<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Oct 2, 2008
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Outpouring of love for JBJ <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
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View more photos
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->INSURANCE agent Patrick Low yesterday laid a bouquet of 80 roses and two sunflowers by a portrait of the late Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam, who died at the age of 82 early on Tuesday morning.
The roses symbolised the admiration Mr Low felt for the late opposition politician, whom he had not known personally.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Tribute from opposition colleague
A HEALTHIER and fitter Chiam See Tong turned up at the wake of his opposition colleague J. B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
The Potong Pasir MP, 73, was accompanied by his wife and members from his Singapore People's Party (SPP).
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Mr Low, 64, also left a poem that he had composed in 1996 entitled The Man From Anson.
It was a tribute to the former Workers' Party (WP) chief who broke the People's Action Party's 15-year monopoly of seats in Parliament with his 1981 win in Anson. Mr Jeyaretnam later read out Mr Low's poem at an election rally.
Whether they knew him from afar or up close, many who went to the Mount Vernon funeral parlour yesterday to pay their last respects said they admired Mr Jeyaretnam for having fought hard and tirelessly for his beliefs.
The steady stream of visitors included High Court judges Chao Hick Tin and Kan Ting Chiu, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, opposition MP Chiam See Tong and PAP MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah.
Mr Jeyaretnam's son, Philip, estimated that nearly 1,000 people were at the wake yesterday. Another 300 went on Tuesday night.
President S R Nathan and his wife sent a wreath, as did Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang.
Former WP chairman Wong Hong Toy, 70, was still coming to terms with his old friend's death.
An emotional Mr Wong said he only found out yesterday morning as he had been away on a cruise.
He managed a smile though, when he recalled Mr Jeyaretnam's excitement in 1981 when the final tally showed he had won the Anson seat by just 653 votes.
Mr Wong, his election agent, recalled: 'When I told Ben that we had won, he didn't believe me. But later when it was confirmed, he was so excited that I had to tell him to calm down.'
Senior Counsel K. S. Rajah, 78, and National University of Singapore law dean Tan Cheng Han praised Mr Jeyaretnam's courage for speaking his mind in an era when others held back out of fear.
Calling him a trailblazer, Professor Tan said: 'He led the way for Singaporeans to express their views.'
Mr Rajah said: 'At a time when people didn't speak loudly or clearly what they thought, he was prepared to do so.'
But Mr Rajah also observed that Mr Jeyaretnam stuck to a confrontational style of politics, even though Singapore had a 'Confucian model' of democracy where people expected those in positions of authority to be accorded respect.
Mr Teo Chong Tee, a PAP MP for Changi from 1976 to 1996, was also at the wake.
He said Mr Jeyaretnam's perseverance was a quality that aspiring young politicians here should emulate.
'I respected the late JBJ as a political opponent who possessed very strong will-power to fight for what he believed in,' he told The Straits Times.
From the messages in the condolence book, it would seem that many Singaporeans agreed that Mr Jeyaretnam had indeed fought the good fight.
One man who signed off as Jonathon called him a 'hero' who would be 'sorely missed'.
Mr Jeyaretnam's younger son Philip, a Senior Counsel, said the family was delighted to see the outpouring of love and support from Singaporeans.
'We know that our father is someone who in a way belongs to all Singaporeans,' he said.
'We're very happy to provide an opportunity for people to pay their respects to him, even if they have not met or spoken with him.'
The wake ends on Saturday, when a church service will be held at Saint Andrews Cathedral in the afternoon before cremation at Mandai. [email protected]
Tribute from opposition colleague
A HEALTHIER and fitter Chiam See Tong turned up at the wake of his opposition colleague J. B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
The Potong Pasir MP, 73, was accompanied by his wife and members from his Singapore People's Party (SPP).
He told The Straits Times he was feeling much better now, thanks to weekly acupuncture and acupressure sessions. He had a mild stroke in February.
Said Mr Chiam: 'I've never absented myself from functions that I'm required to go, such as Parliament sittings, functions and meet the people sessions.'
He said he remembered Mr Jeyaretnam as a good speaker in Parliament who never let anything that he thought was unfair pass. He also described him as someone 'a bit ahead of his time', because of his tendency to speak on issues such as human rights.
Another lesson he learned from the former MP for Anson: The opposition must unite. 'The opposition must change its strategy, that is, to unite and contest the PAP with a bigger force,' said Mr Chiam.
