Kenneth Jeyaretnam is the Secretary-General of the Reform Party. He is also the eldest son of the late JB Jeyaretnam. This speech was delivered on 5 Jan 2010 during a JBJ Birthday Memorial held at Speaker’s Corner.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
January 5th, as you all probably know, was my late father JBJ’s birthday and is therefore a fitting day to pay tribute to a man who played a significant and groundbreaking part in the history of our Nation. Unfortunately for Singaporeans this history is not indelible and in fact his role has already been seriously misrepresented.
Within days of his death the government campaign to re-write history went into full swing, commencing with a mealy-mouthed obituary in the ST that gave us a foretaste of the official position to come. This was followed up by an appallingly misjudged letter, supposedly of condolence, by our Prime Minister, who characterised JBJ as “a man out to destroy the PAP and our whole system of government”. This letter, which somehow mysteriously failed to console me, not only assassinated JBJ but also implied that the institutions of the Nation are synonymous with PAP. Conversely to express a contrary view to the PAP must somehow in itself be seditious.
Naturally I disagree and refuting the PAP version of history is how I wish to remember JBJ today. His legacy belongs to our Nation and is more important than any one party, creed or cause. I have been accused of engaging in a war of words when it comes to protecting JBJ’s reputation. But after all what is propaganda, censorship and repression if it is not a war of words? In fact what is Parliament if it is not a place for debate? What indeed is a life if it is lacking in engagement?
Those of us here who are old enough to remember Anson, to have spent time with JBJ and even witnessed him in action have the necessary tools to protect his legacy. But the youth of this country were not even born when JBJ broke that 14 year period of unbroken one party rule so I am delighted to see so many here today honouring ‘The Old Warrior’. They can play their part by reading his speeches, our constitution and the declaration of independence. The article on TOC today is a good start. Remember that wanting a better country is a deeply patriotic act. It is an act of creation, not one of destruction.
In many other countries he would be held up as a hero with statues and foundations in his name. Here in 2008 efforts by some of the civil society activists such as Braema Mathi and Dana Lam to establish a scholarship at NUS or another local university in his memory, came to naught after they were taken aside and discreetly told that, as JBJ was a criminal, no scholarship or chair in his name could be established. This is a perfect example of why we need to remind people that the UK Privy Council, in their judgement restoring him to legal practice, said that his conviction was “a grievous miscarriage of justice”.
The Privy Council, while stating they were unable to right this wrong because of a technicality, implied strongly that Singapore should set it aside and reinstate JBJ in his seat in Parliament. Instead, as I’m sure you all know, this current government’s response was to abolish appeals to the Privy Council. Any history of JBJ which does not mention this judgement, such as The Singapore Infopedia entry, is following the state sanctioned line and you should treat it with suspicion.
The ultimate aim of this re-writing of history is not to wipe out any traces of JBJ altogether but rather to misrepresent him so he can be used as a Bogey man to frighten you, the people of Singapore, into obedience.
If JBJ were here today and The Bogey man of democracy and freedom was dangled in front of him I believe he would say something like, “My dear people there is no need to be afraid. You are not children and should not be insulted as such. Live your lives with dignity and take pride in the society and come forward in your way to build the society you want in the future.”
May he rest in peace always loved, often challenged but never forgotten!
Selected JBJ Birthday Memorial speeches:
- Kenneth Jeyaretnam: Stop re-writing history!
- Justin Ong: JBJ is my inspiration
- James Gomez: JBJ is Singapore’s democratic ideal
Related posts:
- Kenneth Jeyaretnam joins TOC’s writing team
- Ex-detainee Vincent Cheng barred from speaking in history seminar
- An affront to Singapore’s history
- Declassified documents and a revision of our history?
- London’s history, Singapore’s future?
This is the Information age…the real truth will always out. Even if our national history is filled with spin from now on, there will be a time when there will be revisionist history. People can decide for themselves.
I dearly miss darling JBJ. He is a HERO even of our present time.
I can always feel the presence of his WONDERFUL SPIRIT, cruising above our red dot. I DO FEEL ASSURED WITH HIS PRESENCE HERE, TO BRING ABOUT JUSTICE AND IT WILL BE SO EVENTUALLY.. BLESS US JBJ and please don’t forget to HOVER over parliament house and the istana within reach of oxley rd.
Its such a tragedy that JBJ left us suddenly.
But JBJ had done all he could.
I have faith that KJ, a well regarded politician, can keep the flame alive.
