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