SINGAPORE – Mr Cheo Chai Chen, who was a Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) MP for Nee Soon Central from 1991 to 1997, has died of esophageal cancer at the age of 73.
SDP’s vice-chairman Bryan Lim told The Straits Times that Mr Cheo died on June 4, and will be cremated on June 6. Mr Cheo, who was single, is survived by four brothers and a sister.
In a statement on its Facebook page on June 5, SDP wrote that Mr Cheo had “served both party and country with honour and courage” during his time as an MP.
“Our members mourn his passing, and we send our deepest condolences to his family on the bereavement,” it added.
Mr Lim also expressed his condolences on his Facebook page on June 5, saying: “When I took part in my maiden elections in 2001, I was assigned to stand in the Hong Kah GRC team led by Mr Cheo. He would affectionately call me ‘good brother’ during the campaign and treated me like one”.
He added that as the team leader, Mr Cheo was “unfazed and undeterred by the political onslaught and handled the overwhelming pressure coolly like a true veteran”.
“Beneath his quiet demeanour lies a gutsy firebrand who exhibits crisis leadership when the time demands for it,” Mr Lim said.
Mr Cheo’s brother-in-law, Mr Kwan Yue Keng, 76, described Mr Cheo as “an honest and hard-working man” who enjoyed serving residents when he was an MP. The retired engineer, who was also a former SDP candidate, said he had introduced Mr Cheo to the party.
Mr Cheo, a businessman who held a degree in government and public administration from Nanyang University, had contested in seven general elections under two opposition parties.
In the 1988 General Election, the SDP candidate was defeated by Mr Ng Pock Too of the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) in Nee Soon Central. But in 1991, he contested against Mr Ng again and won with 50.3 per cent of the vote.
As an MP, Mr Cheo expressed his disagreement with the way in which the Community Improvement Projects Committee disbursed funding for community infrastructure and also raised municipal issues such as the need for a polyclinic and a concrete footpath in Yishun.
But he subsequently failed to defend his seat in 1997, losing to the PAP’s Mr Ong Ah Heng. In 2001, he moved to Hong Kah GRC, where his SDP team lost to their PAP opponents.
Mr Cheo joined the National Solidarity Party in 2006 and participated in the general election under the Singapore Democratic Alliance. His team lost to the PAP in Jalan Besar GRC.
In 2011, he contested in Marine Parade GRC, losing to a PAP team led by former prime minister Goh Chok Tong.
In 2015, Mr Cheo contested in a general election for the last time. At the time, he criticised the Workers’ Party (WP) for not ceding MacPherson, resulting in a three-cornered fight for the single-seat ward. He was up against the WP new face, Mr Bernard Chen, and PAP incumbent, Ms Tin Pei Ling, and said voters should let Ms Tin, who had just given birth, take care of her child.
Ms Tin won with 65.58 per cent of the vote, while Mr Cheo received 0.82 per cent and had to forfeit his $14,500 election deposit.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/former-opposition-politician-cheo-chai-chen-dies-at-73
