Leon Perera’s brand of politics: ‘Respect every person’s role in building a dynamic, inclusive and democratic society’ – Mothership.SG

Photos and text by Edwin Koo

As a young person, I wasn’t interested in politics. It never crossed my mind, why “country” is written as 国家 (translated as “nation-home”) in Chinese.

I didn’t understand why we should care about who gets to lead the country. To me, the general election was about lofty strangers waving flags and making passionate speeches — a popularity competition on a nation-wide scale. Now that I’m older, I think I’m starting to understand the meaning of 国家.

“家” has a double meaning — at once meaning both “home” and “family”. I thought about my own political awakening, sometime in 2011. That was when my first son was born, when my life was bookmarked by the formation of a 家, a family, that I could call my own. Very often, it is at these crossroads where you realise that every decision you make affects more than yourself.

国家 takes on a whole new meaning.

This series, called “Jia” (家), begins with Leon Perera, an opposition politician with the Workers’ Party (WP), who served as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.

The 49-year-old Oxford-trained CEO of a research and consulting firm was once a civil servant and a scholarship recipient. When he decided to contest in GE2015, he defied the stereotype of an opposition candidate as a fire-and-brimstone demagogue, and dared us to imagine otherwise.

He graciously accepted my proposal to have a deeper look into his family life through the lens of photojournalism. This is his story.

Perera scrutinises the newspapers for local news as a daily morning ritual.

Contesting the GE for the second time, Perera will be defending the Aljunied GRC as part of the A-team for the WP.

Perera joined WP as a member in 2013. When he contested in his maiden GE in 2015, the former public service commission (PSC) scholar and civil servant with the Economic Development Board (EDB) made for an unlikely opposition candidate.

Perera’s wife, Carol, 47, pins the WP badge and makes sure it is level before Perera sets off for his candidate introduction.

The couple met through a mutual friend and married in 2003. Carol gave up her civil service career and became a full-time homemaker in 2005, with the birth of her daughter.

“She is my life coach and we co-create many ideas, decisions and approaches to things.”

Perera answers an urgent phone call on his morning commute. Polite to a fault, he actually asked me if he could take a call because I was seated next to him.

The Aljunied team wasted no opportunity persuading anyone they met, interacting with residents at the traffic light crossing en route to the next coffeeshop.

This was the first time the whole team did their walkabout in the full glare of the media.

The Aljunied GRC team for GE2020: (L-R) Leon Perera, Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap, Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, and Gerald Giam, forming up before entering Serangoon Gardens Market.

Pritam and Perera, both non-Chinese speakers, tried their best to engage the elderly with their arsenal of practiced phrases, at Blk 105 Hougang Ave 1 (Hainan Market).

Perera flashes his trademark “thumbs up” sign during a walkabout at Serangoon Gardens Market.

Generally seen as a soft-spoken scholarly type, Perera defies the stereotype of an opposition candidate as a fire-and-brimstone demagogue.

Asked to describe his brand of politics: “Respect every person’s role in building a dynamic, inclusive and democratic society.”

Elaborating, he said: “I think where that fits in is in contrast to the narrative of the strong, elite leader who decides and implements in a vertical fashion, with less-than-ideal standards of accountability and transparency. This narrative has a long history and deep roots in the soil of Singapore. It served its purpose in the past but is past its shelf life now.”

The sign on the front door of his home reads: “The best things in life are not things.”

Perera received this as a present for Carol from the U.S. on one of his business trips. “I knew it encapsulated her philosophy of life, which is fundamentally the same as mine.”

Perera gets a rare break to sit down with his two children, aged 15 and 12, to have lunch prepared by Carol.

I asked his daughter: “Do you discuss politics at home?”

“All the time! In fact, we do that in school too and we actually have chat groups discussing political issues!”

Photos and text by Edwin Koo. You can check out his website here and Instagram profile here.