Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss
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Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss ( zh, s=张媛容, p=Zhāng Yuánróng) is a Singaporean lawyer and politician. She started her political career by joining the opposition Reform Party in 2009, but left in 2011 to join another opposition party, the National Solidarity Party (NSP). During the 2011 general election, she contested as a NSP candidate in
Mountbatten SMC The Mountbatten Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency in the central-southeastern part of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament for the constituency is Lim Biow Chuan of the People's Action Party The People's Action ...
but lost to the
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) candidate
Lim Biow Chuan Lim Biow Chuan ( zh, s=林谋泉, p=Lín Móuquán; born 1963) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2016 and 2020. A member of the gove ...
after getting 41.38% of the vote. From October 2013 to January 2015, she served as the NSP's secretary-general before leaving to join another opposition party, the
Singapore People's Party The Singapore People's Party (abbreviation: SPP) is a political party in Singapore. History SPP was founded on 21 November 1994 by Sin Kek Tong, who led a pro- Chiam See Tong faction out of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Over two years ...
(SPP). She contested in Mountbatten SMC again during the 2015 general election as a SPP candidate, but lost to the PAP's Lim Biow Chuan again, garnering just 28.14% of the vote. She left the SPP in 2019 and was seen accompanying Workers' Party members on a walkabout in
Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the central, eastern and north-eastern areas of Singapore. The constituency consists of a section of Bedok, Chai Chee, Geyla ...
.


Education

Chong-Aruldoss was educated at
CHIJ Katong Convent CHIJ Katong Convent (CHIJ – KC) is a government-aided autonomous Catholic girls' secondary school in Marine Parade, Singapore. The school is one of 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) schools in Singapore. Katong Convent is known for prov ...
before she read law at the
University of Kent at Canterbury A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and completed a
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
(honours) in 1985. In 1987, she completed a
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
in corporate and commercial law at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
.


Legal career

Chong-Aruldoss qualified as a
barrister-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...
at
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
in 1986 and became an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1989. She began her legal career at Allen & Gledhill LLP. In 2001, she co-founded Archilex Law Corporation, a founding member of Mozaic Group Law Practice. She is currently a consultant at Robert Wang & Woo LLP and an accredited mediator at the
Singapore Mediation Centre Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) is a not-for-profit organisation structured as a company limited by the guarantee of the Singapore Academy of Law. History In 1996, a cross-profession committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) chaired b ...
.


Political career


Reform Party

Chong-Aruldoss entered politics in 2009 and eventually became a member of the opposition Reform Party's central executive committee. She left the Reform Party on 18 February 2011 due to "differences of opinion".


National Solidarity Party

In 2011, Chong-Aruldoss joined another opposition party, the National Solidarity Party (NSP), and stood for election as a NSP candidate during the general election that year as a NSP candidate in
Mountbatten SMC The Mountbatten Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency in the central-southeastern part of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament for the constituency is Lim Biow Chuan of the People's Action Party The People's Action ...
. However, she lost to
Lim Biow Chuan Lim Biow Chuan ( zh, s=林谋泉, p=Lín Móuquán; born 1963) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2016 and 2020. A member of the gove ...
, the candidate from 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), after getting 41.38% of the vote against Lim's 58.62%. On 27 October 2013, Chong-Aruldoss was elected the secretary-general of the NSP following the resignation of her predecessor, Hazel Poa. In January 2015, Chong-Aruldoss challenged
Sebastian Teo Sebastian Teo Kway Huang (; born 1947) is a Singaporean politician and businessman. He was formerly the president of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). Education Teo holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Nanyang University, a Maste ...
for the position of president of the NSP but was voted out of the NSP's central executive committee.


Singapore People's Party

Chong-Aruldoss eventually left the NSP and joined another opposition party, the
Singapore People's Party The Singapore People's Party (abbreviation: SPP) is a political party in Singapore. History SPP was founded on 21 November 1994 by Sin Kek Tong, who led a pro- Chiam See Tong faction out of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Over two years ...
(SPP), in April 2015. In the general election that year, she contested as a SPP candidate in
Mountbatten SMC The Mountbatten Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency in the central-southeastern part of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament for the constituency is Lim Biow Chuan of the People's Action Party The People's Action ...
, but lost to the PAP's
Lim Biow Chuan Lim Biow Chuan ( zh, s=林谋泉, p=Lín Móuquán; born 1963) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2016 and 2020. A member of the gove ...
again, garnering just 28.14% of the vote against Lim's 71.86%.


Leaving the Singapore People's Party

On 2 September 2019, Chong-Aruldoss resigned from the SPP. In a
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
post announcing her resignation, she said, "I entered politics in 2009 because I was convinced that the PAP held too much power and I was worried for Singaporeans. I felt that we desperately needed more opposition in Parliament to redress the imbalance." Two days later, she told The Independent Singapore in an interview that she had no plans to join another political party. In October 2019, Chong-Aruldoss was seen accompanying Workers' Party members on a walkabout in the Eunos Crescent area of
Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the central, eastern and north-eastern areas of Singapore. The constituency consists of a section of Bedok, Chai Chee, Geyla ...
.


2017 assault case

On 8 August 2017, Chong-Aruldoss sustained a bruised hip after she was assaulted by fellow lawyer and opposition politician
M Ravi Ravi Madasamy ( ta, ரவி மாடசாமி), better known as M Ravi, is a Singaporean human rights lawyer and activist. Known for his work as a cause lawyer, he has served as counsel in multiple high-profile court cases in Singapore, m ...
at
The Adelphi ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. Court documents revealed that Ravi had gone to The Adelphi and demanded to be allowed inside
Eugene Thuraisingam Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam (born 10 June 1975) is a lawyer from Singapore. He is the founder of the law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, a law firm that specialises in international arbitration and criminal and commercial litigation. He is al ...
's law firm, where Chong-Aruldoss was working then. He had stopped her abruptly and began questioning her aggressively. When she tried to walk away, he forcefully pushed her twice, causing her to stumble backwards and fall onto the ground. After she was down, he kicked and flung her belongings scattered on the ground, and also threw a shoe in her direction while mocking her for being 'drama'. On 5 January 2018, in lieu of a jail term, Ravi was ordered to undergo an 18-month mandatory treatment for his
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, which had led to him committing the offence, among others.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong-Aruldoss, Jeannette Living people Singapore People's Party politicians National Solidarity Party (Singapore) politicians Reform Party (Singapore) politicians Singaporean women in politics Singaporean people of Hakka descent Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Kent Singaporean women lawyers 20th-century Singaporean lawyers 21st-century Singaporean lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)