Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam (born 1959) is the current Secretary-General (leader) of the Reform Party
in Singapore
. He is the eldest son of the late opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam
.
(sometimes known as "JBJ") and Margaret Cynthia Walker. Kenneth's parents met in the United Kingdom
in 1950 while studying law at University College London
. JBJ, a barrister, became one of Singapore's most well-known opposition politicians and democracy advocates and was the first opposition member ever to be elected to Singapore's Parliament
in 1981. Margaret Walker was a lawyer originally from England
was later one of the first women lawyers in Singapore and Registrar of the Diocese of Singapore and Malaysia. Kenneth was followed by a brother who died at birth, and then by Philip Jeyaretnam
who was born in 1964. Kenneth is now married to Amanda Jeyaretnam, with a 14 year-old son, Jared.
. He attended Charterhouse School
in England from 1975-77. From 1978-80 Kenneth returned to Singapore for National Service
. From 1980-83, Kenneth attended Queens' College
, Cambridge University
, where he read economics and graduated with Double First Class Honours. Kenneth is also an alumnus of the Amsterdam Institute of Finance
.
branch. This move by his employer coincided with the time of his father's second election victory in 1984. Whilst declining to join his father's Workers' Party
, Kenneth contributed by writing sections of the party's manifesto dealing with economic policy and articles for the party newsletter The Hammer.
From 1987 to the early-1990s, Kenneth worked in London
and Tokyo
for Continental Bank, Banque Indosuez and Lehman Brothers
. He then moved to Nomura
International in London as head of Japanese Warrants and later as Proprietary Trader. He met his wife-to-be Amanda while working there. They married in 1995 and had a son in 1997.
From 1998, Kenneth moved on from the Asian derivatives markets to become a hedge fund
manager specialising in event–driven investing. He set up and managed his own Funds from 2004-08. During this time in London, Kenneth was an enthusiastic member of the Singapore UK Association (SUKA) and later served on the association's committee working with fellow expat Singaporeans.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam's media prominence from this time also came about as a result of "The Letter of Condolence" which was sent from the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to both Kenneth and his brother, Philip and printed in full in The Straits Times
on 30 September 2009. This letter, together with an unflattering obituary of his father written by the newspaper's Political Editor, Chua Lee Hoong, was widely denounced by the public. Likewise, opposition politicians stood in unity by echoing their disapproval and disparagement. This was seen by many to have rebounded on the ruling People's Action Party
, and in the media at that time as there were many messages of support for Kenneth and calls on him to take up the mantle of his father.
formed the Reform Party (Singapore)
. The survival of the new opposition party seemed to have been in question when he suffered a heart attack and died on 30 September 2008. With the demise of his father, Kenneth began an active role in Singapore politics. He started contributing articles on economic themes to the Singaporean online blog, The Online Citizen. He gave his first public "political" speech alongside other prominent opposition politicians at a memorial event held in memory of his father in Hong Lim Park on New Year's Eve 2008. It was here that Kenneth spoke of his belief that it was possible for Singapore to have both prosperity and liberty. During this period he also started working with prominent non-partisan groups in their campaign to have a chair elected in his father's name and in establishing a foundation for study which will sponsor Singaporean students in Human Rights Law and Politics.
On 10 April 2009 it was announced in The Straits Times and other sources that Kenneth Jeyaretnam had joined the Reform Party (Singapore)
. Assistant Professor Eugene Tan, a law lecturer at Singapore Management University
, was quoted as saying: "Mr Jeyaretnam has given the Reform Party a tremendous boost given his academic achievements, professional background and political pedigree". Before long, Kenneth was co-opted into the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) and voted into the vacant position of Secretary-General.
's website indicated that "The Reform Party would go much further though in dismantling or privatizing the whole GLC (Government-linked companies) structure starting with the privatization of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
) and Temasek (Temasek Holdings
) and giving Singaporean citizens a direct stake, whether through shares, deferred shares or quasi-equity, in their assets. We would seek to sell off or break-up most of the GLCs which control such a substantial portion of economic activity (up to 60% according to some estimates) which has in our view a detrimental effect on the growth of a vibrant private sector in Singapore."
is to win a few seats in the coming May 2011 general election, adding that competition in politics will lead to better and more intelligent policies. He also sounded a warning that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will likely open the floodgates to more foreigners to enter Singapore again once they form the government. "Already you can see that. The Reform Party (Singapore)
was the first to talk about how the government's track record was hollow. They always talk about the high rate of economic growth, but the economic growth is created just by bringing in cheap foreign labour. It is not created by raising the incomes of Singaporeans," he said to loud applause from the audience.
