Veteran opposition politician Chiam See Tong’s daughter Camilla Chiam shared a heartfelt message thanking her dad for his guidance on the occasion of Father’s Day, on Sunday (21 June).
Calling her famous father her “one and only Chiampion” in a message posted on social media by her mother Lina Chiam, Mr Chiam’s only child said that her father’s honesty, integrity and kindness is an example to her, even during the uncertainty around the world today.
Camilla wrote: “Happy Father’s Day to my one and only Chiampion! Your honesty, integrity and kindness guides me everyday even as the world meanders through dark and difficult times. Love always, your daughter HL.”
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85-year-old Mr Chiam first entered politics in 1976 and became Singapore’s second opposition politician ever to be elected to Parliament after J. B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers’ Party. Since 1976, he was re-elected to his Potong Pasir ward in each subsequent election until he left the ward to contest larger ground in 2011.
In the 2011 General Election, after 27 years of serving the Potong Pasir ward, Mr Chiam led a team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC while his wife, Mrs Lina Chiam, contested Potong Pasir. The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) lost both wards and was not able to win either ward in the 2015 General Election – the first election since 1976 that Mr Chiam did not personally contest.
Last year, the SPP announced that Mr Chiam would be stepping down from the SPP’s leadership and relinquish his post as longtime secretary-general for leadership renewal within the party. Mr Chiam did not contest the party’s latest CEC election, for the first time in 23 years, since 1996.
Although Mr Chiam remains a party member, his absence from the SPP’s internal election marks an end to a 40-year political career. Mrs Chiam, who had served as the party’s chairman and was re-elected into the latest CEC in a different role, told reporters:
“Mr Chiam has given to politics for 40 years already. It’s time for him to have a rest. I think he has given all what he can for Singaporeans, what he can do to his ability.”
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