Leon Perera

Last updated

Carol Perera
​
(m. 2003)​
Leon Perera
Leon Perera 2 (cropped).jpg
Official portrait, 2021
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Aljunied GRC
In office
10 July 2020 –19 July 2023
Children2
Alma mater Exeter College, Oxford (MA)
OccupationPolitician

Leon Anil Perera (born 28 September 1970) [1] is a Singaporean activist and politician. A former member of the Workers' Party (WP), he was a non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) between 2015 and 2020 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Serangoon division of Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 2020 and 2023.

Contents

On 19 July 2023, Perera resigned from both the WP and Parliament after having an affair with fellow party member Nicole Seah. [2]

Education

Perera was born in Singapore in 1970. He was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School and Hwa Chong Junior College before graduating from Exeter College, Oxford at the University of Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts with double first class honours (later promoted to Master of Arts by seniority) degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). [3]

Career

Perera began his career as a senior officer at the International Business Development Division of the Economic Development Board (EDB). He went on to serve as Assistant Head in the Enterprise Development Division, where he assisted in the growth of large Singaporean companies in the service sector. [4]

Perera was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Spire Research and Consulting, an international business research and consulting agency. He is also a member of the Economic Society of Singapore, the Economic Development Board Society and the Singapore Institute of Directors. [5]

He was active in civil society before joining politics. He served on the committee of local human rights organisation Maruah, [6] as the vice-president of migrant worker rights organisation Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), and as an adviser to alternative news website The Independent. [7]

Political career

Perera on a walkabout Leon Perera 3.jpg
Perera on a walkabout

Before running as a candidate, Perera was a WP grassroots activist in the Paya Lebar ward of Aljunied GRC. [8]

Non-constituency Member of Parliament

Perera made his political debut during the 2015 general election in the four-member East Coast GRC. His team received 39.27% of the vote, losing to the governing People's Action Party (PAP). [9] After the election, one member of the WP team was to be nominated to take up the third of three NCMP seats; the first two had been offered to better-performing defeated candidates in Single Member Constituencies (SMCs). The WP thus nominated Perera as an NCMP in the 13th Parliament. [10]

Following the Hepatitis C outbreak at Singapore General Hospital in October 2015 which led to the deaths of five patients, Perera called on the government to convene a Committee of Inquiry to help "restore confidence" in Singapore's public health institutions. [11]

Elected Member of Parliament

During the 2020 general election, Perera joined the WP team for the WP-held five-member Aljunied GRC. [12] He became the MP for the Serangoon division of the GRC after the WP defeated the PAP with 59.95% of the vote. [13] [14]

Affair and resignation

On 19 July 2023, the WP announced that Perera and senior party leader Nicole Seah had resigned from the party, after a video was published on Facebook showing the two “behaving intimately” with one another. Perera also resigned from Parliament. [2] Party leader Pritam Singh told the press that he would have revoked the party memberships of both if they had not resigned, as they had initially lied that there was no affair when first asked about rumours of an affair between them following the 2020 general election. [15]

Post-political career

Perera held a closed-door discussion on politics and elections in Singapore at a bookshop on 20 May 2024. [16]

In August 2024, Perera was reported to be assisting the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on an informal basis, though he did not become a member of the party; [17] a spokesperson for the party confirmed that Perera was still a volunteer with the party as of January 2025. Perera would later take up an executive director role for a consultancy firm, moving to New York City as part of his new role; observers stated that he was highly unlikely to contest the 2025 general election as a result, [18] although he was spotted at the PSP's headquarters in the lead up to the election, fueling speculation that he would run. [19] PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock would later confirm that Perera would not be standing as a candidate. [20] During one of the PSP's rallies for the election, Perera appeared as an emcee for the rally. [21]

Policies and views

Perera's maiden speech as elected MP called for social safety nets to be strengthened, widened, and made easier to access. He highlighted the need to respect the role of civil society and for the government to be less resistant to a more plural political landscape, so as to foster a more antifragile society. He also called for greater support for entrepreneurs. [22]

In 2021, Perera raised a motion on gender equality [23] with He Ting Ru, WP MP for Sengkang GRC. In the same year, Perera filed an adjournment motion on hawker policy reform. [24]

Perera also frequently focused on public accountability issues in his speeches. In 2019, he participated in the debate on the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), calling it "a cure worse than the disease" and accusing it of giving too much power to individual ministers. He also argued that it could stifle free speech in Singapore. [25] The law was passed on 8 May of the same year.

