The nascent Reform Party of all the political parties we know is going places, in a manner of speech!
Apart from followers in the UAE and the Middle East, it has even snagged attention in Bangladesh – a land that had urban terrorists herding over to Singapore.
It truly is quite a feat for a party that only shot into the limelight in 2008 after its founding father J.B Jeyaretnam died no later than he had inaugurated the party.
The senior Jeyaretnam who was known by the initials of JBJ was a perennial lightning rod and a thorn in the skin of the ruling Peoples’ Action Party (PAP). The party he inaugurated was inherited by his son, Kenneth Jeyaretnam who is characterised by his clipped British accent, a somewhat short tongue as his words at election rallies are usually lost whenever he speaks, and who sometimes is oddly out of touch with the real situation in Singapore.
An incident that comes to mind is when he tried reciting the Singapore pledge at the end of an election rally some years ago in West Coast.
However, one of the most remarkable attributes of the man is his constant pledges to move to a constituency if and when wins its parliamentary seat.
He mentioned that in 2011 when contesting West Coast and again when
contesting in Punggol East in 2013. Just what may he just be trying to prove of wanting to move into the constituency where and whenever he secures a polls victory? Is he trying to get close to his constituents or was it just a political stunt or is it plain old grandstanding?
His father never moved into Anson when he won the seat in 1981? Nor did Lee Kuan Yew move into Tanjung Pagar when he won the seat in 1954 or for that matter Goh Chok Tong when he won the seat in 1976! So why is Kenneth always talking about wanting to move around wherever and whenever he wins?
It has indeed become evident that the Reform Party (RP) has a following in Bangladesh and according to its Twitter account, followers in that once benighted nation, is growing.
Would Kenneth Jeyaretnam think of wanting to move to Bangladesh too? It will be fascinating to watch.