Leon Perera

Leon Perera (born 1970) is a Singaporean politician and a member of the Workers' Party (WP). He is currently a Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC. He was also elected as a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) of the 13th Parliament of Singapore from 16 September 2015 to 22 June 2020.[1]

The Honourable

Leon Perera

MP
贝理安
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Aljunied GRC
(Serangoon)
Assumed office
10 July 2020
Preceded bySylvia Lim Swee Lian (WP)
Majority28,485 (19.90%)
Non-constituency Member of the 13th Parliament of Singapore
In office
16 September 2015 – 22 June 2020
Personal details
Born
Leon Perera

1970 (age 49–50)
CitizenshipSingapore
NationalitySingaporean
Political partyWorkers' Party
Children2
EducationDouble First Class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Alma materExeter College, Oxford
OccupationCEO of Spire Group

Perera co-founded and was the CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, an international business research and consulting agency. He is a member of the Economic Society of Singapore, the EDB Society and the Singapore Institute of Directors.[2]

Education and early career

Perera studied at Anglo-Chinese School, Hwa Chong Junior College, and obtained a Double First Class Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.[3]

Perera began his career as a Senior Officer with the Singapore Economic Development Board’s International Business Development Division, serving first in the policy planning function supporting Singapore’s regional investments. He later served as Assistant Head in the EDB’s Enterprise Development Division, assisting in the growth of large Singaporean companies in the service sector spanning logistics, education and health care, to information technology (IT) services, engineering and retail.[4]

Political career

Prior to contesting in elections, Perera was a WP grassroots activist at Aljunied Group Representation Constituency's (GRC) Paya Lebar division.[5]

At the 2015 Singapore general election, Perera contested as a member of the WP team for the East Coast GRC alongside A/Prof Daniel Goh, Gerald Giam, and Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff. His team received 39.27% of the votes cast, with the People's Action Party garnering 60.73% of votes to win the GRC. The WP East Coast GRC team was the best performing opposition team among and one of the team members was thus eligible to take up the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat. The Workers' Party nominated Perera to be an NCMP for Singapore's 13th Parliament.[6]

NCMP term

Following the Hepatitis C outbreak at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in October 2015 which contributed to the deaths of five patients, Perera called on the government to convene a Committee of Inquiry (COI) to help "restore confidence" in Singapore's public health institutions.[7] He also requested that the names of SGH and Ministry of Health staff responsible for the outbreak be released, and questioned what penalties or warnings were imposed on these staff.

On the debate over the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), Perera highlighted how the proposed tool "is a cure worse than the disease" as too much power is given to individual Ministers and the potential for the law to stifle free speech.[8] The law was eventually passed on 8 May 2019.

2020 General Election

Perera contested in Aljunied GRC (Serangoon Division) during the 2020 Singapore general election, taking over from Sylvia Lim, who would take the Paya Lebar division from Chen Show Mao.[9][10]

The WP retained Aljunied GRC with an increased majority in the 2020 election, resulting in Perera being elected MP, together with Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, Gerald Giam and Muhamad Faisal Manap, all in Aljunied GRC.

Personal life

Perera is married, and has a daughter and a son.[11]

References
  1. "MP | Parliament Of Singapore - Mr Leon Perera". www.parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. "WP potential candidates make appearance at public event". Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  3. "Leon Perera CV - Parliament of Singapore". Parliament of Singapore. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. "Leon Perera | Spire Research and Consulting". www.spireresearch.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  5. "Leon Perera CV - Parliament of Singapore" (PDF). Parliament of Singapore. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  6. Chong, Zi Liang (16 September 2015). "GE2015: WP's Lee Li Lian, Dennis Tan and Leon Perera declared Non-Constituency MPs". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  7. "SGH Hep C cluster: WP reiterates call for COI to be formed". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  8. "Fake news law is 'a cure worse than the disease' - WP NCMP Leon Perera". The Online Citizen. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. Tan, Audrey; Kurohi, Rei (26 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Workers' Party confirms Aljunied GRC slate, introduces second batch of candidates". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  10. "GE2020: Workers' Party says it's reaching out to existing town councils for handover in Sengkang GRC". cna. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  11. "Leon Perera | The Workers' Party". www.wp.sg. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by
Sylvia Lim		 Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC
(Serangoon)
2020 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Gerald Giam
Yee Jenn Jong
Lina Chiam		 Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
2016 - 2020
Served alongside: Dennis Tan, Daniel Goh		 Succeeded by
Hazel Poa
Leong Mun Wai
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