During the debate on the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021, he moved amendments, arguing that they were needed to boost transparency and resist elite capture resulting from the powers granted by the bill. [26]

On healthcare, Perera raised an adjournment motion on preventive health reform in 2022, responding to Singapore's poor track record on chronic diseases such as diabetes, by calling on the Government to adopt a highly targeted, outcome-based approach with regular reviews. Other proposals were to nudge target groups through subsidies and leverage the large amount of data available to flag health issues out to patients at visits to the doctor. [27]

On climate change and the environment, Perera raised an adjournment motion in 2016 calling on the Government to boost support for new industries with non-economic benefits, including renewable energy and environmental technology. [28]

During the 2022 debate on the Carbon Pricing (Amendment) Bill, Perera and He Ting Ru also filed amendments to the bill placing limitations on how allowances may be granted to taxable facilities, as well as the introduction of a registry requiring Ministers to disclose decisions to grant allowances and the use of international carbon credits. [29]

Personal life

Perera is married with a daughter and a son. [30]

References

  1. 1 2 "MP | Parliament of Singapore".
  2. 1 2 "WP's Leon Perera, Nicole Seah resign over extramarital affair which started after GE2020". The Straits Times. 19 July 2023. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "Leon Perera CV – Parliament of Singapore". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Leon Perera | Spire Research and Consulting". www.spireresearch.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "WP potential candidates make appearance at public event". Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Koh, Hui Theng (10 May 2014). "We have always been transparent". The New Paper. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "WP potential candidates make appearance at public event". TODAY. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "Leon Perera" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "ELD | 2015 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "GE2015: WP's Lee Li Lian, Dennis Tan and Leon Perera declared Non-Constituency MPs". The Straits Times. 16 September 2015. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "SGH Hep C cluster: WP reiterates call for COI to be formed". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Tan, Audrey; Kurohi, Rei (26 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Workers' Party confirms Aljunied GRC slate, introduces second batch of candidates". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "GE2020 results: Pritam Singh leads Workers' Party to victory in Aljunied GRC with higher margin than in 2015". The Straits Times. 11 July 2020. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  14. ↑ "ELD | 2020 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  15. ↑ Lim, Kimberly (19 July 2023). "Singapore opposition figures resign over affair as political intrigue deepens". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  16. ↑ Ang, Amber (8 May 2024). "Ex-Workers' Party MP Leon Perera joining discussion about elections & 'state of S'pore politics'". Must Share News. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  17. ↑ Lau, Jean (5 August 2024). "Ex-MP helping PSP 'on informal basis' as parties prepare for Singapore polls". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  18. ↑ Tham, Yuen-C (28 January 2025). "Former WP MP Leon Perera moves to New York City, unlikely to contest in GE2025". The Straits Times . Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  19. ↑ Ching, Shi Jie (16 April 2025). "Political comeback? Ex-WP MP Leon Perera spotted at PSP HQ after General Election date announced". AsiaOne . Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  20. ↑ Daud, Sulaiman (17 April 2025). "GE2025: Leon Perera not standing as PSP candidate, says Tan Cheng Bock". Mothership . Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  21. ↑ "Ex-WP MP Leon Perera emcees for PSP's final rally | GE2025". The Straits Times . Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  22. ↑ "DEBATE ON PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS".
  23. ↑ "Workers' Party motion on gender equality passed in Parliament with amendment from PAP MP". CNA.
  24. ↑ "WP MP Leon Perera calls for lower rents for hawkers, creation of hawker academy and Hawkers' Day | the Straits Times". The Straits Times. 3 August 2021.
  25. ↑ "Fake news law is 'a cure worse than the disease' – WP NCMP Leon Perera". The Online Citizen. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  26. ↑ "Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) – Speech by Leon Perera". 6 October 2021.
  27. ↑ Auto, Hermes (14 February 2022). "Cash incentives, subsidies for MediShield Life among suggestions by MP to improve preventive health efforts | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com.
  28. ↑ "Adjournment Motion on 'Growing New Industries that Promise Economic and Non-Economic Benefits' – Speech by Leon Perera". 1 March 2016.
  29. ↑ Ang, Qing; Begum, Shabana (8 November 2022). "MPS call for transparency on carbon emissions, protection for businesses in 4-hour debate on carbon tax | the Straits Times". The Straits Times.
  30. ↑ "Leon Perera | The Workers' Party". www.wp.sg. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
Aljunied GRC
(Serangoon)
2020–2023		Succeeded by
Preceded by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
2015–2020
Served alongside: Dennis Tan, Daniel Goh 		Succeeded by
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