KJ is young. He can outlive. That is his Edge. His other edge is his Gift of the Gap.
Persevere and you Will Succeed, i am that sure!
Now, the Trex has to contend with young Arthur.
While young and smaller, Trex is getting Old, even fragile as the day goes by.
One day, Arthur will use his Excalibur and execute the Trex in 1 swift swing of the mighty sword.
The dawn of a new beginning…
KJ:
A man whom I respect for his dedication and persverance to his calling to serve. I counted myself fortunate to be almost in the Anson constitutency,if not for the redrawing of the boundary to place Henderson under T Pagar.
I am blessed to have met JBJ in person several occasions, the last being at People’s Park MRT station selling the Hammer.
I wore the T-shirt.
KJ,
Another well articulated piece.
I totally agree with you.
I have high hopes for RP to make a significant difference to the political landscape in the coming elections.
Please keep it up and further enhance the JBJ legacy.
The movie Invictus is really good. and as i read this article, i cant help but feel that someday, JBJ’s name, reputation and position in history would be restored while some other politician whose name is venerated only because of the state-controlled media will have the truth exposed on it.
Nelson mandela spent 27 yrs in prison. but he was re-instated. the day will come when the name of JBJ will also be.
JBJ is a respectable gentlemen who’s not afraid to stand up to tyranny at all cost. We all used to see him stand outside Centrepoint when he was still alive, selling his WP papers. Many passing by would shake his hand. Despite what the media paints him out to be NOT, many many Singaporeans know the truth and respects & admire him.
You will NEVER see any MIW standing in public like him. If you observe these MIW carefully when they go on their heartland election rally rounds on their vehicle “waving” to residents in their blocks, you can see the smirk and general reluctance to show face. They are merely doing it for show. In their twisted minds, they are saying inside, “Bloody waste time, just give me the damn votes la. I’ll win anyways. Even if I don’t by feak accident, I’ll be put somewhere without portfolio. Can I go play golf now with Tiger ???!!!” Ahem.
Sigh. Back to my fake forced smile and damn, another auntie/uncle to wave to …..lelong, lelong ! :P
I have a mind of my own and I do not think I am dumb enough to be “frightened into obedience”.
Kenneth J should just wake up from his dream that all of us are such cowards that even under the “oppression” that him and compatriots keep painting as the case is in Singapore, we are unable to fight back at all.
Please. This is not the era of Emperor Shi Huang Di. If I think someone feeds me shit, I’d be dumb to keep eating. And if you want to come back and fight in Singapore’s politics, please don’t try to make yourself up to be a martyr. You have not earned it.
13) Sibehhoe….”please don’t try to make yourself up to be a martyr. You have not earned it.”
Hear hear. Spoken like a true bred LOSER.
And please don’t try to flatter yourself up to be a MIW wannabe bootlicking martyr. You can never come close to earn it.
FYI, MIW have their own selection inner circle.
LOL :D :)
nonsense: pray tell.. “Spoken like a true bred LOSER”… Urm.. how? Just because I refuse to conform and agree with you? Loser who?
“If JBJ were here today and The Bogey man of democracy and freedom was dangled in front of him I believe he would say something like, ‘My dear people there is no need to be afraid. You are not children and should not be insulted as such. Live your lives with dignity and take pride in the society and come forward in your way to build the society you want in the future.’”
Dear Kenneth,
No, he wouldn’t. He would not have spoken down to the people in the paternalistic manner you impute to him, which manner is everything that he stood against.
Regards.
Kenneth
Your father, JBJ, was a lion. A true Singapore hero.
And reading your article saddens me, but only partly because JBJ is gone.
Mainly I am saddened because you seem to be defending him. He does not need defending.
They say that he was against the system. What’s to defend? He was against the pernicious system of sycophancy that is the hallmark of the governance of our country. He was against the suppression of honest views, and he was against the captivity of the institutions (or quasi-institutions) of state. What’s to defend?
I have heard so many supposedly eminent Singaporeans speak sagely about the virtues of speaking truth to authority. They know all the poems about the virtues of protecting the rights of others. But when the chips are down, these same people turn into the self serving sycophants who will later laugh at the people who actually do it.
Your father was unlike them. He had the courage of his convictions. He spoke truth to authority and he paid the price for it.
He does not need defending.
PS: since our Finance Minister is also a criminal (having been convicted of a crime under the Official Secrets Act), I assume there will never be a chair in his name.
re write history? why dun kenneth do just that?