Singapore opposition party’s Kenneth Jeyaretnam dies at 67

 Kenneth Jeyaretnam died peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family, his wife said, without providing further details on the cause of death.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam was the son of the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, the first opposition politician to win a seat against the ruling People’s Action Party in 1981. (AFP pic)

SINGAPORE:

Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the leader of Singapore’s opposition Reform Party, has died. He was 67.

Kenneth, the party’s secretary-general, died on Saturday, his wife Amanda wrote in a Facebook post.

“He died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family,” Amanda wrote on Sunday, without providing further details on the cause of death.

Kenneth was the son of the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, the first opposition politician to win a seat against the ruling People’s Action Party in 1981. The elder Jeyaretnam, popularly known by his initials JBJ or simply JB, died in 2008, and his son became the Reform Party’s chief the following year.

Kenneth ran in general elections in 2011, 2015 and 2020, when he led a team to contest in a group representation constituency, or GRC. He also competed in a by-election in 2013. He failed to win a Parliament seat in any of the contests.

In July 2024, Kenneth said he was in the UK and had been seriously ill with deep vein thrombosis, a bilateral pulmonary embolism and other health issues.

He said the illnesses prevented him from making long-haul flights, which he cited as the reason he could not return to Singapore to face questioning by authorities over his social media posts.

In April 2025, he said he was unable to compete in elections the following month on the advice of his doctors due to health issues. - FMT