Mohamed Jufrie bin Mahmood ( Jawi: محمد جفرياي بن مهمود) is a Singaporean politician who was a prominent

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

political figure in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, when he stood in elections as a candidate for both the

Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party ( abbreviation: SDP) is a politcal party in Singapore. The party was founded on 6 August 1980 by Chiam See Tong. During the 1991 general election, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen won Bukit Gombak SMC and Ne ...

(SDP) and the Workers' Party. He served as the Chairman of the SDP from 2011 to 2013.

Political career

At the 1984 general election, Jufrie stood as a candidate for the Workers' Party in the constituency of Kampong Kembangan. He was defeated by Yatiman Yusof of the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP) by 8,210 votes (44.3%) to 10,326 (55.7%). At the 1988 general election, Jufrie stood as a candidate for the SDP in the Aljuined GRC. Jufrie and fellow SDP members Ashleigh Seow and Neo Choon Aik were defeated by the PAP's team by 26,375 votes (43.7%) to 34,020 (56.3%). At the 1991 general election, Jufrie stood as a candidate for the Workers' Party in the

Eunos GRC Eunos Group Representation Constituency (Simplified Chinese: 友诺士集选区;Traditional Chinese: 友諾士集選區) is a defunct Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern region of Singapore. This GRC existed for the 1988 a ...

. Jufrie came to national prominence during this election campaign after

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (M ...

accused him of being a Malay chauvinist because of comments Jufrie made about the role of Malay community in Singapore and his use of the phrase "''

Insha'Allah ''In sha'Allah'' (; ar, إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, ʾIn shāʾ Allāh ), also spelled In shaa Allah, InshAllah, Insya Allah and İnşAllah is an Arabic language expression meaning "if god wills" or "god willing". It was mentioned i ...

''" ("God willing") in a campaign speech. Goh urged people not to vote for Jufrie in order to help protect inter-racial harmony in Singapore. Jufrie strongly denied that he was a Malay chauvinist and said that he was merely raising important issues which he felt needed to be addressed. In the end, Jufrie and his fellow Workers' Party members

Lee Siew Choh Lee Siew Choh (; 1 November 1917 – 18 July 2002) was a Singaporean politician and physician. He was the Member of Parliament for Queenstown from 1959 to 1963 and served as the NCMP from September 1988 to August 1991. Initially a member of ...

, Neo Choon Aik and Wee Han Kim were narrowly defeated by the PAP's team in Eunos by 41,673 votes (47.6%) to 45,833 (52.4%). At the 1997 general election, Jufrie stood as a candidate for the SDP in the

Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs surrounding the Central Area of Singapore. There are four wards in the GRC: Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Wha ...

. He and his fellow SDP members David Chew, Gandhi Ambalam and Low Yong Nguan were defeated by the PAP's team by 21,537 votes (32.4%) to 44,840 (67.6%). Jufrie was among a group of SDP members charged with participating in an unlawful political assembly on the driveway leading to Parliament House in 2008. He was fined after being found guilty of this offence. Jufrie was elected the party chairman of the SDP in 2011 and served in this role until 2013.

Personal life

Jufrie had a least one daughter and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmood, Jufrie Singapore Democratic Party politicians Workers' Party (Singapore) politicians 1950 births Living people Singaporean people of Malay descent Singaporean Muslims