Posted by jbjmemorial on October 2, 2008
1926: Born in the village of Chankanai in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
1946: Finished school at St Andrew’s School, Singapore.
1951: Graduated with a law degree from University College, London and called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn.
1952: Began his legal career as a magistrate in Singapore.
1963: Appointed First Criminal District Judge and First Magistrate in the Singapore Legal Service. Later that year, he resigned to enter private practice.
1971: Revived then-dormant Workers’ Party which he led as secretary-general until 2001.
1972: Contested the general election in Farrer Park and lost.
1976: Stood in Kampong Chai Chee and lost.
1977: Contested by-election in Radin Mas and lost.
1979: Contested Telok Blangah by-election and lost.
1980: Contested general election in Telok Blangah and lost.
1981: Won the Anson by-election, beating the PAP’s Pang Kim Hin.
1984: Re-elcted in Anson, defeating the PAP’s Ng Pock Too.
1986: Lost his parliamentary seat after being fined $5,000 for making a false declaration on the Workers’ Party accounts in 1982.
1997: Returned to Parliament as a Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) after his Cheng San GRC team won 45.2 per cent of the votes.
2001: Lost his NCMP seat after being declared bankrupt for failing to pay damages in a defamation suit he lost against five Indian PAP MPs, among others. Resigned from the Workers’ Party.
2007: Discharged from bankruptcy after paying his creditors. Resumed his law practice.
2008: The Reform Party, which he set up, registered as a political party.
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