Background and Early Career
An Anglican Christian of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Jeyaretnam was educated at St Andrew's School in Singapore, before going on to read law at University College London.
Singapore became an independent country in 1965, and at the first post-independence general election in 1968, the People's Action Party (PAP) won all 51 of the seats in Parliament after the main opposition party at the time, the Barisan Sosialis, boycotted the elections. The PAP maintained this 100% electoral record at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 general elections and all intervening by-elections up to 1981.
In 1971, Jeyaretnam led a group of lawyers who took over the opposition Workers' Party (WP, which had been founded in 1957 by Singapore's former Chief Minister, David Marshall, but had become a fairly small and insignificant party during the 1960s), and became the party's Secretary-General.
Jeyaretnam first stood for Parliament in at the 1972 general election, when he contested the Farrer Park constituency and lost to the PAP's Lee Chiaw Meng by 23.1% of the vote to 73.8% (with a third candidate taking 3.1%). At the 1976 general election, he contested Kampong Chai Chee, and lost to the PAP's Andrew Fong by 40.1% to 59.9%. In 1977, he contested a by-election in Radin Mas, and was defeated by PAP candidate Bernard Chen by 29.4% to 70.6%. He then contested Telok Blangah at a 1979 by-election and the 1980 election, losing to the PAP's Rohan bin Kamis both times by 38.8% to 61.2% in 1979, and by 47.0% to 53.0% in 1980.
Read more about this topic: J. B. Jeyaretnam
Famous quotes containing the words background and, background, early and/or career:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“I do not know that I meet, in any of my Walks, Objects which move both my Spleen and Laughter so effectually, as those Young Fellows ... who rise early for no other Purpose but to publish their Laziness.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“From a hasty glance through the various tests I figure it out that I would be classified in Group B, indicating “Low Average Ability,” reserved usually for those just learning to speak the English Language and preparing for a career of holding a spike while another man hits it.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)