Chee Soon Juan
Encyclopedia
Chee Soon Juan, PhD is a politician
and political activist from Singapore
. He is currently the leader of the opposition
Singapore Democratic Party
(SDP).
A controversial political figure, Chee has been arrest
ed and jailed
several times for his political activities, mainly for repeatedly breaking Singapore's laws requiring organisers to obtain a police permit
before staging political demonstrations
or making public speeches
on political issues. He has also been sued for defamation on multiple occasions as a result of comments he has made about members of Singapore's governing People's Action Party
(PAP). He is currently barred from standing in parliamentary elections because he was declared bankrupt
in 2006 after failing to pay damages from a lawsuit owed to Singapore's former Prime Ministers
, Lee Kuan Yew
and Goh Chok Tong
.
Chee joined the SDP in 1992, and became its Secretary-General
following the resignation of the party's founder, Chiam See Tong
(with whom Chee and the rest of the party's leadership have had a number of disagreements). The party had three Members of Parliament
(MPs) at the time Chee took over as Secretary-General, but was reduced to no MPs at the 1997 general election and has not had any of its members elected to Parliament since then.
Chee is the Chairman of the Asian Alliance for Reforms and Democracy. He was a recipient of Parliamentarians for Global Action
's "Defender of Democracy" award in 2003 as well as Liberal International
's "Prize for Freedom" award in 2011.
Prior to entering politics, Chee was a Psychology
lecturer at the National University of Singapore
(NUS). However, he was dismissed from this position in 1993 after being accused of misappropriating
research funds. He has since served as a fellow
at the Monash
Asia Institute (1997), the University of Chicago
(2001), and the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Program at the National Endowment for Democracy
in Washington, D.C.
(2004).
in Singapore. He then trained as a neuropsychologist
, earning a Ph.D.
from the University of Georgia
in the United States
in 1990. After completing his doctorate, he returned to Singapore to take up a teaching position in Department of Psychology at NUS.
by the party's founder and Secretary-General, Chiam See Tong
. Chiam had become the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected to represent the constituency of Potong Pasir
. At the 1991 general election, Chiam was joined in Parliament by two further SDP MPs (Ling How Doong
as MP for Bukit Gombak
and Cheo Chai Chen
as MP for Nee Soon Central
).
Chee was first introduced to the public as a member of the SDP's team to stand in a by-election
in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
in 1992. Chee's candidacy attracted considerable public interest as it was the first time that an academic at a state-run university had stood against the governing People's Action Party in an election. However the SDP team was unsuccessful in the election, with the PAP winning 72.94% of the votes, the SDP 24.50%, and other smaller parties 2.56%.
Shortly after the Marine Parade by-election, Chee became the SDP's Assistant Secretary-General.
to the United States. Chee denied that he had misused university funds and claimed that he was the victim of a political vendetta. He staged a five-day hunger strike
to protest his sacking (however he was discovered to be consuming glucose
water during his supposed hunger strike). Vasoo and two other members of staff at NUS subsequently sued Chee for his claims that his sacking had been politically motivated, and the courts found against Chee and ordered him to pay damages.
After Chiam publicly criticised the CEC, they attempted to expel him from the party (which would have forced him to vacate his seat in Parliament), but Chiam won a court case to prevent them from doing so on procedural grounds. Chiam remained an SDP member and MP until shortly before the 1997 general election, when he left to join the Singapore People's Party
(a party founded in 1994 by ex-SDP members who were supportive of Chiam).
After taking over as the SDP's Secretary-General, Chee began regularly travelling abroad and to talk about his views on the lack of democracy in Singapore to the foreign media. He also published his second political book, Dare To Change: An Alternative Vision for Singapore. In 1994, to respond to criticisms of the book made by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
, Chee wrote a letter to The Straits Times
. The PAP's Second Organising Secretary, Matthias Yao (a Parliamentary Secretary and MP for Marine Parade GRC), then wrote to the newspaper to reply to Chee's comments. This led to a two month long exchange of letters between Chee and Yao which were published in the paper, which ended with Chee issuing a challenge for Yao to stand against him in a single member constituency
at the next general election. At Yao's request, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to separate Yao's MacPherson ward from the rest of Marine Parade GRC at the next general election so that he could take up Chee's challenge.
to Matthias Yao by 6,713 (34.86%) votes to 12,546 (65.14%). Meanwhile Chiam See Tong was re-elected as the MP for Potong Pasir representing his new party.
