J. B. Jeyaretnam, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

J. B. Jeyaretnam

Singaporean politician

Date of Birth: 05-Jan-1926

Place of Birth: Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka

Date of Death: 30-Sep-2008

Profession: lawyer, politician

Nationality: Singapore

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (5 January 1926 – 30 September 2008), more commonly known as J.
B.
Jeyaretnam or J.B.J., was a Singaporean politician and lawyer.
He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001.
In 1981, he became the first opposition politician since Singapore's independence in 1965 to win a seat in Parliament, when he defeated Pang Kim Hin of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) in a by-election in Anson Single Member Constituency.
He was re-elected at the 1984 general election, but lost his seat in Parliament in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds.
His conviction was subsequently overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which called the conviction a "grievous injustice".
Jeyaretnam returned to Parliament after the 1997 general election as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP).
However, he was stripped of his NCMP seat in 2001 when he was declared bankrupt after failing to keep up with payments for damages owed to PAP leaders as a result of a libel suit.
He left the Workers' Party later that year.
He was discharged from bankruptcy in 2007, and founded the Reform Party in June 2008.
He died of heart failure in September 2008, three months after founding the Reform Party, which is now led by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam.