Ex-SPP CEC member spotted accompanying Workers’ Party members on walkabout

Former Singapore People’s Party (SPP) member Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss was spotted accompanying a Workers’ Party team on their walkabout at the Marine Terrace area of Marine Parade GRC, weeks after she left the party that was led by veteran opposition politician Chiam See Tong.

Ms Chong-Aruldoss – who had been an SPP Central Executive Committee (CEC) – announced her resignation from the SPP on 4 Sept – the same day that the party indicated that 84-year-old Mr Chiam will step down after 23 years at the party’s helm to make way for new blood. ‘

In an interview with The Independent shortly after she announced her departure from the SPP, Ms Chong-Aruldoss said that she decided to resign from the party “after considering all the implications of my decision” and that she does not plan to join another political party.

On whether her resignation from the SPP marks the end of her political career, she said: “There are many ways of serving in politics and I hope to continue serving my country and my countrymen in one way or another.”

Photos shared on Facebook by WP politician Yee Jenn Jong, however, show that Ms Chong-Aruldoss accompanied him and other WP members during a walkabout at Marine Terrace last week. Ms Chong-Aruldoss can be seen wearing blue, the WP’s party colour, like the rest of the individuals on the walkabout.

A lawyer by profession, Ms Chong-Aruldoss joined politics in 2010 as a member of the Reform Party. She left the party in 2011 to join the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and contested Mountbatten Single Member Constituency under the NSP ticket.

It was a close match but Ms Chong-Aruldoss lost the election with 41.35%. Ms Chong-Aruldoss contested Mountbatten SMC as an SPP candidate in the 2015 General Election and lost to the incumbent Lim Biow Chuan from the ruling People’s Action Party.

Besides her political career, Ms Chong-Aruldoss is well-known for providing pro-bono legal help to Singaporeans facing hardships, over the years.

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