Jeyaretnam criticized the ruling PAP for failing to improve the lives of ordinary Singaporeans as their median incomes have remained stagnant over the last few years, attributing this to the PAP's open-door policies to immigrants. "If at this election you don't take action now, you will expect the floodgates to open again," he warned. Due to the PAP's liberal and pro-immigrant policies, foreigners now make up 40 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 60 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. Jeyaretnam is taking the stance that the next election may be the last window of opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their country after which they may be relegated to being a minority.
Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
in 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 the eldest son of the late opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
.
Family
Kenneth was born in 1959 in Singapore. He is the eldest child of the late Joshua Benjamin JeyaretnamJoshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
(sometimes known as "JBJ") and Margaret Cynthia Walker. Kenneth's parents met in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1950 while studying law at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. JBJ, a barrister, became one of Singapore's most well-known opposition politicians and democracy advocates and was the first opposition member ever to be elected to Singapore's 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...
in 1981. Margaret Walker was a lawyer originally from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was later one of the first women lawyers in Singapore and Registrar of the Diocese of Singapore and Malaysia. Kenneth was followed by a brother who died at birth, and then by Philip Jeyaretnam
Philip Jeyaretnam
Philip Antony Jeyaretnam is a lawyer from Singapore. He is a Senior Counsel in Singapore, former President of the Law Society of Singapore, and a member of the Singapore Public Service Commission. He is also well known as a fiction writer. He is the younger son of the late veteran Singaporean...
who was born in 1964. Kenneth is now married to Amanda Jeyaretnam, with a 14 year-old son, Jared.
Education
In Singapore, Kenneth attended St Andrew's School, followed by the United World College of South East AsiaUnited World College of South East Asia
The United World College of South East Asia is an independent, international school in Singapore. The school's main campus is in Dover Road. A second campus was opened in 2008 in Ang Mo Kio...
. He attended Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in England from 1975-77. From 1978-80 Kenneth returned to Singapore for National Service
National Service in Singapore
Conscription in Singapore, called National Service , requires all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents who have reached the age of 18 to enrol in the military...
. From 1980-83, Kenneth attended Queens' College
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he read economics and graduated with Double First Class Honours. Kenneth is also an alumnus of the Amsterdam Institute of Finance
Amsterdam Institute of Finance
The Amsterdam Institute of Finance, or AIF, is a financial training and education institute in the Netherlands with a focus on global programs. The AIF, which operates as a non-profit foundation, was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between government officials and the Dutch financial...
.
Early career
Upon graduation, Kenneth returned to Singapore where he took up his first employment with Wardley (the merchant banking arm of HSBC in the 1980s), working as an Assistant Manager in the Lending Department. In 1984 Wardley decided to transfer Kenneth overseas and he was sent to work in their Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
branch. This move by his employer coincided with the time of his father's second election victory in 1984. Whilst declining to join his father's Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Singapore
The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...
, Kenneth contributed by writing sections of the party's manifesto dealing with economic policy and articles for the party newsletter The Hammer.
From 1987 to the early-1990s, Kenneth worked in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
for Continental Bank, Banque Indosuez and Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
. He then moved to Nomura
Nomura
Nomura Nomura Nomura (野村 (field village), 埜村 (wilderness field) is a Japanese surname. It can refer to:-Finance:*Nomura Holdings, part of the Nomura Group (also including Nomura Securities Co.)-People:*Don Nomura (born 1957), Japanese-American baseball agent...
International in London as head of Japanese Warrants and later as Proprietary Trader. He met his wife-to-be Amanda while working there. They married in 1995 and had a son in 1997.
From 1998, Kenneth moved on from the Asian derivatives markets to become a hedge fund
Hedge fund
A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...
manager specialising in event–driven investing. He set up and managed his own Funds from 2004-08. During this time in London, Kenneth was an enthusiastic member of the Singapore UK Association (SUKA) and later served on the association's committee working with fellow expat Singaporeans.
