http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/12/exchange-of-letters-between-kenneth-jeyaretnam-and-toc/
Kenneth Jeyaretnam's letter to TOC
An open letter to The Online Citizen
I would like to add my point of view to the furore that has been created by Terence Lee’s remarks in the opening paragraphs of his otherwise excellent article on the Youth Wing of the Workers Party.
I would thank Seelan Palay for his loyalty to the opposition cause and feel that this issue is grave enough for me to also come to the defence not only of my late father but of the concept of opposition and even of Democracy.
Like Seelan I am gravely concerned that a write up of the Workers Party Youth Wing was used as an opportunity to attack JBJ and I believe, by association, the RP as the Young reformers write up showed them sitting in front of a portrait of JBJ. TOC has promised to introduce us to each party’s youth wing in turn and as each party will be given a fair bite of the apple it really is unseemly to use the space to attack other parties and individuals.
In addition JBJ is no longer with us, is unable to defend himself and the dead are unable to sue for libel, so this ’out of the blue’ and completely graceless attack on the man who was not only the founder of The RP but also the WP’s own former SG and their current SG’s mentor was particularly cowardly.
I must admit to being confused throughout the article as to whether this definition of The WP as “what they are not”, is a device of the TOC writer Terence Lee or is a result of impressions he formed during the interview. As the interview was conducted by email I feel it not unwise to assume that the paragraph, “Don’t expect rabble-rousing politics from the Worker’s Party of today. Unlike the late JB Jeyaretnam, who was nicknamed ‘The Tiger’ for his unrestrained election rally speeches and rambunctious attacks on the PAP….” comes from Terrence himself.
The whole article begs the question of why the youth wing of the Worker’s Party has to be defined in terms of not being like JBJ. Really the Worker’s Party of yesteryear is ancient history and I would disagree that it was ever rabble-rousing in any objective sense. I wouldn’t describe the decent, honest, hard-working citizens of Anson as a rabble. Does anyone suffer from the delusion that TOC readers might expect The WP to engage in rabble-rousing politics unless told by Terence that they don’t intend to? I hardly think that rabble-rousing is a criticism that any sane person is likely to hurl at the WP so why bring up such an inept and ridiculous comparison. He may as well have written about the RP, “Unlike the former Nazi Party of Germany the RP of today won’t be engaging in genocide.”
When Terence uses the word ‘rambunctious’ he may simply have been looking for a colourful or impressive long word or he could have deliberately chosen the word most in line with PAP policy and most likely to discredit JBJ. Rambunctious is defined in the dictionary as ‘unruly’, ‘rowdy’ or ‘out of control’. Terence is simply continuing a 30 + year tradition of portraying JBJ as a mindless vandal intent on destroying Singapore. This tradition has seen its latest embodiment in our Prime Minister’s disingenuous explanation of the need for a cooling off period as being to prevent the risk of public disorder. In one paragraph Terence has reduced JBJ to being a mere hooligan and those patriots truly interested in improving their country to being an out of control crowd.
I said earlier that this is a cowardly attack but it is neither unusual nor unexpected. At the time of JBJ’s death it became apparent that there would be a concerted effort by those in power in Singapore to continue with this 30 year long character assassination and that, even more insidiously, steps would be taken to downplay JBJ’s role in Singapore’s history, if not to erase it altogether. This started with the unpleasant obituary in the Straits Times where, amongst other smears, JBJ was described as engaging in confrontational Westminster style democracy. Shortly afterwards I was involved in an attempt to start a foundation to procure a scholarship fund in JBJ’s name. However I was told that it would be a non starter as JBJ had a criminal record. Hmmm- tell that to all the recipients of the Mandela awards and foundations. In any case let’s not forget that he was completely and absolutely exonerated by The Privy council in 1988.
I found ‘confrontational Westminster style’ to be a strange description of Parliament in London which is hardly a place where punches are thrown, unlike in some Asian democracies. One of the salient features of British Parliamentarians is that whilst they may robustly challenge their colleagues in the house, later in the evening members of opposing parties can be found swapping stories in the Commons bar. I am not holding up Britain here as a shining example of government. I am simply pointing out a PAP policy of attempting to discredit Democracy as a system of government by linking it on the one hand with riotous behaviour and on the other as a purely Western concept. And for the record do I need to say that Democracy is NOT a purely Western phenomenon totally unsuited to Asian styles of thinking. Most Asian countries are currently prospering under Democracy.
There are many criticisms that can be thrown at JBJ but unruly is not one of them. So he was a fiery orator and he was able to turn a mere crowd into a cheering rally but he was never an advocate of civil disobedience. In fact to the contrary, the only rebellion he believed in was a democratic one at the ballot box. He was honest, courageous and completely selfless. JBJ’s legacy to Singapore is of the utmost importance and we all of us, not least the Workers Party, owe him a great debt of gratitude. I urge you all to be vigilant to the continued attempts to rewrite history and to attempts to persuade you that wanting to have a say in how your country is run is somehow un-Asian, dishonourable or even downright criminal.
If we are going to patronise the New Media then I would ask the New Media to return the favour by bringing us new and alternative styles of writing and not by trotting out the hackneyed Big Brother speak that we can read in the government-controlled MSM.
I would only add that some of the remarks posted in the comments following these two articles degenerated into party bashing and as I had lunch with MP Mr. Low Thia Kiang only yesterday I can assure you that relations between the RP and the WP are friendly.
