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Outspoken Singapore dissident dies

Joshua B. Jeyaretnam, the opposition politician whose outspokenness and persistence made him Singapore's leading dissident, died Tuesday of a heart attack, family members said.

At the age of 82, recently freed from bankruptcy, Jeyaretnam was preparing another run for Parliament, where he had broken the governing party's monopoly by winning the first opposition seat in 1981.

"We were trying to surmount the last hurdle," said a close friend and political partner, Ng Teck Siong, speaking of Jeyaretnam's attempt to enter Parliament once more. "But we were not able to do that. He had to leave us."

Jeyaretnam's career was defined by his persistent attempts to win a seat in Parliament and his ongoing criticisms of the political establishment.

Read entire article at International Herald Tribune