Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam dies aged 67

[SINGAPORE] Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary-general of the Reform Party (RP) and veteran opposition figure, died on Saturday (Jul 18). He was 67.

His death was announced by his wife, Amanda Jeyaretnam, in a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon. She said Jeyaretnam “died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family”.

Funeral details for a small family service are still being finalised, and a memorial to celebrate his life will be arranged at a later date, she added.

“Thank you for your love and support and to everyone who managed to visit him in the hospital. Please know it meant a lot to him,” she said.

In a Facebook post on Jul 6, 2024, Jeyaretnam said he was “seriously ill” and had been receiving medical care in London. He said he was afflicted with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary embolism, and had recovered from pneumonia.

He also posted screenshots of an e-mail indicating that he was under medical care and treatment in London, and was unable to fly.

At the time, Jeyaretnam was being probed by the police and the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office in Singapore for possible offences under contempt laws and was required to turn up for investigations.

Jeyaretnam is the elder son of the late opposition MP JB Jeyaretnam – popularly known as JBJ – who was the first opposition politician elected into the post-independence Singapore Parliament in 1981, and established the Reform Party in 2008.

Jeyaretnam studied at the United World College of South-East Asia, and Charterhouse School in England. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Cambridge with double first-class honours in economics.

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He went on to pursue a career in the financial sector, starting out as a credit analyst at Wardley, the merchant banking subsidiary of HSBC, before moving to Continental Bank, Banque Indosuez, Lehman Brothers and Nomura International.

After his father’s death in September 2008, Jeyaretnam took over to helm the Reform Party from April 2009.

He stood in three general elections as part of RP’s slate that contested West Coast GRC in 2011 and 2015, and Ang Mo Kio – against then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s team – in 2020. RP was unsuccessful each time.

He also contested in a by-election in 2013, after People’s Action Party (PAP) MP Michael Palmer resigned from the ruling party and gave up his parliamentary seat in Punggol East SMC over an extramarital affair.

Jeyaretnam and Singapore Democratic Alliance’s Desmond Lim netted less than 2 per cent of the vote combined. Workers’ Party candidate Lee Li Lian won in the four-cornered fight that also included PAP’s Koh Poh Koon.

Jeyaretnam did not contest in the 2025 General Election, explaining in a social media post in April that year that he had decided against doing so after “the advice of doctors over some recent health issues”, which he did not specify.

However, he also added in the post: “I am not retiring though, far from it, and hope to be able to stand again sooner rather than later.”

Jeyaretnam is survived by his wife and their son, Jared. THE STRAITS TIMES