Workers' Party
Without JBJ
After 31 years, Mr. J.B. Jeyaretnam leaves a fragmented party. His
younger successor, strong at grassroots and a totally different
personality, rejuvenates it into a modern force?
June 9, 2001
When the fiery, charismatic lawyer became leader of Workers" Party
in 1970, half of Singapore's population were toddlers or not yet
born. The man, J.B. Jeyaretnam was then 45.
That Singapore is, of course, largely no longer aroWund. But many
of his views formulated then still are.
For most of the past 31 years, he had shaped and dominated its
policies, turning it into a hard-hitting party to speak up for
blue-collar workers, the poor and "human rights."
He was a rhetorical, aggressive figure and unsurprisingly often
attracted candidates who were hostile to the PAP and its leaders or
who spoke out strongly - sometimes provocatively - for Chinese or
Malay rights.
While some admired him for speaking up, others found him
exasperating when he found it hard drawing the line between hitting
out at Singapore and criticising the PAP.
On one occasion he told the press in Jakarta that Singapore was
exploiting Indonesia for business benefits.
And when national service was in full swing, he implied it was
useless because Singapore was indefensible. It might as well run up
the white flag if the Russian navy (The Vietnam War was on) sailed
in, he added.
Mellowing only slightly, "JBJ" - as he is widely called - stepped
down recently at 76. He was declared a bankrupt on Jan. 19 after he
failed to pay damages resulting from a defamation suit.
Unless his coming appeal succeeds, he will be out of politics. His
deputy, Mr. Low Thia Khiang, 47, was elected to take over.
Under his strong personality (which has driven away colleagues who
found it intolerable,) the left-of-centre party fought on a
platform of championing the less educated and poor.
Mr. Jeyaretnam also stepped up the "human rights" battle to capture
the English-educated liberals.
Unlike his former leader, Low Thia Khiang, 47, is Chinese-educated,
very strong at grassroots work and may pose a bigger, long-term,
challenge to the PAP than JBJ if he succeeds in:-
* Focusing on bread-and-butter issues, like rising cost of living,
health care, welfare for the elderly, etc, that bother Singaporeans
more than"human rights".
* Rejuvenating the party, attracting younger professionals who do
not share Mr. Jeyaretnam's firebrand, "tear down society" type of
politicking. This is an uphill fight that may happen after Senior
Minister Lee Kuan Yew leaves the scene.
* Pulling together resources, or even merging, with other parties
that inflexible Jeyaretnam had found it hard to do. WP is so weak
and lethargic that, after 43 years of history, it could barely
muster 31 cadres (out of 60) to attend a meeting to elect a new
leader.
* Shifting from being a poor man's party to fight for the majority
middle class. The poor are now a minority. Besides, the ruling
party has been dishing out lots of goodies to them in recent
years.
Other opposition parties, too, are facing the problem of ageing
leaders and cadres and inability to attract enough young qualified
people to replace them.
The PAP suffers from this public disdain of politics, too, but it
has powerful carrots, including a million-dollar pay package for
ministers, to get them.
The fact that opposition parties, poor on finance and poorer on
human resources, can't fight on level ground has gained them
sympathy from a widening section of voters.
It is an old problem, of course. Singapore is a city-state strongly
entrenched in competitive trade and commerce. But with the advent
of a knowledge-based economy, life has become even more
pressing.
From the age of six at kindergarten, the new Singaporean throws
himself or herself into the arena of striving for a degree, a good
job and then climbing on top of the pile.
This rat race is discouraging marriage and child-birth with a
serious impact on the nation's future.
Politics is being hit harder and ranks even lower. Singaporeans
passionately groan and complain about politics but would shrink
away from joining a political party.
An oppositionist role is even less attractive since it is seen as
reducing people's prospect of a comfortable life.
Many of opposition central executive members and cadres are old or
lack knowledge of fast-changing high-tech Singapore.
The other ageing opposition leader is Mr. Chiam See Tong, a
highly-respected four-term MP for Potong Pasir. He, too, is turning
several shades greyer.
At 66, teacher-turned lawyer Chiam is widely admired and gung-ho,
organising an opposition alliance of five parties to fight the PAP
in the coming polls.
But it is not known how many more elections he can keep fighting
in. There are no visible successors. Another leader Dr. Lee Siew
Choh retired years ago.
The opposition knows its ageing predicament. A big cause, it says,
is the government's unfair tactics to make life hard for its rivals
and create an uneven playing field. It knows that if leaderships
are not renewed, there will be fewer fresh ideas. One of the
complaints of young professionals is that Mr. Jeyaretnam expounds
the same causes and says the same things again and again.
Without its own alternative, overall plan for the nation, the
opposition will find it hard to win broad-based support. Today's
Singaporeans still vote according to their feelings about the PAP,
not its rivals in politics.
If the people are happy and contented with the ruling party, the
votes for opposition will come down; if they are angry against its
policies, opposition votes will increase.
To many, Jeyaretnam's plight ("my sons say I am a fool to do all
this") may serve as a further discouragement to the opposition
cause.
His big letdown came recently. After three decades of incessant,
mostly losing battles, a public rally was organised to collect
$235,000 in funds to help him pay off his debt. The collection - a
dismal $19,000.
But no one can write off his political future. He says he will
continue to speak out against the government.
When his bankruptcy is lifted, he may be back fighting in elections
either as an independent or as head of a new party. He still has a
small loyal following that will probably not dissipate.
Seah Chiang Nee
