Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Passing of a Singapore Fighter

Opposition icon, Mr JB Jeyaretnam, died from heart failure on Tuesday morning and it is a sad day for Singapore. The former Secretary-General of the Workers' Party was 82 and I feel sorry for the loss of this great fighter.

Mr JB Jeyaretnam, better known as JBJ, fought his whole life to bring change to Singapore and was the first to break a government monopoly on power in Singapore when he won a seat in parliament in 1981 Anson by-election. I, like most Singaporeans, know JBJ better as a thorn in the side of Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan-yew and the reason why Singapore abolished the Privy Council in 1989. The abolition followed a decision of the Privy Council in 1988 that criticized the "grievous injustice" suffered by JBJ at the hands of the Government of Singapore.

That in affect gives you an idea of JB Jeyaretnam. A man who never gave up on fighting the good fight despite all the lawsuits and smears directed at him. Most Singaporeans, including me, would have given up years ago. I will not fight like him (who wants to be a bankrupt) but I respect him because I know he will fight when others would have quit. I mean the man even recently formed the Reform Party after leaving the Worker’s Party. That tell you this is a man that will not give up.

I will admit I don’t quite understand him (to form a new political party in Singapore when most Singaporeans avoid politics like the plague) and I don’t have an inch of his fighting spirit but maybe it’s because of that, that I am truly sorry he is no longer around.

Mr. Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, may you rest in peace. You will be missed

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear the passing of the late Mr.JBJ. Singaporeans should take JBJ's spirit seriously. He was one of a kind in Singapore. Wake-up Singaporeans! stand-up against cronysime and imperialisme that hid behind the cloak of democracy.