Jufrie Mahmood
Mohamed Jufrie bin Mahmood | |
|---|---|
محمد جفري بن محمود | |
| 4th Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party | |
| In office 2011–2013 | |
| Preceded by | Gandhi Ambalam |
| Succeeded by | Jeffrey George |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 February 1950 Colony of Singapore |
| Political party | Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) |
| Other political affiliations | Worker's Party (WP) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Singapore |
| Profession | politics |
Mohamed Jufrie bin Mahmood (Jawi: محمد جفري بن محمود) is a Singaporean politician who was a prominent opposition political figure in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, when he stood in elections as a candidate for both the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers' Party.[1] 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 (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. Jufrie came to national prominence during this election campaign after Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong 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" ("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, 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. 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.[2]
Jufrie was elected the party chairman of the SDP in 2011[3] and served in this role until 2013.
On 12 March 2025, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K. Shanmugam was confronted by two women from Monday of Palestine Solidarity group at his Meet-The-People session to address Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.[4] The confrontation was recorded on video and lasted seven minutes.[5] On 13 March, Calvin Cheng, a former NMP, in a facebook post, offered to send the activist group to Gaza, provided they do not return to Singapore and also told their Facebook followers to leave Singapore for Gaza.[6][7] On 28 March, Jufrie filed a police report against Cheng for being an Islamophobe describing his actions as a “danger to our precious racial and religious harmony”.[8] On 2 April, Cheng posted on Facebook that he will take legal action over defamatory statements made against him, including Jufrie who had filed a police report against him, Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam who asked for a probe against Cheng, and sociopolitical platform The Online Citizen.[9]
On 10 April, Cheng posted on Facebook again that he had met with Ustaz Mohamad Hasbi Hassan and Ustaz Pasuni Maulan at Yusof Ishak Mosque in Woodlands on 9 April.[7] He said that he told them he did not intend any attack and had spoken to the Malay/Muslim community over the previous week and had realised he should be more sensitive and not said to send people to a conflict zone.[10] Cheng also asserted that other had spoken untrue statements about him and he had to take legal actions.[10]
Personal life
Jufrie had at least one daughter and two sons.[11]
References
- ^ Singapore Election Candidates (M), singapore-elections.com, retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ Judge dismisses appeals by SDP members and supporters Archived 25 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Channel News Asia, 23 February 2011.
- ^ Tan, Jeanette (30 August 2011). "Singapore Democratic Party reshuffles CEC". Yahoo News. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Meet-the-People Session is not a protest venue, says Shanmugam after 2 women cause commotion". The Straits Times. 13 March 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ "Minister Shanmugam Declines to Press Charges After Sisters Disrupt Meet-The-People Session_the_public_and". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ Sun, David (3 April 2025). "Masagos says he disagrees with ex-NMP Calvin Cheng's views on the Israel-Palestine conflict". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ a b Lim, Kimberly (10 April 2025). "'Hot potato': Singapore's criticism of ex-NMP seen as bid to cool tensions". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ "'I have a very sharply different view on Israel, Palestine from Mr Calvin Cheng': Shanmugam". The Straits Times. 2 April 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ Hamzah, Aqil (2 April 2025). "Vivian says he did not 'like' FB post offering to relocate S'poreans to Gaza; Meta investigating". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ a b Sun, David (10 April 2025). "Calvin Cheng 'deeply remorseful' for remarks on activists, says he should have been more sensitive". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ "The Singapore that we aspire to build - Perspective - Perspective - Welcome to the Singapore Democrats". yoursdp.org. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.