Workers’ Party (WP) politician Yee Jenn Jong revealed that he is working on his second book and that his manuscript is nearly ready to be submitted to his editor and publisher, in a recent Facebook post.
In a Facebook post published on Wednesday (19 Aug), Mr Yee recalled his first foray in the publishing world. The first book that bore Mr Yee’s name as an author was published about 25 years ago – it was a book written by Prof C. K. Yuen that included contributions from Mr Yee and his fellow post graduate students who were working under Prof Yuen.
Recounting that his work was the result of his honours and masters research, Mr Yee said that Prof Yuen generously divided the royalties of the book between himself and his students even though he took all the effort to get the book published and sold. Mr Yee wrote:
“Professor Yuen was kind enough to divide the royalties into ten parts and each chapter is worth one tenth of the royalties. I got 20% share. His two other post graduate students also got their share for their chapters.
“The effort to get the book published and sold is really not mine. Prof Yuen used it as the text for his module so students need to buy. It is so technical that I will have to take a long time to read and understand it today! My chapters were the result of my honours and masters research. Technical writing is slow and hard!”
Mr Yee revealed that he recently decided to work on his second book. Although he did not divulge what the book would be about, he shared that he had been writing non-stop for three weeks in between his other work and that his manuscript is nearly ready for vetting. Even though Mr Yee had to figure out the process on his own this time, he said that the experience was “not easy but quite enjoyable”:
“I decided to do my second book recently. Wrote non-stop for 3 weeks in between other work. Manuscript is nearly ready for the editor and publisher. This time, I had to figure the whole process myself. Not easy but quite enjoyable actually.”
https://www.facebook.com/yeejj.wp/posts/3237809709620114
Mr Yee, an education entrepreneur and consultant, has been active in opposition politics for nearly a decade since he first contested elections in 2011. Mr Yee was fielded as the WP candidate at Joo Chiat SMC – a single member ward that was carved out of the larger Bedok GRC ahead of that year’s election.
In one of the hottest contests of the election, Mr Yee faced the PAP’s Charles Chong – a veteran MP with decades of political experience. It was an extremely close fight and the PAP won very narrowly with 51 per cent of the vote. Despite his loss, Mr Yee’s performance was one of the best among losing opposition candidates and he was entitled to become a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.
He continued to walk the ground at Joo Chiat SMC and planned to stand in the ward again in the subsequent elections but Joo Chiat was absorbed into Marine Parade GRC ahead of the 2015 General Election. Mr Yee was part of the WP’s team contesting Marine Parade GRC in the past two elections but the opposition party has failed to capture the multi-member ward thus far.