Chee Soon Juan was willing to let Chiam See Tong helm SDP in 2011

SINGAPORE — Seeking to debunk the “myth” that Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan had forced Mr Chiam See Tong out of the party, the SDP’s Bryan Lim yesterday (Sept 7) recounted how Dr Chee had been willing to work with Mr Chiam in 2011 and bring him back to the party he founded.

Dr Chee and the Chiams had mulled over the possibility of Mr Chiam leading a team to contest in a group representation constituency (GRC) in the General Election, said Mr Lim yesterday at the SDP’s lunchtime rally.

Dr Chee, who held several talks with the Chiams, even helped Mr Chiam prepare a speech for the SDP’s podcast, and planned a series of events leading to Mr Chiam’s imminent return by the party’s anniversary dinner.

“Unfortunately, the Chiams felt the series of events were too sudden, and wanted to postpone the plan. The whole proposal eventually collapsed, and with it, a historic moment in Singapore’s political scene,” said Mr Lim, who is one of the SDP candidates standing in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

When contacted, Mrs Lina Chiam, chairman of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and Mr Chiam’s wife, said they had “a friendly talk” on the possibility of a joint team, but things did not go that far.

“Maybe it was also too sudden or too early. We hadn’t decided on that part (whether Chiam will be a mentoring figure). We hadn’t decided on whether we wanted (the joint team) or not,” she said.

Dr Chee was Mr Chiam’s one-time protege, until the two fell out over Dr Chee’s dismissal from the National University of Singapore. Mr Chiam left in 1993 and formed the SPP.

The attempt to bring Mr Chiam back to the SDP was chronicled by Opposition commentator and former Workers’ Party candidate Wong Wee Nam in a book he wrote about Dr Chee, which was released earlier this year. In an excerpt shared on the SDP website, Dr Wong revealed how he had engineered a meeting between Dr Chee and Mr Chiam, and how Dr Chee had readily agreed to the idea when proposed.

The plan, said Dr Wong, was to help Mr Chiam leave a lasting legacy as a leader who was “magnanimous and had big ideas”, not a one-man show who could not work with other opposition parties.

Within days of the first meeting at SDP assistant secretary-general John Tan’s house, where a “frank and cordial discussion took place”, Dr Chee and Mr Chiam no longer had reservations about meeting in public, said Dr Wong.

Their subsequent meeting took place at Trishaw Coffeehouse in Hotel Royal, at the suggestion of Mr Chiam, who held memories of holding SDP meetings there, he added.

Speaking at the rally, Mr Lim said Mr Chiam was “always aware that the SDP had always acknowledged him as the founder” and the party has never “closed our doors on him”.

“The party has always held the belief that if Mr Chiam rejoins the SDP, the electorate will take this as a positive sign of Opposition unity,” said Mr Lim.

Mr Chiam had resigned of his own accord, he stressed, adding the SDP leadership had persuaded him to stay. “No one could deny that Dr Chee had willingly made way for Mr Chiam to head the party (in 2011),” he said. Additional reporting by VALERIE KOH