. The SDP's team lost to the PAP team by 20.25% of the votes to 79.75%. The SDP's candidates were also unsuccessful in all the other constituencies in which they stood.
During the run-up to the election, Chee captured national media attention when he came across Prime Minister Goh while campaigning at a hawker centre, and used a megaphone
to ask him: "Where is the S$
18 billion that you have lent to (Indonesian President
) Suharto?" The PAP took Chee to task for this, claiming that any accusation that Parliament had been misled about an alleged loan to Suharto was untrue, and demanding that he either apologise or face a defamation lawsuit. Chee apologised a day later, but later retracted his apology.
on 15 February that year without registering with the police before he did so.
On 1 May 2002, Chee staged a rally in front of the Istana (the official residence and office of the President of Singapore
), even though his application to the police for a licence to hold the assembly had been denied. Chee was later charged for trespassing and for attempting to hold a rally without a police permit, for which he was sentenced to five weeks in jail.
On 10 February 2006, Chee was declared a bankrupt by the High Court after failing to pay the damages owed to Goh and Lee.
As an undischarged bankrupt, Chee became ineligible to stand in general elections and was required to seek the Official Assignee's permission before making any trips abroad.
On 24 February 2006, Singapore's Attorney-General filed contempt of court
charges against Chee for refusing to answer the court's questions and scandalising the Singapore judiciary
during the bankruptcy petition hearing on 10 February. As a result, Chee was sentenced to one day in jail and a fine of S$6,000, but he failed to pay the fine and was thus jailed for an additional seven days.
He was released on 24 March 2006.
In April 2006, Chee was stopped at the airport as he was preparing to board a flight to Istanbul
because, as an undischarged bankrupt, he could not leave Singapore without official approval of the Official Asignee, which he had not obtained.
Another defamation lawsuit was brought against Chee following an article published in the SDP's party newspaper, The New Democrat, which questioned the role of the Singapore government in the 2005 National Kidney Foundation scandal
. Chee was ordered to pay damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as a result of this.
Despite a rule in Singapore that bans podcast
ing during elections,
Chee released a political podcast on 23 April 2006. However, on the order of the Elections Department, it was taken down by 25 April 2006.
of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank Group
in September 2006 (as part of Singapore 2006
), to protest against the rising income gap and raise awareness of the hardships of working-class people in Singapore. The application for a police permit for the protest was rejected on 30 August 2006. Nonetheless Chee used the SDP website to continue to urge people to participate in the protest.
On 9 September, Chee was distributing leaflets for an upcoming "Empower Singaporeans Rally and March", when he was stopped by the police for doing so. The police reminded the public that anyone participating in Chee's planned rally and march would be committing an offence.
On 13 September, Chee invited both World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz
and IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo to his planned rally. At a press conference the next day, Chee announced that his application to be a civil society representative to Singapore 2006 as a representative of the Open Singapore Centre was rejected by the IMF and World Bank. His sister Chee Siok Chin's application to represent the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia was approved by the IMF and World Bank but was rejected by the Singapore government. On 15 September, Chee released a podcast that warned Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
that the Singapore 2006 event was a "public relations disaster" for Singapore.
On September 16, Chee started off the "Empower Singaporeans Rally and March" at 11.00 am at Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park, but was stopped by the police who formed a human barricade around him. He then announced that there would be a rally the following day in front of Parliament House. But the police refused to let him leave the park until he called off the protest, so he remained in the park with his supporters.
On 17 September, Chee announced his plan to continue his protest by remaining in Hong Lim Park until the start of the IMF and World Bank meetings which were two days away. On 18 September, after hours of negotiations with police, Chee went to Raffles City
to hand out pamphlets to the public and then returned to the park. He stopped the protest at noon on 19 September, and proclaimed that the protest had achieved its purpose. He further announced that the 72-hour protest was just a start, and that over the next few months he intended to recruit and train more activists for a campaign to bring pressure on the Singapore Government to reform.
Chee was fined $5,000. On 23 November 2006, he was jailed for five weeks for failing to pay the fine. Two other SDP members, Gandhi Ambalam
and Yap Keng Ho, were also imprisoned.
