I was no “protege”: Chee Soon Juan

March 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under: SDP, TODAY newspaper 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Why did Dr Chee’s letter appear only in the online edition, but not the print edition? Clearly another example of blatant media bias.

Tuesday • March 10, 2009

TODAY newspaper (Link)
Letter from Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General, Singapore Democratic Party

MR LOH Chee Kong’s description of the Singapore Democratic Party in “A politician who hates politics” (Feb 28, March 01) is misleading and mischievous.

Mr Loh equates the “darker side of politics” with the fact that Mr Chiam was “ousted from the very party he had founded in 1980”.

Mr Chiam was never ousted from any party. He had resigned as secretary-general after he was out-voted over a motion he had tabled in a Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting.

Each CEC member is entitled to a vote on all matters governing the party. Mr Loh equates this with the “darker side” of politics. No wonder we are still under one-party rule even in the new millenium.

Mr Loh describes me as Mr Chiam’s protege who had come into the party and subsequently kicked Mr Chiam out. This is the kind of propaganda that the PAP has been spouting all these years in the state media to turn the people against me.

I had not met Mr Chiam before I joined the party and had minimal contact with him or any one in the SDP before I stood for the by-election in 1992. I could not have been anyone’s protege because a protege is someone trained or groomed by another for a particular line of work.

Like many in the Opposition, I joined politics because I heeded my country’s call for freedom and democracy, not because anyone had encouraged me or taken me as their protege. Being groomed by a mentor takes place only in an autocratic party. In a democratic one, we prefer to rely on leaders who have the necessary vision and courage to step forward and convince his fellow members that he is worthy of their support.

Mr Loh’s report is bent on dredging up an issue that happened 17 years ago with the obvious attempt to continue the discord between Mr Chiam and I as well as to continue to turn public opinion against the SDP.

The facts as to how Mr Chiam left the SDP are explained fully and clearly on the SDP website. Why did Mr Loh ignore this in his report?

Mr Chiam and I have spoken cordially to each other at a luncheon at the United States Ambassador’s residence last year and we met again at the Reform Party’s inauguration dinner in 2008.

I have on separate occasions indicated that while we may have our differences, my colleagues and I bear no ill-will towards Mr Chiam. In fact we wish him and his party all the best in their endeavours. Perhaps, your newspaper finds this hard to swallow.

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4 Comments on I was no “protege”: Chee Soon Juan

  1. The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 11 March 2009 on Wed, 11th Mar 2009 11:34 am

    2. [...] the Opposition – Sgpolitics.net: I was no “protege”: Chee Soon Juan – Singabloodypore: The media’s agenda against the Singapore Democrats – eternalhap: We need some [...]

  2. The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Weekly Roundup: Week 11 on Sat, 14th Mar 2009 11:51 am

    3. [...] the Opposition – Sgpolitics.net: I was no “protege”: Chee Soon Juan – Singabloodypore: The media’s agenda against the Singapore Democrats – eternalhap: We need some [...]

  3. The mainstream media’s clear bias for the political elite : Sgpolitics.net on Sun, 29th Mar 2009 6:25 am

    4. [...] More recently, in early March this year, the TODAY newspaper published a column in the print edition repeating lies and falsehoods about Dr Chee Soon Juan’s historical political relationship with Mr Chiam See Toong — falsehoods that have been been perpetuated by the mainstream media countless times over the years. Reporter Mr Loh Chee Kong took aim at the Singapore Democrats and accused them of practising the “darker side of politics” by “ousting” Mr Chiam from the party in the 1990s, completely and irresponsibly ignoring the fact that Chiam resigned from the party on his own accord, and that he had done so after executive committee members voted against a motion that he himself tabled. The Singapore Democrats were not given any chance to clarify the situation in the mainstream press. Dr Chee Soon Juan’s letter to TODAY was only published in the online edition, where the readership is many times smaller than that of the print edition. (See here and here.) [...]

  4. Chee Soon Juan on Muttons to Midnight, 98.7FM « Unbranded Bread n Butter on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 11:32 am

    5. [...] Chee: HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL EVERYONE THAT I WAS NEVER HIS PROTÉGÉ??!!? I joined politics as it as a calling! A calling form the U.S.. to make sure lee kuan yew doesn’t [...]

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