Chee Soon Juan
| Chee Soon Juan | |
|---|---|
| 徐顺全 | |
 |
|
| Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party | |
|
Assumed office 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Chiam See Tong |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 July 1962 Singapore |
| Political party | Singapore Democratic Party (1992) |
| Spouse(s) | Huang Chih-Mei (黄智美) |
| Alma mater |
Mansfield University University of Georgia |
| Profession | Politician, activist |
| Website | cheesoonjuan.com |
Chee Soon Juan (simplified Chinese: 徐顺全; traditional Chinese: 徐順全; pinyin: Xú Shùnquán, born 20 July 1962) is a Singaporean politician. He is currently the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
A figure in Singapore's political opposition, Chee has been arrested and jailed several times for his political activities, mainly for making speeches and staging public demonstrations without a police permit. He has also been found guilty of defamation on multiple occasions for comments he has made about members of Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP). He was previously barred from standing in parliamentary elections because he was declared bankrupt in 2006 after failing to pay damages from a lawsuit owed to two former Singaporean prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. However, on 24 September 2012, Chee announced that he had raised the sum of S$30,000 needed to pay Lee and Goh. His bankruptcy has since been discharged, which has allowed him to contest the 2015 Singaporean general election.
Chee joined the SDP in 1992, and became its Secretary-General following the ousting of the party's founder, Chiam See Tong (with whom Chee and the rest of the party's leadership have had a number of disagreements). The party had three Members of Parliament (MPs) at the time Chee took over as Secretary-General, but was reduced to no MPs at the 1997 general election and has not had any of its members elected to Parliament since then.
Chee is the Chairman of the Asian Alliance for Reforms and Democracy. He was awarded a Hellman/Hammett Writers Grant by Human Rights Watch in recognition of his courage in face of political persecution in Singapore, he is also a recipient of Parliamentarians for Global Action's "Defender of Democracy" award in 2003 and Liberal International's "Prize for Freedom" award in 2011. In 2006, Chee was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.
...
Wikipedia