Chee Soon Juan’s term as SDP Secretary-General (1993-present) has been wasted and unremarkable
So after 24 years with Chee Soon Juan at helm, the SDP CEC is not in the throes of choosing a new leader. But who becomes the next SDP Sec-Gen should not be as important as whether he (or she) has the gumption to lead the party in a new direction for the current that we’re on is taking us nowhere – and fast.
The winding up of Dr Chee Soon Juan’s Sec-Genship will, when it happens in a distant future, if everything goes according to how he has planned it, end in an unremarkable manner. This contrasts with the fanfare that greeted him in 1992 when he first joined SDP.
As a first academic from a state-run university to contest against the ruling party in an election, and therefore a member of what some described as an “exceptional and talented group”, much of the country held high hopes for this newly minted opposition leader.
But nearly two decades-and-a-half later, it’s hard to point to any achievement of import under Dr Chee’s leadership.
Rather, what has stood out are blights on the political landscape that will define his dispiriting legacy. Dr Chee’s tenure, dogged by debacle after outrageous debacle most of which were of his own contrivance, has been mired in controversy, rancour and distrust. Its end should come sooner.
The most significant scandal, by far, is when he ousted his own mentor, Mr Chiam See Tong, from the party that the latter founded, and took the reins for himself. Mr Chiam went so far as to declare that Dr Chee was a megalomaniac.
More at http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/2018/01/wasted-sdp-sec-genship/
So after 24 years with Chee Soon Juan at helm, the SDP CEC is not in the throes of choosing a new leader. But who becomes the next SDP Sec-Gen should not be as important as whether he (or she) has the gumption to lead the party in a new direction for the current that we’re on is taking us nowhere – and fast.
The winding up of Dr Chee Soon Juan’s Sec-Genship will, when it happens in a distant future, if everything goes according to how he has planned it, end in an unremarkable manner. This contrasts with the fanfare that greeted him in 1992 when he first joined SDP.
As a first academic from a state-run university to contest against the ruling party in an election, and therefore a member of what some described as an “exceptional and talented group”, much of the country held high hopes for this newly minted opposition leader.
But nearly two decades-and-a-half later, it’s hard to point to any achievement of import under Dr Chee’s leadership.
Rather, what has stood out are blights on the political landscape that will define his dispiriting legacy. Dr Chee’s tenure, dogged by debacle after outrageous debacle most of which were of his own contrivance, has been mired in controversy, rancour and distrust. Its end should come sooner.
The most significant scandal, by far, is when he ousted his own mentor, Mr Chiam See Tong, from the party that the latter founded, and took the reins for himself. Mr Chiam went so far as to declare that Dr Chee was a megalomaniac.
More at http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/2018/01/wasted-sdp-sec-genship/
He was overcome by bitterness and self-denial. Chee is in fact viewed as a very formidable threat to the PAP. He has been much persecuted; jailed and called all sorts of names including congenital liar, rude, uncouth, loud-hailer and what-nots by people who hates and despises him. But to those who knows him, he is a genuine person and a good family man.
