Anthony Lee, Former Asst SecGen of PSP passes away

Gone too soon, Anthony Lee Yung Hwee’s life was cut short by cancer. And while he was fighting for his life, he made sure there was a lasting imprint of his work in Singapore. He calls PSP his legacy and lifelong achievement. This is a story that is untold and unknown to many.

Lee was a relatively unknown figure and his contributions to PSP is only known to a few. I met Anthony in 2019 when PSP was first launched. He was one of those who convinced me to join the party, the other was Micheal Chua. I also had the distinction of interviewing Lee for PSP’s Coffee Table book after GE2020. But sadly, the interview was never published in the book. Some editorial decisions were made which I will not talk about here.

In the interview, Lee spoke about how he had convinced Dr Tan Cheng Bock to start a new party and to be a galvanising figure to bring about opposition unity. In his interview, Lee claimed that he played a pivotal role to bring Lee Hsien Yang onboard PSP as well.

It seems, there are different versions to what happened in the early days and as who were instrumental in the formation of the founding team.  Anthony was the first Assistant Secretary General of the party and obviously he must have been a trusted right-hand man of Dr Tan Cheng Bock to hold that position. There are a few others in the founding CEC team that claim they had the ears of Doc and oppose the theory that Anthony was the only one who mooted the idea to start PSP.

Lee said that he identified West Coast as the weakest GRC because of S. Iswaran. He called the latter the weakest and most inconsequential minister. He thought it would be easy to take down West Coast with Doc at the helm. He had his eyes set on West Coast GRC, however, his ambitions of contesting didn’t materialize because PSP was growing at lighting pace and attracted the likes of Leong Mun Wai, Francis Yeun, Andrew Ng and Ong Seow Yong to join the CEC in 2020. Anthony had to relinquish his post as Asst SecGen. He was a little disappointed with that.

But he kept contributing and helped with the logistics for GE2020. Lee’s office in Pandan Loop was used to store party paraphernalia and I used to catch up over coffee whenever I was there to pick up campaign materials.

Lee stepped back after the 2020 general elections and played a minor role in party matters. He may be gone, but his contributions must not be forgotten.

Rest in peace, Anthony.

Anthony Lee’s wake is held at

Void Deck @ 103 Clementi Street 14, Singapore 120103

Please check visitation hours on his obituary for details