While in prison in November 2006, Chee reportedly became ill, leading to speculation from the SDP that he had been poisoned. A statement released by the SDP noted that Chee was feeling nauseous and dizzy, and was unable to sleep. Four days later, the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) asserted that Chee was treated the "same as other prisoners", and that the SDP's claims were "baseless, malicious and seek to undermine the reputation of the Singapore Prison Service". On 3 December 2006, after the doctor at the Queenstown Remand Prison had found traces of blood in Chee's urine, he was admitted under guard to Changi General Hospital
. On 10 December, about a dozen of Chee's supporters, including members of his family, held a protest march starting at the Speakers' Corner and ending at Queenstown Remand Prison, where Chee was incarcerated. Several foreign non-government organisations released statements expressing concerns about Chee's health and treatment in prison.
Chee was released on 16 December, two weeks short of his full sentence as a result of good behavior in jail. Two days later, he published a statement on what happened during his stint in prison. He claimed that his food tray was marked, and that the light in his cell had remained on during the night, causing sleep deprivation. Two days later, the MHA replied to this, claiming "Chee's insinuations about being the victim of a food conspiracy are ridiculous and a product of his own mischief...", and that "Chee's purported 'ailment' in prison served only to provide an expedient story for his associates and foreign supporters to faithfully distort and exploit for political mileage". Chee immediately released another statement rebutting this, claiming "the MHA's statement is riddled with inconsistencies, contradictions and outright lies".
On 8 January 2007, a hearing began for charges that Chee had attempted to leave the country without a permit despite being a bankrupt. As a result of this, he was jailed for three weeks.
.
Chee's party has been granted observer status to Liberal International
, a world federation of liberal political parties. "SDP has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth countries, where Singapore is a party, to include respect for fundamental human rights and civil liberties," said Chee, who had also hired Amsterdam & Peroff to take up his case against the government, http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/11/the_repression_of_political_freedoms_in_singapore_the_case_of_opposition_leader_dr_chee_soon_juan.htm whose members have filed lawsuits against news publications that have run Chee's critical comments. "We are trying to pursue this and some of the international community would hopefully pay more attention and encourage Singapore to be part of the civilized world."
directed a documentary on Chee called Singapore Rebel. It was supposed to be screened at the Singapore International Film Festival
, but was withdrawn from the festival and later banned by the Singapore government because of its political content. Singapore's Film Act forbids the production and distribution of "party political" films, which are defined as films "made by any person and directed towards any political ends in Singapore".
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and political activist from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. He is currently the leader of the opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
Singapore Democratic Party
Singapore Democratic Party
The Singapore Democratic Party is an opposition political party in Singapore.The party was founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, who as Secretary-General became the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected as MP for Potong Pasir...
(SDP).
A controversial political figure, Chee has been arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
ed and jailed
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
several times for his political activities, mainly for repeatedly breaking Singapore's laws requiring organisers to obtain a police permit
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
before staging political demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
or making public speeches
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
on political issues. He has also been sued for defamation on multiple occasions as a result of comments he has made about members of Singapore's governing People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
(PAP). He is currently barred from standing in parliamentary elections because he was declared bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 2006 after failing to pay damages from a lawsuit owed to Singapore's former Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
, Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
and Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...
.
Chee joined the SDP in 1992, and became its Secretary-General
Secretary-General
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
following the resignation of the party's founder, Chiam See Tong
Chiam See Tong
Chiam See Tong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He is the country's longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament . Between 1984 and 2011, he represented the constituency of Potong Pasir in Singapore's Parliament....
(with whom Chee and the rest of the party's leadership have had a number of disagreements). The party had three Members of Parliament
Parliament of Singapore
The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament who are appointed...
(MPs) at the time Chee took over as Secretary-General, but was reduced to no MPs at the 1997 general election and has not had any of its members elected to Parliament since then.
Chee is the Chairman of the Asian Alliance for Reforms and Democracy. He was a recipient of Parliamentarians for Global Action
Parliamentarians for Global Action
Parliamentarians for Global Action is a non-profit and non-partisan international organization of more than 1,300 free elected legislators from 130 democratic countries . It was established circa 1978 as Parliamentarians for World Order engaged in a range of action-oriented initiatives that promote...
's "Defender of Democracy" award in 2003 as well as Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
's "Prize for Freedom" award in 2011.
Prior to entering politics, Chee was a Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
lecturer at the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
(NUS). However, he was dismissed from this position in 1993 after being accused of misappropriating
Misappropriation
In law, misappropriation is the intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of a dead person's estate or by any person with a responsibility...
research funds. He has since served as a fellow
Research fellow
The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...
at the Monash
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
Asia Institute (1997), the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(2001), and the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Program at the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(2004).