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Outpouring of love for JBJ <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->INSURANCE agent Patrick Low yesterday laid a bouquet of 80 roses and two sunflowers by a portrait of the late Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam, who died at the age of 82 early on Tuesday morning.
The roses symbolised the admiration Mr Low felt for the late opposition politician, whom he had not known personally.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Tribute from opposition colleague
A HEALTHIER and fitter Chiam See Tong turned up at the wake of his opposition colleague J. B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
The Potong Pasir MP, 73, was accompanied by his wife and members from his Singapore People's Party (SPP).
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Mr Low, 64, also left a poem that he had composed in 1996 entitled The Man From Anson.
It was a tribute to the former Workers' Party (WP) chief who broke the People's Action Party's 15-year monopoly of seats in Parliament with his 1981 win in Anson. Mr Jeyaretnam later read out Mr Low's poem at an election rally.
Whether they knew him from afar or up close, many who went to the Mount Vernon funeral parlour yesterday to pay their last respects said they admired Mr Jeyaretnam for having fought hard and tirelessly for his beliefs.
The steady stream of visitors included High Court judges Chao Hick Tin and Kan Ting Chiu, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, opposition MP Chiam See Tong and PAP MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah.
Mr Jeyaretnam's son, Philip, estimated that nearly 1,000 people were at the wake yesterday. Another 300 went on Tuesday night.
President S R Nathan and his wife sent a wreath, as did Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang.
Former WP chairman Wong Hong Toy, 70, was still coming to terms with his old friend's death.
An emotional Mr Wong said he only found out yesterday morning as he had been away on a cruise.
He managed a smile though, when he recalled Mr Jeyaretnam's excitement in 1981 when the final tally showed he had won the Anson seat by just 653 votes.
Mr Wong, his election agent, recalled: 'When I told Ben that we had won, he didn't believe me. But later when it was confirmed, he was so excited that I had to tell him to calm down.'
Senior Counsel K. S. Rajah, 78, and National University of Singapore law dean Tan Cheng Han praised Mr Jeyaretnam's courage for speaking his mind in an era when others held back out of fear.
Calling him a trailblazer, Professor Tan said: 'He led the way for Singaporeans to express their views.'
Mr Rajah said: 'At a time when people didn't speak loudly or clearly what they thought, he was prepared to do so.'
But Mr Rajah also observed that Mr Jeyaretnam stuck to a confrontational style of politics, even though Singapore had a 'Confucian model' of democracy where people expected those in positions of authority to be accorded respect.
Mr Teo Chong Tee, a PAP MP for Changi from 1976 to 1996, was also at the wake.
He said Mr Jeyaretnam's perseverance was a quality that aspiring young politicians here should emulate.
'I respected the late JBJ as a political opponent who possessed very strong will-power to fight for what he believed in,' he told The Straits Times.
From the messages in the condolence book, it would seem that many Singaporeans agreed that Mr Jeyaretnam had indeed fought the good fight.
One man who signed off as Jonathon called him a 'hero' who would be 'sorely missed'.
Mr Jeyaretnam's younger son Philip, a Senior Counsel, said the family was delighted to see the outpouring of love and support from Singaporeans.
'We know that our father is someone who in a way belongs to all Singaporeans,' he said.
'We're very happy to provide an opportunity for people to pay their respects to him, even if they have not met or spoken with him.'
The wake ends on Saturday, when a church service will be held at Saint Andrews Cathedral in the afternoon before cremation at Mandai. [email protected]
Tribute from opposition colleague
A HEALTHIER and fitter Chiam See Tong turned up at the wake of his opposition colleague J. B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
The Potong Pasir MP, 73, was accompanied by his wife and members from his Singapore People's Party (SPP).
He told The Straits Times he was feeling much better now, thanks to weekly acupuncture and acupressure sessions. He had a mild stroke in February.
Said Mr Chiam: 'I've never absented myself from functions that I'm required to go, such as Parliament sittings, functions and meet the people sessions.'
He said he remembered Mr Jeyaretnam as a good speaker in Parliament who never let anything that he thought was unfair pass. He also described him as someone 'a bit ahead of his time', because of his tendency to speak on issues such as human rights.
Another lesson he learned from the former MP for Anson: The opposition must unite. 'The opposition must change its strategy, that is, to unite and contest the PAP with a bigger force,' said Mr Chiam.
