The Alternative View
Dr Chee Soon Juan is finally understood.
This Admin can rest easier from here forward. I shall use a first person narrative to share what I have always shared about the man; how I have debated vigorously online against anyone who felt Dr Chee was everything he was made out to be by the mainstream PAP propaganda media machinery.
I first heard Dr Chee in 1992, at his first rally appearance in Potong Pasir. He was a newly inducted member of the SDP who generated much hype from the media because it was the first time in Singapore's political history that a very high profile candidate with equally high academic credentials had dared to join the Opposition to stand against the PAP - as a candidate for Marine Parade GRC.
That evening, I listened together with the tens of thousands of SDP supporters at the soggy rain - battered open field of Potong Pasir and was awestruck by the clarity with which he spoke and addressed issues, and the confidence which only seasoned politicians could emit.
By the end of the rally, when he clenched his fist and shouted "Medeka! Medeka! Medeka! .... with the crowd shouting along with him, I knew this man would be in for the roughest ride of his life from there forth.
I even told my friends beside me, there with me throughout the campaigning period, that I hope he would be strong enough for what will surely come his way.
What struck me that evening as I heard Dr Chee for the very first time, was the similarities I see in him when I visualised them against the images of LKY - those fed to us by the mainstream media.
He spoke with the same passion. He had the same clear diction as he delivered his speech. He had the same charisma and attention grabbing demeanor associated with great leaders.
In fact, and I mean this as the highest compliment; I saw a young LKY all over again in Dr Chee that evening.
True enough, with the unfolding of each General Election, Dr Chee became LKY's and the PAP's prime agenda. He was such a threat.
Personally, I already knew that LKY cannot imagine having Dr Chee going up against his boy. This man has to be destroyed which we later learned from LKY himself that that was his intention.
While all the worst of gutter politics and character assassination were in full display, the only thought at the back of mind was that Dr Chee would press on for the sake of cowardly Singaporeans like myself. So many of us were silently dependent on his continued pursuit of democracy and justice on our behalf.
Between 1992 and the mid 2000s, where news were fully under the control of the PAP, there was little Dr Chee could do except to bring his voice abroad in the hope that his message would seep back in from abroad. That was the case with all opposition politicians who were victimised by the PAP.
With the advent of the Internet, and the setting up of Websites like Temasek and Online Citizen, socio-political discussions began to open up little by little.
I remember engaging fellow forumers in TOC way back in 2007, the same year Gilbert Goh and Joshua Chang stumbled upon TOC. Over the next 3 years there, I was actively, as if on a personal mission, to help defend the already battered doctor.
Many Singaporeans were of the perception that Dr Chee was the man the PAP Media had made him out to be.
Folks who know me by these handles: gemami, gemamiphilip, gemphil, Gem SG - knew that I was having it out with anyone who misunderstood the man. I knew it was going to be a long and arduous journey and I promised to defend him for as long as I could, praying and hoping for the day where true justice would prevail.
GE 2015 is turning out to be the year when my prayers and hopes are answered.
The throngs of people coming to the realisation of what I had realised all along have made me shed tears of joy and my spirit is so uplifted.
Whether Dr Chee and the SDP win any seat or none at all is now secondary to me. He will get his time in Parliament. The only question is When?
What is more important is that he is now an understood man, a respected man, an honest man, a passionate man and a dedicated man.
He has finally won, LKY has lost, and his boy will be kicked out, if not now, soon.
Whatever the outcome of GE 2015, he has already won and I'm so happy that I too can share in the victory.
Our Voice in Parliament will be restored.
Thank you Dr Chee, for not giving up on us. For trusting in humanity. For making us winners out of losers.
Thank you.
gemami
