Why Ang Mo Kio? Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam cites JBJ link
SINGAPORE — Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam said his party intended to contest Ang Mo Kio GRC in part due to historical reasons, with his father J B Jeyaretnam having run for elections in Cheng San 18 years ago.
Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam talks to the press at a walkabout on Aug 15. Photo: Loke Kok Fai/Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE — Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam said his party intended to contest Ang Mo Kio GRC in part due to historical reasons, with his father J B Jeyaretnam having run for elections in Cheng San 18 years ago.
“Much as we’re motivated to serve the residents of Ang Mo Kio, and we think we can do an excellent job of running the town council, a large part of Ang Mo Kio was in the old Cheng San GRC where the founder of the Reform Party stood in 1997 and almost won,” said Mr Jeyaretnam.
His father contested what was then known as Cheng San GRC, which included parts of Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Sengkang and Punggol, under the Workers Party ticket in 1997. His team - which also included Mr Tang Liang Hong, who would be successfully sued by several PAP leaders for defamatory statements made during the campaign - won 45.2 per cent of the vote.
The senior Jeyaretnam would go on to form the Reform Party in June 2008, but died in September that year. In the 2011 General Election, his son led an RP team to contest Ang Mo Kio GRC and took 30.7 per cent of the vote.
Speaking to reporters at a walkabout at Cheng San market on the same day the incumbent People’s Action Party named their Ang Mo Kio slate for the coming General Election, Mr Jeyaretnam was said the party was not ready to reveal its lineup until closer to Nomination Day.
However, he said he and party Chairman Andy Zhu were possible candidates for the polls.
Mr Jeyaretnam declined to comment on the PAP’s Ang Mo Kio GRC candidates until the party had the chance to “properly study it”. CHANNEL NEWSASIA