Taken by elsija
I woke up to an SMS from my dad telling me JBJ had passed away. He was 82.
I didn't follow his political career that closely, but I remember he made Parliament sessions in the mid-1980s more lively, more alive (not that I understood the issues, at that time). What I didn't know was that he'd been running in elections since 1972, getting a larger and larger share of the votes in different constituencies each time, until his 1981 by-election win in Anson.
You can't find Anson constituency today. It's been eaten up by one of the Group Representative Constituencies. (Tanjong Pagar, I believe? But I might be wrong about that.)
The newspapers will undoubtedly recount the details of Jeyaretnam's bankruptcies and legal face-offs with various senior PAP politicians. I prefer to remember his fire and verve in Parliament, and his tireless attempts to reach out to Singaporeans outside City Hall MRT station.
JBJ passed away today, and Singapore is the poorer for it.
Labels: Singapore stories
3 Comments:
Oh my god! Dad and Mom are in shock too. Brings back memories of his campaign when we lived in Telok Blangah. PAP and LKY tried to destroy him through financial means but his fiery spirit soldier on. RIP
I think Anson is now in Jalan Bersah GRC.
looking at that photo of him reminded me of his determination to bring his view across to the people on the steets.
i feel so sad looking at this photo of jbj, he was so passionate. its hard to find someone so passionate for a cause now.
i wish i had purchased a book from him then.
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