J. B. Jeyaretnam: Politician and activist who fought all his adult life for greater democracy in Singapore

Until the very end, J.B. Jeyaretnam was working for the cause to which he had dedicated so much of his life: fighting for greater democracy in Singapore. The British-trained lawyer turned politician was due to appear in the authoritarian city-state's Supreme Court to try to convince the justices to allow a parliamentary by-election to proceed. He hoped the election would be won by an opponent of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has enjoyed uninterrupted power since the country's independence in 1965.

Indeed, throughout much of his adult life, Jeyaretnam stood as a lone voice against the dominance of the PAP and its founder, Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew (Lee's son, Lee Hsien Loong, currently heads the government.) In 1981, Jeyaretnam became the first opposition politician to win a seat as an MP, breaking, albeit symbolically, the PAP's stranglehold on the machinery of government.

The man who wore long, shaggy sideburns that seemed a throwback to an earlier time might have spent more time in parliament had he not been the victim of politically motivated lawsuits brought against him by his enemies. In 1984, having just been re-elected as an MP for the Workers' Party, he was disbarred after allegedly mis-stating his party's finances. He later appealed to the British Privy Council and won his case.

But Jeyaretnam continued to spend much of his efforts and resources fighting defamation suits and paying damages to members of the government. He served again as an MP between 1997 and 1999 but in 2001, having missed paying an instalment of libel damages by one day, he was declared bankrupt, disbarred and banned from standing in that year's election. He was forced to survive by selling his house and standing on the street selling copies of two books he wrote, Make It Right For Singapore (2000), a collection of speeches he delivered in parliament, and The Hatchet Man of Singapore (2003). His two sons also helped him work off his debts, but having sold off his house in Singapore he was forced to live in the neighbouring Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.

Having finally discharged himself of bankruptcy last year, this April the gravel-voiced politician announced he was setting up the Reform Party as a means of returning to mainstream political life. "I do expect to get back in parliament," he told one interviewer. "But it's not for personal power but because I genuinely feel sorry for the people in Singapore. I am talking about the dispossessed, the underprivileged people, which make up a huge number. I am not talking about our bankers and wealthy people, who are perhaps not interested in human rights."

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was born in 1926 to a Tamil family during a family visit to what is now Sri Lanka. His father was an employee of the public works department in Johor, Malaya (now Malaysia) and as a young boy he attended the Anglican St Andrews School in Singapore. Later he attended University College, London where he met his future wife, Margaret Walker, whom he married in 1957. The couple then returned to Singapore, where he began his legal career.

Entering politics at a time when the island was dominated by the PAP, Jeyaretnam joined the Workers' Party, rising gradually through the ranks to become leader in 1971. This followed a period when the political opposition had been decimated, following a move in 1963 by the PAP to arrest and imprison dozens of opposition activists in a notorious crackdown known as Operation Coldstore.

Jeyaretnam described himself as a man of faith and credited his Anglican convictions with giving him the strength to continue his struggle in the face of overwhelming odds. And away from politics he maintained other interests. A keen reader of English novels, he was particularly fond of George Orwell, E.M. Forster and Somerset Maugham, who he said had a "humanist bent to the writing". He was also a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.

Though known for his old-school ways, he also made more than a passing nod to modernity. As part of his efforts to reform Singapore's politics, he and his supporters had set up a blog. The last entry was posted a couple of weeks before his death and detailed his filing of a lawsuit against the prime minister for refusing to hold the disputed by-election.

The veteran campaigner was taken to hospital in the early hours of 30September, having spent the day in court on an unrelated case. He had complained of breathing difficulties and was taken to the city's Tan Tock Seng Hospital. There he died of heart failure.

Andrew Buncombe

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, lawyer and politician: born 5 January 1926; married 1957 Margaret Walker (died 1980; two sons); died Singapore 30 September 2008.

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