Biography
Chee had his early education at Anglo-Chinese SchoolAnglo-Chinese School
The Anglo-Chinese School ; is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore, and Indonesia.The name is usually abbreviated as "ACS", with the junior college as "ACJC", and its students and alumni referred to as "ACSians" , or "ACS boys" .ACS was the first school...
in Singapore. He then trained as a neuropsychologist
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
, earning a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1990. After completing his doctorate, he returned to Singapore to take up a teaching position in Department of Psychology at NUS.
Entry into politics
In 1992, Chee was recruited to join the Singapore Democratic PartySingapore Democratic Party
The Singapore Democratic Party is an opposition political party in Singapore.The party was founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, who as Secretary-General became the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected as MP for Potong Pasir...
by the party's founder and Secretary-General, Chiam See Tong
Chiam See Tong
Chiam See Tong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He is the country's longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament . Between 1984 and 2011, he represented the constituency of Potong Pasir in Singapore's Parliament....
. Chiam had become the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected to represent the constituency of Potong Pasir
Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency
Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency in the central region of Singapore.-Location:The SMC encompasses Potong Pasir, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh and Tannery...
. At the 1991 general election, Chiam was joined in Parliament by two further SDP MPs (Ling How Doong
Ling How Doong
Ling How Doong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore. A member of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party , he served as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bukit Gombak from 1991 to 1997.-Political career:...
as MP for Bukit Gombak
Bukit Gombak
Bukit Gombak is a neighbourhood in the west-central area of the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore. In the Malay language, bukit means hill and gombak a bunch or collection of something....
and Cheo Chai Chen
Cheo Chai Chen
Cheo Chai Chen is a politician and businessman from Singapore. He served as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Nee Soon Central from 1991 to 1997, when he was a member of the Singapore Democratic Party...
as MP for Nee Soon Central
Nee Soon Central Single Member Constituency
Nee Soon Central Single Member Constituency is a defunct Single Member Constituency in the northern area in Singapore. The seat consists of Yishun New Town with it consisting of Yishun Central and a few private housing estates in the vicinity...
).
Chee was first introduced to the public as a member of the SDP's team to stand in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency is a six-member Group Representation Constituency located in the central, eastern and north-eastern areas of Singapore. The constituency consists of a section of Bedok, Chai Chee, Geylang, Kaki Bukit, Kallang, Kembangan, Marine Parade, Mountbatten,...
in 1992. Chee's candidacy attracted considerable public interest as it was the first time that an academic at a state-run university had stood against the governing People's Action Party in an election. However the SDP team was unsuccessful in the election, with the PAP winning 72.94% of the votes, the SDP 24.50%, and other smaller parties 2.56%.
Shortly after the Marine Parade by-election, Chee became the SDP's Assistant Secretary-General.
Dismissal from the National University of Singapore
In 1993, a few months after Chee joined the SDP, he was fired from his position at the National University of Singapore by the Head of the Psychology Department, Dr S Vasoo (who was an MP for the PAP at the time), for allegedly using research funds to send his wife's doctoral thesisThesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
to the United States. Chee denied that he had misused university funds and claimed that he was the victim of a political vendetta. He staged a five-day hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
to protest his sacking (however he was discovered to be consuming glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
water during his supposed hunger strike). Vasoo and two other members of staff at NUS subsequently sued Chee for his claims that his sacking had been politically motivated, and the courts found against Chee and ordered him to pay damages.
Rise to leadership of the SDP
After initially backing Chee, Chiam became critical of Chee's hunger strike and his public comments condemning the PAP for his sacking. Chiam wanted to censure Chee for his comments, but the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) backed Chee. Chiam then resigned as Secretary-General of the party. Chee, as the Assistant Secretary-General, then became the party's Secretary-General.After Chiam publicly criticised the CEC, they attempted to expel him from the party (which would have forced him to vacate his seat in Parliament), but Chiam won a court case to prevent them from doing so on procedural grounds. Chiam remained an SDP member and MP until shortly before the 1997 general election, when he left to join the Singapore People's Party
Singapore People's Party
The Singapore People's Party is a left of centre opposition political party in Singapore. The party's leader is Chiam See Tong.-Foundation:...
