States Times bashes JBJ to the end, continues to
criticise and attack:
Veteran opposition politican J. B. Jeyaretnam, died early on
Tuesday just days before a constitutional challenge he hoped would
propel him back into parliament, his family said.
Mr Jeyaretnam, 82, died at about 1.30am from a heart attack at
his son's home in Singapore, a relative told the AFP from the
family home in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Earlier, he had complained of breathing difficulty.
He
was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he was pronounced
dead.
Mr Jeyaretnam, a lawyer, recently formed the Reform Party to
challenge the more than 40-year rule of the People's Action Party,
which was founded by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
One of the rare few to speak out against the Government, he made
political history in 1981 when he became the first opposition
politician elected to parliament.
He was unable to contest the 2006 general election after he was
made bankrupt in 2001 for failing to pay S$265,000 in defamation
damages to then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. He was discharged
from bankruptcy in May last year.
Mr Jeyaretnam was to appear in the High Court on Oct 15 to seek
an order that a by-election be held for a seat that is currently
vacant.
Ms G. K. Pamela, another of Jeyaretnam's relatives, said the
court challenge was related to Jeyaretnam's desire to enter
parliament again.
'That was his wish,' she told AFP in tears.
'Such a good man. Why did God take him?'
Singapore Democratic Party activist Chee Siok Chin said she was
shocked at the veteran opposition figure's death.
'There's no doubt about it. Mr Jeyaretnam has been the icon of
the opposition here and it's a great loss,' she said.
Mr Jeyaretnam made his final political comeback earlier this
year to form the new opposition party.
He left the Workers' Party (WP) after years at its helm and was
succeeded by Mr Low Thia Khiang, who is now MP for Hougang.
When he broke the PAP's 15-year monopoly of the Parliament in
1981, most of today's young Singaporeans were not even born
yet.
After losing his parliamentary seat in 1986 for making a false
declaration of the WP accounts, he spent a month in jail and was
fined S$5,000. Mr Jeyaretnam spent most of the last two decades
battling outside the legislature.
Of the five General Elections since then, he has contested only
once, in 1997.He finished as top loser through the bruising Cheng
San GRC bout, earning a 45.2 per cent of the valid votes.
That brought him back into the House as a Non-Constituency MP, a
brief tenure that ended in 2001, when he was declared a bankrupt
for failing to pay after losing a defamation suit against five
Indian PAP MPs, among others.
When he left his 30-year-long WP vehicle in that same year,
after accusing his successor Low of not helping him clear his
debts, he was effectively banished to the margins of the opposition
scene here.
Yet, the old
warhorse refused to believe that he was irrelevant to
Singaporeans.
Mr Jeyaretnam's niece, who gave her name only as Kavinia, said
he had not been feeling well for the past three weeks.
But as recently as July, when he hosted a dinner to launch his
new party, Mr Jeyaretnam still appeared strong.
Sporting his usual lamb-chop style sideburns, Mr Jeyaretnam
stood before the crowd and, in typical style, spoke for almost an
hour.
'Come, walk with me, let us walk together... for peace, justice,
truth... fearing no one except God,' he had urged the gathering. --
With additional reporting from AFP.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking
Can we believe in "The States Times" - which is no better then a
mouth piece of the LKY Government ?
The obvious development since LKY came into power was
documented in a book entitled - Media enthralled – by
Francis Seow - with the author being a former
Solicitor-General in LKY's Administration from the late 1950s
till the late 1970s, and doing all of LKY's biddings to
persecute the political opponents during that period.
