Reform Party (Singapore)
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The Reform Party
革新党 |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Leader | Kenneth Jeyaretnam |
| Chairman | Andy Zhu |
| Spokesperson | Secretary General and Chairperson |
| Founded | 3 July 2008 |
| Headquarters | 18A Smith Street Singapore 058932 |
| Newspaper | The New Dawn |
| Youth wing | Young Reformers |
| Ideology |
Liberalism Liberal democracy Libertarianism |
| Colours | Yellow |
| Parliament |
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| Website | |
| reform.sg | |
The Reform Party is a liberal democratic political party in the Republic of Singapore. According to the party's constitution, it seeks to promote "political, social and economic reform; the restoration of full human rights; a fairer and just distribution of wealth with the elimination of poverty; an independently appointed judiciary and a fully elected and sovereign parliament". Its stated philosophy is "That every member of the society is born with fundamental rights which cannot be abrogated... and that it is the paramount duty of the society to promote the human dignity of its every single member."
It was founded by opposition veteran Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam and officially registered on 3 July 2008. JBJ, as he is popularly known, died three months later on 7 September 2008.
The Reform Party was founded by lawyer and veteran politician Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam. J.B. Jeyaretnam was the first opposition candidate to be elected Member of Parliament under the Workers' Party of Singapore banner after a period of about 16 years when not a single opposition candidate in Singapore won a seat. J.B. Jeyaretnam was formerly the secretary-general of the Workers’ Party from 1971 to 2001.
In 2001, J.B. Jeyaretnam was successfully sued for libel by Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong and was made to pay total damages of S$565,000 and court costs of S$270,000. After missing a damages payment by one day, he was declared bankrupt, disbarred and barred from participating in elections. He resigned from the Workers' Party of Singapore because he perceived that he was not receiving due support from his party colleagues. He had been its long-time secretary-general. He authored the books Make it Right for Singapore and The Hatchet Man of Singapore and was often seen promoting his books outside Centrepoint, a shopping centre on Orchard Road. He was discharged from bankruptcy in 2007.
The Reform Party was officially registered on 3 July 2008. J.B. Jeyaretnam was its first, pro-tem Secretary-General. On 30 September 2008, he died following a heart attack. Over a thousand mourners attended his funeral service. J.B. Jeyaretnam's son, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who lived in UK with his British family and had previously never participated in politics directly, took over as secretary-general in April 2009.
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Wikipedia