JEREMY CHEN: I GOT KICKED OUT OF SDP FOR CRITICISING CHEE SOON JUAN

I’ve been booted out of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) discussion group. These were my last two messages to them… I put in the time to write them that last email. Now that someone has kicked me off the list, perhaps SDP members might end up reading it elsewhere… (Also, I find the mailing list removal offensive, so here it is for public consumption.)

The first email I wrote them was a reply to someone who asked about me talking about Chee Soon Juan in a less than positive light. So I replied to that saying it was me and why I did it. There were some responses, which I shall not include since they were intended to be for “internal distribution”. Some replies accused me of ad hominem attacks and some thought that I was confusing advocacy of the Palestinian cause with anti-Semitism. And after that I replied to those responses.
Enjoy the drama.

(Sad thing about the SDP is, people are willing to stand up for the party, but few are willing to stand up for its principles. That is sad……)
—
[FIRST EMAIL]

It’s me who said that. The right thing, I feel, for party members to do is to reflect on the type of party you want.
Since this is mostly internal and more or less publicly known:
– Do you condone anti-Semitism by a CEC member (ask your friendly neighborhood PAP IB for screenshots)
– What if it is public?
– What if the party leader knew about it for a long time and did not put a stop to it (allegedly because he thought that person was important for getting more of the Malay vote; what an insult to Malay Singaporeans)
(My guess is that part of the reason Vincent Wijeysingha left was because of that. Btw.)

This is just one thing where the facts are not really in dispute. It should be plenty to reflect on.

The SDP is supposed to stand for rights, democracy and the well-being of Singaporeans. If someone is willing to let that slide, then someone doesn’t subscribe to those values. It’s fairly clear.
(This could either be one of CSJ’s “historic moments” where the SDP membership and leadership thinks about the party’s values and forces change. Or it might just be status quo, pointing to the SDP being just a bunch of people who are anti-PAP but don’t care much about values. Individually, as human beings, your reaction will tell you a lot about what matters to you. I’m not telling people to leave, but I’m out of here once I get my books from the office.)
Jeremy
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[MY LAST EMAIL THAT BOUNCED]

When I say anti-Semitism, I am referring to incidents where Jufrie M. spoke positively about the Holocaust and when he said (something to the effect of) genocide being a just punishment for what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza. I too, do not like what is going on there.
And if you think me so stupid as to be unable to detangle opposition to injustice to advocating injustice for injustice, then… that is sad, and also disingenuous.
I believe those Facebook posts have been deleted. That is good for the party, but the fact that they were put up in the first place on multiple occasions says something about the man who posted them.

The fact that CSJ knew about them and let things be for so long is also telling. Telling JM “dun liddat lar” doesn’t count as action. This is just one thing.
Now, if this is a low blow on CSJ, then maybe everything is permissible. There is no ad hominem fallacy because I’m not claiming his arguments are invalid because of his character.

I invite you to look at the comment thread: https://www.facebook.com/convexset/posts/10152976849076335

Since there are CEC members here, there is another matter about lying about a supposed CEC decision. (CSJ could have just as well said that he had decided without lying.) Clearly, no permission was given by the CEC to speak on their behalf unless a decision was actually made through an appropriate majority. I didn’t talk about his lies in the public Facebook post. Should I have?

CEC members will know what I am talking about, please contradict me publicly if I am lying. The furthest I am prepared to go was that it was a “grey-lie” to give a decision made by his whimsy more standing. But even that is a big red flag that he has other integrity issues.

When his is put in context with his past “claims inflation” (distinctly different from use of office resources for personal purposes — such as sending mail — which is understandable when such use is moderated) and his “hunger strike with glucose” under “doctors orders”, a pattern of behavior emerges. This is not rehashing his past mistakes, this is a strong indicator that his past integrity issues have not yet been worked out.

If what I say is false, say it. I’ve been told by CEC members that CSJ lied. (I had no way of knowing if he did or not otherwise.) If CSJ seeks to punish those that did not cover up his lie, then it says even more about his character.

Let’s just say, all this is not said lightly.

The party has to assert the principles it stands for, or be just another political hack seeking “votes at all costs”. Without principles, the SDP is just a little social club, and not a very cohesive one at that.

Before hitting send, I think it is necessary to apologize to the people who are working hard in the background on organizing walkabouts and house visits. (Clarence has conveyed that this will cause problems.) I understand that public mention of some of the leadership issues in the party makes your lives difficult. I won’t say “this is why reform is important”. Rather, I know you guys are good people that are working towards making Singapore a better place. Sorry about that. But I sincerely believe that CSJ should not be in Parliament. Best case scenario: SDP in Parliament without CSJ and party leadership passes to a SDP MP.