Prominence following J.B. Jeyaretnam's death
Kenneth lacked prominence in Singapore until the media attention after his father's death. Kenneth's eulogy at his father's funeral was broadcast over YouTube and other new media sites. Subsequently, Kenneth arranged a memorial event and exhibition, working closely on the project with his father's supporters and civil rights groups.Kenneth Jeyaretnam's media prominence from this time also came about as a result of "The Letter of Condolence" which was sent from the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to both Kenneth and his brother, Philip and printed in full in 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...
on 30 September 2009. This letter, together with an unflattering obituary of his father written by the newspaper's Political Editor, Chua Lee Hoong, was widely denounced by the public. Likewise, opposition politicians stood in unity by echoing their disapproval and disparagement. This was seen by many to have rebounded on the ruling 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....
, and in the media at that time as there were many messages of support for Kenneth and calls on him to take up the mantle of his father.
Joining and leading the Reform Party
In 2007, opposition politician Joshua Benjamin JeyaretnamJoshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
formed the Reform Party (Singapore)
Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
. The survival of the new opposition party seemed to have been in question when he suffered a heart attack and died on 30 September 2008. With the demise of his father, Kenneth began an active role in Singapore politics. He started contributing articles on economic themes to the Singaporean online blog, The Online Citizen. He gave his first public "political" speech alongside other prominent opposition politicians at a memorial event held in memory of his father in Hong Lim Park on New Year's Eve 2008. It was here that Kenneth spoke of his belief that it was possible for Singapore to have both prosperity and liberty. During this period he also started working with prominent non-partisan groups in their campaign to have a chair elected in his father's name and in establishing a foundation for study which will sponsor Singaporean students in Human Rights Law and Politics.
On 10 April 2009 it was announced in The Straits Times and other sources that Kenneth Jeyaretnam had joined the Reform Party (Singapore)
Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
. Assistant Professor Eugene Tan, a law lecturer at Singapore Management University
Singapore Management University
The Singapore Management University was officially incorporated on January 12, 2000, and was Singapore's first private university funded by the government...
, was quoted as saying: "Mr Jeyaretnam has given the Reform Party a tremendous boost given his academic achievements, professional background and political pedigree". Before long, Kenneth was co-opted into the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) and voted into the vacant position of Secretary-General.
Privatization policies
Kenneth Jeyaretnam in a February 2010 statement available on the Reform Party (Singapore)Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
's website indicated that "The Reform Party would go much further though in dismantling or privatizing the whole GLC (Government-linked companies) structure starting with the privatization of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Private Limited is a sovereign wealth fund established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves...
) and Temasek (Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore. With an international staff of 380 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$193 billion at end of March 2011, focused primarily in Asia...
) and giving Singaporean citizens a direct stake, whether through shares, deferred shares or quasi-equity, in their assets. We would seek to sell off or break-up most of the GLCs which control such a substantial portion of economic activity (up to 60% according to some estimates) which has in our view a detrimental effect on the growth of a vibrant private sector in Singapore."
Election rally speeches
In his maiden election speech in late April 2011, Kenneth Jeyaretnam said the objective of the Reform Party (Singapore)Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
is to win a few seats in the coming May 2011 general election, adding that competition in politics will lead to better and more intelligent policies. He also sounded a warning that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will likely open the floodgates to more foreigners to enter Singapore again once they form the government. "Already you can see that. The Reform Party (Singapore)
Reform Party (Singapore)
The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008...
was the first to talk about how the government's track record was hollow. They always talk about the high rate of economic growth, but the economic growth is created just by bringing in cheap foreign labour. It is not created by raising the incomes of Singaporeans," he said to loud applause from the audience.
Jeyaretnam criticized the ruling PAP for failing to improve the lives of ordinary Singaporeans as their median incomes have remained stagnant over the last few years, attributing this to the PAP's open-door policies to immigrants. "If at this election you don't take action now, you will expect the floodgates to open again," he warned. Due to the PAP's liberal and pro-immigrant policies, foreigners now make up 40 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 60 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. Jeyaretnam is taking the stance that the next election may be the last window of opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their country after which they may be relegated to being a minority.