Workers’ Party Candidate for Aljunied GRC, Pritam Singh looks on, at a Workers’ Party supporters assembly area for the results of the general election, in Singapore May 4, 2025. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Caroline Chia)
Remarks by Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh, on the court of public opinion being a bigger court than any court in the world, were hotly debated in public over the weekend with Minister for Law Edwin Tong saying on Saturday (8 November) that they were “outrageous”, “plainly wrong” and “completely unacceptable”.
Tong’s comments come after Singh said in an episode of CNA’s The Assembly programme that he believes the court of public opinion can be bigger than any court in the world. He was asked about his February conviction for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. Singh was fined $14,000 and his appeal against the conviction was heard on 4 November. Judgement has been reserved for a later date.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Tong, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs, said, “Mr Singh was investigated, and then he was charged. He went through a full and open trial and was convicted by the court for lying to a parliamentary select committee.
“The judge gave detailed grounds setting out the basis for the conviction. I think it ran into almost 150 pages. This judgment is, today, valid and binding.
“No one should dismiss or denigrate the court’s judgment or suggest that public opinion can somehow trump a court’s decision.”
In response, Singh sought to give more context to his remarks and said in a Facebook post, “The judgment in my ongoing magistrate’s appeal was released in February 2025. The People’s Action Party called for elections two months later, in April 2025.
“The Workers’ Party performed respectably in the general elections, despite the possible impact of the verdict of the magistrate’s court on voters. This was the important context that came before the remarks I made about the court of public opinion on the CNA program, The Assembly, which was first broadcast on Thursday, 5 November 2025 (see link below). My remarks were not directed at the judicial system, judges or their independence, nor did it denigrate any of these institutions.”
AloJapan.com