MR KENNETH Jeyaretnam, the elder son of late opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam, has joined the opposition ranks and is not ruling out contesting the next general election.
Three weeks ago, he joined the Reform Party, which was set up by his father a few months before he died last September.
The 50-year-old hedge fund manager was co-opted into the party's 13-man central executive committee (CEC) a week later.
Mr Jeyaretnam confirmed to The Straits Times yesterday that he had joined the opposition party. 'The timing was right. My father founded the party, so this is one way to honour him and to continue his legacy,' he said.
The party was set up by the late Mr Jeyaretnam - better known as JBJ - after he was discharged from bankruptcy in 2007. It was registered last July.
But he died of heart failure two months later. He was 82.
There has been speculation on the opposition scene in recent months that the younger Jeyaretnam would be entering the fray. This was in the light of speeches he made at events organised by opposition parties in memory of his father.
Mr Jeyaretnam said he had recently thought about entering politics, after Reform Party CEC member James Teo invited him to join the party. He next met Mr Ng Teck Siong, the party chairman and his father's long-time ally, and made his decision.
Married with a 12-year-old son, Mr Jeyaretnam worked in London's financial sector for several years before he returned with his family to Singapore last April.
His brother Philip, 45, is a Senior Counsel and partner at Rodyk & Davidson, and a former president of the Law Society.
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