The Workers’ Party (WP) chief and Leader of the Opposition (LO) Pritam Singh recently brought his family to the Parliament House to visit his new office for the first time.
In an Instagram post on Sunday (8 Nov), Mr Singh uploaded a couple of pictures of his wife and two daughters making their way around the Parliament House last Monday (2 Nov) “to christen the LO office”, which he formally moved into last week.
He concluded his post saying, “Important to start off on the right foot! #familyfirst #wpsg“
Mr Singh was appointed as Singapore’s first Leader of the Opposition earlier in July, a role which sees him taking on more duties and be accorded additional parliamentary privileges.
The Office of the Speaker of Parliament and Office of the Leader of the House in a statement on 28 July said that Mr Singh will be granted the right of first response among Members of Parliament (MPs) and to ask the lead question to the ministers on policies, bills, and motions – subject to existing speaking conventions.
He will also be allocated time to make speeches equivalent to that of political officeholders such as ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
What’s more, Mr Singh will have an office and a meeting room in the Parliament House, as well as a secretary to assist him with administrative matters regarding parliamentary business.
He will also receive around S$385,000 as LO, which is double the allowance of an elected MP.
However, in the spirit of charity and goodwill, Mr Singh had announced that he will be setting aside half of his salary increase as LO for donations to his party, residents, and charities.