(a party founded in 1994 by ex-SDP members who were supportive of Chiam).
After taking over as the SDP's Secretary-General, Chee began regularly travelling abroad and to talk about his views on the lack of democracy in Singapore to the foreign media. He also published his second political book, Dare To Change: An Alternative Vision for Singapore. In 1994, to respond to criticisms of the book made by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
, Chee wrote a letter to The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
. The PAP's Second Organising Secretary, Matthias Yao (a Parliamentary Secretary and MP for Marine Parade GRC), then wrote to the newspaper to reply to Chee's comments. This led to a two month long exchange of letters between Chee and Yao which were published in the paper, which ended with Chee issuing a challenge for Yao to stand against him in a single member constituency
Constituencies of Singapore
Constituencies in Singapore are electoral divisions which may be represented by single or multiple seats in the Parliament of Singapore. Constituencies are classified as either single member or group representation constituencies...
at the next general election. At Yao's request, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to separate Yao's MacPherson ward from the rest of Marine Parade GRC at the next general election so that he could take up Chee's challenge.
1997 general election
The SDP's first general election under Chee's leadership in 1997 proved to be a huge setback for the party as they failed to win any seats in Parliament. Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen were both defeated in their bids to be re-elected as MPs. And Chee lost the high-profile contest in MacPhersonMacPherson Single Member Constituency
MacPherson Single Member Constituency was a Single Member Constituency located in central area of Singapore, which had existed from 1968 to 1991 , and from 1997 to 2011 .The ward consists of...
to Matthias Yao by 6,713 (34.86%) votes to 12,546 (65.14%). Meanwhile Chiam See Tong was re-elected as the MP for Potong Pasir representing his new party.
2001 general election
At the 2001 general election, Chee stood as one of the SDP's candidates in the Jurong Group Representation ConstituencyJurong Group Representation Constituency
Jurong Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency located in the western area of Singapore. The GRC consists a large section of Jurong, sections of Bukit Batok and Upper Bukit Timah...
. The SDP's team lost to the PAP team by 20.25% of the votes to 79.75%. The SDP's candidates were also unsuccessful in all the other constituencies in which they stood.
During the run-up to the election, Chee captured national media attention when he came across Prime Minister Goh while campaigning at a hawker centre, and used a megaphone
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
to ask him: "Where is the S$
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
18 billion that you have lent to (Indonesian President
President of Indonesia
The President of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.- Sukarno era :...
) Suharto?" The PAP took Chee to task for this, claiming that any accusation that Parliament had been misled about an alleged loan to Suharto was untrue, and demanding that he either apologise or face a defamation lawsuit. Chee apologised a day later, but later retracted his apology.
Legal charges in 2002
In 2002, Chee was fined S$3,000 for making a public speech at Singapore's Speakers' CornerSpeakers' Corner, Singapore
Singapore Speakers' Corner is a local version of London's Speakers' Corner, where members of the public can give speeches and engage public debates...
on 15 February that year without registering with the police before he did so.
On 1 May 2002, Chee staged a rally in front of the Istana (the official residence and office of the President of Singapore
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
), even though his application to the police for a licence to hold the assembly had been denied. Chee was later charged for trespassing and for attempting to hold a rally without a police permit, for which he was sentenced to five weeks in jail.
Defamation suit and bankruptcy
After the 2001 general election, Chee was sued for defamation by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew for remarks he had made during the campaign about an alleged loan to Indonesian President Suharto. Chee lost the lawsuits and was ordered to pay damages of S$300,000 to Goh and S$200,000 to Lee.On 10 February 2006, Chee was declared a bankrupt by the High Court after failing to pay the damages owed to Goh and Lee.
As an undischarged bankrupt, Chee became ineligible to stand in general elections and was required to seek the Official Assignee's permission before making any trips abroad.
On 24 February 2006, Singapore's Attorney-General filed contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
charges against Chee for refusing to answer the court's questions and scandalising the Singapore judiciary
Offence of scandalizing the court in Singapore
In Singapore, the offence of scandalizing the court is committed when a person performs any act or publishes any writing that is calculated to bring a court or a judge of the court into contempt, or to lower his authority...
during the bankruptcy petition hearing on 10 February. As a result, Chee was sentenced to one day in jail and a fine of S$6,000, but he failed to pay the fine and was thus jailed for an additional seven days.
He was released on 24 March 2006.
