climbing a greasy pole… you’ll be in a position where you may compromise your principles just to get into the inner ring.

“And then when you’re in the inner ring, there’s going to be another inner ring in the inner ring. And so you keep adjusting yourself even though you may not agree with it, even though the principles may be questionable, because it’s so attractive to be in the inner ring and you’re so fearful of being out of the inner ring that you just go along with things. He says that the real thing you should do is actually aim for excellence. Strive to be an individual who is judged on the quality of his output and the work that he or she does.”

The podcast has been viewed over 45,000 times since it was posted on Monday (Aug 25), and many YouTube users thanked the Yah Lah But hosts for featuring Mr Singh.

“What a fantastic listen it was! Thank you both for bringing Pritam here,” wrote one.

“OMG jumped on it straight away. YOU HAVE PRITAM SINGH ON HIS FIRST SG PODCAST!!! Undeniably SG’s top political podcast already,” chimed in another.

“Waited so long for this to finally happen on YLB. Good job on finally getting Pritam on the show! Awesome!!!” a third wrote.

“It was certainly nice to see the man beyond the parliamentary & hustings speeches that can only deliver so much to viewers. This podcast (Kudos to relevant questions raised by Haresh & Terence) has shown the clarity of thought and steadfast conviction which Mr Singh brings with him through all these years representing Singaporeans… Much Thanks, YahLahBUT Team for another Brilliant podcast – it was without doubt, worth the wait!” a YouTube user added.

A commenter praised the WP chief, writing, “Mr Pritam, you have made me a proud Singaporean that we have a son like you. You really speak for many of us.”

Another, meanwhile, wrote, “Mr Pritam Singh is a very brave man that Singapore needs more of. Hopefully, more Pritam Singh-s will appear on the political scene.” /TISG

Read also: Pritam Singh tells rallygoers, ‘A vote for the Workers’ Party is your instrument for change’