Singapore opposition icon J.B. Jeyaretnam dies fighting
2 days ago
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Veteran Singapore opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam, who died Tuesday, waged a long and lonely campaign for greater political freedom in the tightly governed city-state.
He was attempting a fresh political comeback when he succumbed to heart failure.
The 82-year-old British-trained lawyer and former MP was the nemesis of Singapore's iron-fisted founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, 85, whose People's Action Party (PAP) will celebrate 50 uninterrupted years in power in 2009.
"I haven't got very many more years," Jeyaretnam said in July at the launch of the new Reform Party, which was to be his vehicle for a comeback after years in the political wilderness.
Jeyaretnam, remembered by many Singaporeans for his old-school lambchop sideburns and a gravelly voice that thrilled audiences in court, parliament and street rallies, said he feared "no one except God".
Born Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam in 1926 during a family visit to what is now Sri Lanka, he was often a solitary voice in largely ethnic Chinese Singapore, a prosperous financial centre where protests are restricted and government critics complain of limited access to the media.
Despite being driven to financial ruin by costly defamation suits mounted by PAP leaders, and sidelined by younger opposition figures, Jeyaretnam was still plotting a return to parliament when he died.
Elections are not due until 2011 after the PAP won a fresh five-year mandate in 2006 by sweeping all but two of the 84 elected seats.
"He's such a man who never gives up... fighting all the way," long-time political ally Ng Teck Siong said on radio station 938Live after news of Jeyaretnam's death was carried by the city-state's pro-government media.
Singapore leaders maintain that the Western-style democracy Jeyaretnam championed could ruin a tiny republic with no natural resources and surrounded by far bigger neighbours, an argument Jeyaretnam never bought.
He made political history in 1981 when he broke the monopoly of the PAP in parliament. Reelected in 1984, he lost his seat two years later after being found guilty of misstating the accounts of the Workers' Party, which he led at the time.
During his career, Jeyaretnam spent more than 900,000 US dollars paying off damages awarded to PAP leaders and had to sell off his house in Singapore, settling in his later years in the neighbouring Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.
PAP leaders have often been criticised for suing political opponents and media organisations for defamation, but they maintain that they must protect their reputations against unfounded attacks.
Lee, who ruled for three decades and still serves in the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, never concealed his deep hatred of Jeyaretnam, calling him a "thoroughly destructive force" who was "all sound and fury."
Even during his darkest days, Jeyaretnam soldiered on.
He helped support his cause by selling books on the sidewalks of Singapore, and managed to clear his debts to pave the way for a fresh stab at public office.
"I get my strength from somewhere else, if you know what I mean," he said in an interview with AFP in 2006. "I refuse to conform to the world."
2 days ago
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Veteran Singapore opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam, who died Tuesday, waged a long and lonely campaign for greater political freedom in the tightly governed city-state.
He was attempting a fresh political comeback when he succumbed to heart failure.
The 82-year-old British-trained lawyer and former MP was the nemesis of Singapore's iron-fisted founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, 85, whose People's Action Party (PAP) will celebrate 50 uninterrupted years in power in 2009.
"I haven't got very many more years," Jeyaretnam said in July at the launch of the new Reform Party, which was to be his vehicle for a comeback after years in the political wilderness.
Jeyaretnam, remembered by many Singaporeans for his old-school lambchop sideburns and a gravelly voice that thrilled audiences in court, parliament and street rallies, said he feared "no one except God".
Born Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam in 1926 during a family visit to what is now Sri Lanka, he was often a solitary voice in largely ethnic Chinese Singapore, a prosperous financial centre where protests are restricted and government critics complain of limited access to the media.
Despite being driven to financial ruin by costly defamation suits mounted by PAP leaders, and sidelined by younger opposition figures, Jeyaretnam was still plotting a return to parliament when he died.
Elections are not due until 2011 after the PAP won a fresh five-year mandate in 2006 by sweeping all but two of the 84 elected seats.
"He's such a man who never gives up... fighting all the way," long-time political ally Ng Teck Siong said on radio station 938Live after news of Jeyaretnam's death was carried by the city-state's pro-government media.
Singapore leaders maintain that the Western-style democracy Jeyaretnam championed could ruin a tiny republic with no natural resources and surrounded by far bigger neighbours, an argument Jeyaretnam never bought.
He made political history in 1981 when he broke the monopoly of the PAP in parliament. Reelected in 1984, he lost his seat two years later after being found guilty of misstating the accounts of the Workers' Party, which he led at the time.
During his career, Jeyaretnam spent more than 900,000 US dollars paying off damages awarded to PAP leaders and had to sell off his house in Singapore, settling in his later years in the neighbouring Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.
PAP leaders have often been criticised for suing political opponents and media organisations for defamation, but they maintain that they must protect their reputations against unfounded attacks.
Lee, who ruled for three decades and still serves in the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, never concealed his deep hatred of Jeyaretnam, calling him a "thoroughly destructive force" who was "all sound and fury."
Even during his darkest days, Jeyaretnam soldiered on.
He helped support his cause by selling books on the sidewalks of Singapore, and managed to clear his debts to pave the way for a fresh stab at public office.
"I get my strength from somewhere else, if you know what I mean," he said in an interview with AFP in 2006. "I refuse to conform to the world."