I will be celebrating JBJ’s legacy on his birthday January 5th, 2010 and welcome you all, of whatever persuasion, to join me and ensure that his legacy is not forgotten.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Kenneth Jeyaretnam's letter to TOC
An open letter to The Online Citizen
I would like to add my point of view to the furore that has been created by Terence Lee’s remarks in the opening paragraphs of his otherwise excellent article on the Youth Wing of the Workers Party.
I would thank Seelan Palay for his loyalty to the opposition cause and feel that this issue is grave enough for me to also come to the defence not only of my late father but of the concept of opposition and even of Democracy.
Like Seelan I am gravely concerned that a write up of the Workers Party Youth Wing was used as an opportunity to attack JBJ and I believe, by association, the RP as the Young reformers write up showed them sitting in front of a portrait of JBJ. TOC has promised to introduce us to each party’s youth wing in turn and as each party will be given a fair bite of the apple it really is unseemly to use the space to attack other parties and individuals.
In addition JBJ is no longer with us, is unable to defend himself and the dead are unable to sue for libel, so this ’out of the blue’ and completely graceless attack on the man who was not only the founder of The RP but also the WP’s own former SG and their current SG’s mentor was particularly cowardly.
I must admit to being confused throughout the article as to whether this definition of The WP as “what they are not”, is a device of the TOC writer Terence Lee or is a result of impressions he formed during the interview. As the interview was conducted by email I feel it not unwise to assume that the paragraph, “Don’t expect rabble-rousing politics from the Worker’s Party of today. Unlike the late JB Jeyaretnam, who was nicknamed ‘The Tiger’ for his unrestrained election rally speeches and rambunctious attacks on the PAP….” comes from Terrence himself.
The whole article begs the question of why the youth wing of the Worker’s Party has to be defined in terms of not being like JBJ. Really the Worker’s Party of yesteryear is ancient history and I would disagree that it was ever rabble-rousing in any objective sense. I wouldn’t describe the decent, honest, hard-working citizens of Anson as a rabble. Does anyone suffer from the delusion that TOC readers might expect The WP to engage in rabble-rousing politics unless told by Terence that they don’t intend to? I hardly think that rabble-rousing is a criticism that any sane person is likely to hurl at the WP so why bring up such an inept and ridiculous comparison. He may as well have written about the RP, “Unlike the former Nazi Party of Germany the RP of today won’t be engaging in genocide.”
When Terence uses the word ‘rambunctious’ he may simply have been looking for a colourful or impressive long word or he could have deliberately chosen the word most in line with PAP policy and most likely to discredit JBJ. Rambunctious is defined in the dictionary as ‘unruly’, ‘rowdy’ or ‘out of control’. Terence is simply continuing a 30 + year tradition of portraying JBJ as a mindless vandal intent on destroying Singapore. This tradition has seen its latest embodiment in our Prime Minister’s disingenuous explanation of the need for a cooling off period as being to prevent the risk of public disorder. In one paragraph Terence has reduced JBJ to being a mere hooligan and those patriots truly interested in improving their country to being an out of control crowd.
I said earlier that this is a cowardly attack but it is neither unusual nor unexpected. At the time of JBJ’s death it became apparent that there would be a concerted effort by those in power in Singapore to continue with this 30 year long character assassination and that, even more insidiously, steps would be taken to downplay JBJ’s role in Singapore’s history, if not to erase it altogether. This started with the unpleasant obituary in the Straits Times where, amongst other smears, JBJ was described as engaging in confrontational Westminster style democracy. Shortly afterwards I was involved in an attempt to start a foundation to procure a scholarship fund in JBJ’s name. However I was told that it would be a non starter as JBJ had a criminal record. Hmmm- tell that to all the recipients of the Mandela awards and foundations. In any case let’s not forget that he was completely and absolutely exonerated by The Privy council in 1988.
I found ‘confrontational Westminster style’ to be a strange description of Parliament in London which is hardly a place where punches are thrown, unlike in some Asian democracies. One of the salient features of British Parliamentarians is that whilst they may robustly challenge their colleagues in the house, later in the evening members of opposing parties can be found swapping stories in the Commons bar. I am not holding up Britain here as a shining example of government. I am simply pointing out a PAP policy of attempting to discredit Democracy as a system of government by linking it on the one hand with riotous behaviour and on the other as a purely Western concept. And for the record do I need to say that Democracy is NOT a purely Western phenomenon totally unsuited to Asian styles of thinking. Most Asian countries are currently prospering under Democracy.
There are many criticisms that can be thrown at JBJ but unruly is not one of them. So he was a fiery orator and he was able to turn a mere crowd into a cheering rally but he was never an advocate of civil disobedience. In fact to the contrary, the only rebellion he believed in was a democratic one at the ballot box. He was honest, courageous and completely selfless. JBJ’s legacy to Singapore is of the utmost importance and we all of us, not least the Workers Party, owe him a great debt of gratitude. I urge you all to be vigilant to the continued attempts to rewrite history and to attempts to persuade you that wanting to have a say in how your country is run is somehow un-Asian, dishonourable or even downright criminal.
If we are going to patronise the New Media then I would ask the New Media to return the favour by bringing us new and alternative styles of writing and not by trotting out the hackneyed Big Brother speak that we can read in the government-controlled MSM.
I would only add that some of the remarks posted in the comments following these two articles degenerated into party bashing and as I had lunch with MP Mr. Low Thia Kiang only yesterday I can assure you that relations between the RP and the WP are friendly.
I will be celebrating JBJ’s legacy on his birthday January 5th, 2010 and welcome you all, of whatever persuasion, to join me and ensure that his legacy is not forgotten.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