In April 2006, Chee was stopped at the airport as he was preparing to board a flight to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
because, as an undischarged bankrupt, he could not leave Singapore without official approval of the Official Asignee, which he had not obtained.
Another defamation lawsuit was brought against Chee following an article published in the SDP's party newspaper, The New Democrat, which questioned the role of the Singapore government in the 2005 National Kidney Foundation scandal
National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal
The National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal, also known as the NKF saga, NKF scandal, or NKF controversy, was a July 2005 scandal involving National Kidney Foundation Singapore following the collapse of a defamation trial which it brought against Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings...
. Chee was ordered to pay damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as a result of this.
2006 general election
Chee was unable to stand in the 2006 general election. The SDP did enter candidates in some constituencies, but none were elected.Despite a rule in Singapore that bans podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
ing during elections,
Chee released a political podcast on 23 April 2006. However, on the order of the Elections Department, it was taken down by 25 April 2006.
Protests at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Singapore in 2006
On 22 August 2006, Chee announced that he was planning to hold protests in Singapore during 61st Annual MeetingsAnnual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group
The IMF and World Bank meet each autumn in what is officially known as the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group and each spring in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group...
of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) and the World Bank Group
World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries.The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, which emerged from the United Nations Monetary...
in September 2006 (as part of Singapore 2006
Singapore 2006
Singapore 2006 was a group of several concurrent events that were held in Singapore in support of the 61st Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group...
), to protest against the rising income gap and raise awareness of the hardships of working-class people in Singapore. The application for a police permit for the protest was rejected on 30 August 2006. Nonetheless Chee used the SDP website to continue to urge people to participate in the protest.
On 9 September, Chee was distributing leaflets for an upcoming "Empower Singaporeans Rally and March", when he was stopped by the police for doing so. The police reminded the public that anyone participating in Chee's planned rally and march would be committing an offence.
On 13 September, Chee invited both World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
and IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo to his planned rally. At a press conference the next day, Chee announced that his application to be a civil society representative to Singapore 2006 as a representative of the Open Singapore Centre was rejected by the IMF and World Bank. His sister Chee Siok Chin's application to represent the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia was approved by the IMF and World Bank but was rejected by the Singapore government. On 15 September, Chee released a podcast that warned Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
that the Singapore 2006 event was a "public relations disaster" for Singapore.
On September 16, Chee started off the "Empower Singaporeans Rally and March" at 11.00 am at Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park, but was stopped by the police who formed a human barricade around him. He then announced that there would be a rally the following day in front of Parliament House. But the police refused to let him leave the park until he called off the protest, so he remained in the park with his supporters.
On 17 September, Chee announced his plan to continue his protest by remaining in Hong Lim Park until the start of the IMF and World Bank meetings which were two days away. On 18 September, after hours of negotiations with police, Chee went to Raffles City
Raffles City
Raffles City is a large complex located in the Civic District within the Downtown Core of the city-state of Singapore. Occupying an entire city block bounded by Stamford Road, Beach Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road, it houses two hotels and an office tower over a podium which contains a...
to hand out pamphlets to the public and then returned to the park. He stopped the protest at noon on 19 September, and proclaimed that the protest had achieved its purpose. He further announced that the 72-hour protest was just a start, and that over the next few months he intended to recruit and train more activists for a campaign to bring pressure on the Singapore Government to reform.
Further legal charges and imprisonment, 2006-7
On 20 June 2006, Chee was charged in court for eight counts of speaking in public without a licence between 13 November 2005 and 22 April 2006 in violation of the Public Entertainments and Meeting Act. Two other SDP members were also charged.Chee was fined $5,000. On 23 November 2006, he was jailed for five weeks for failing to pay the fine. Two other SDP members, Gandhi Ambalam
Gandhi Ambalam
Gandhi Ambalam is the current Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party and a member of the party's Central Executive Committee.-Career:...
and Yap Keng Ho, were also imprisoned.
While in prison in November 2006, Chee reportedly became ill, leading to speculation from the SDP that he had been poisoned. A statement released by the SDP noted that Chee was feeling nauseous and dizzy, and was unable to sleep. Four days later, the Ministry of Home Affairs
Minister for Home Affairs (Singapore)
The Minister for Home Affairs is an appointment in the Cabinet of Singapore. Formed in 1970, it replaced the post of Minister for the Interior and Defence with the split of the Ministry of the Interior and Defence into the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs....
(MHA) asserted that Chee was treated the "same as other prisoners", and that the SDP's claims were "baseless, malicious and seek to undermine the reputation of the Singapore Prison Service". On 3 December 2006, after the doctor at the Queenstown Remand Prison had found traces of blood in Chee's urine, he was admitted under guard to Changi General Hospital
Changi General Hospital
Changi General Hospital is a 790-bed hospital located in Simei, eastern Singapore...
. On 10 December, about a dozen of Chee's supporters, including members of his family, held a protest march starting at the Speakers' Corner and ending at Queenstown Remand Prison, where Chee was incarcerated. Several foreign non-government organisations released statements expressing concerns about Chee's health and treatment in prison.
Chee was released on 16 December, two weeks short of his full sentence as a result of good behavior in jail. Two days later, he published a statement on what happened during his stint in prison. He claimed that his food tray was marked, and that the light in his cell had remained on during the night, causing sleep deprivation. Two days later, the MHA replied to this, claiming "Chee's insinuations about being the victim of a food conspiracy are ridiculous and a product of his own mischief...", and that "Chee's purported 'ailment' in prison served only to provide an expedient story for his associates and foreign supporters to faithfully distort and exploit for political mileage". Chee immediately released another statement rebutting this, claiming "the MHA's statement is riddled with inconsistencies, contradictions and outright lies".
On 8 January 2007, a hearing began for charges that Chee had attempted to leave the country without a permit despite being a bankrupt. As a result of this, he was jailed for three weeks.
Tak Boleh Tahan arrests and trial
On March 15, 2008, the SDP decided to stage the "Tak Boleh Tahan" ("Can't take it anymore") protests. On 15 March 2008, Chee and 17 others were arrested at a demonstration held outside Parliament and later charged with unlawful assembly. The trial began on 23 October 2008.International activities
Chee is the Chairman of the Asian Alliance for Reforms and Democracy, and has been engaged by the National Endowment for DemocracyNational Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
.
Chee's party has been granted observer status to Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
, a world federation of liberal political parties. "SDP has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth countries, where Singapore is a party, to include respect for fundamental human rights and civil liberties," said Chee, who had also hired Amsterdam & Peroff to take up his case against the government, http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/11/the_repression_of_political_freedoms_in_singapore_the_case_of_opposition_leader_dr_chee_soon_juan.htm whose members have filed lawsuits against news publications that have run Chee's critical comments. "We are trying to pursue this and some of the international community would hopefully pay more attention and encourage Singapore to be part of the civilized world."
Documentary
In 2004, Martyn SeeMartyn See
Martyn See is a Singaporean filmmaker and the current Executive Secretary of Singaporeans for Democracy.-Life and Career:Martyn See has a lengthy career of being a feature editor for films, some of which include Mee Pok Man That One No Enough I Do I Do Singapore Gaga Just Follow Law , Money...
directed a documentary on Chee called Singapore Rebel. It was supposed to be screened at the Singapore International Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
The Singapore International Film Festival was launched in 1987. The festival is an annual film event, held around April/May each year, and screens about 300 films from over 45 countries...
, but was withdrawn from the festival and later banned by the Singapore government because of its political content. Singapore's Film Act forbids the production and distribution of "party political" films, which are defined as films "made by any person and directed towards any political ends in Singapore".
Works
Chee has written the following books:- Dare to Change: An Alternative Vision for Singapore (Singapore Democratic Party: 1994)
- Singapore, My Home Too (1995)
- To Be Free: Stories from Asia's Struggle Against Oppression (Monash Asia Institute: 1998)
- Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom: A Democratic Blueprint for Singapore (Singapore Open Centre: 2001)
- The Power of Courage: Effecting Political Change in Singapore Through Nonviolence (2005)
- A Nation Cheated (2008)
External links
- Singapore Democratic Party Website
- Interview with Dr. Chee Soon Juan
- Link Page for Articles on Dr. Chee Soon Juan
- Dr. Chee Soon Juan Interview on CNN TalkAsia
- Pressing For Openness In Singapore by Dr. Chee Soon Juan Journal of Democracy (Volume 12, Number 2 April 2001, p. 157-167.)
- Dr. Chee Interview on The Pilot n' Jo Show
- Francis, Diane. Singapore's shame: ordeal of Chee Soon Juan. October 21, 2008. (Includes interview.)
- Dr. Chee Soon Juan's message to President Obama