Chee Soon Juan (born 20 July 1962) is a Singaporean politician, activist, and former lecturer who was appointed Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993.

He was also found liable for defamation on multiple occasions for comments he has made about members of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP).

He was previously barred from standing in parliamentary elections because he was declared bankrupt in 2006, after failing to pay damages from a lawsuit owed to Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

On 24 September 2012, Chee announced that he had raised the reduced sum of $30,000 which was accepted by Lee and Goh to annul his bankruptcy, which enabled him to contest in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.

Chee attended Anglo-Chinese School and National Junior College before graduating from Mansfield University with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology.

His candidacy attracted considerable public interest as it was the first time that an academic from a state-run university had stood against the governing People's Action Party in an election.

In 1993, a few months after Chee joined the SDP, he was dismissed from NUS by the Head of the Psychology Department, S. Vasoo, who was also a PAP MP at the time, for allegedly using research funds to send his wife's doctoral thesis to the United States and making false transport claims.

[6] After taking over as the SDP's secretary-general, Chee began regularly travelling abroad and to talk about his views on how "democracy is limited" in Singapore to the foreign media, especially in the Western countries.

In 1994, in response to criticisms of the book made by then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Chee wrote a letter to The Straits Times.

Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen were defeated in their bids to be re-elected as MPs, while Chee lost the high-profile contest in MacPherson to Matthias Yao by 6,713 (34.86%) votes to 12,546 (65.14%).

During the run-up to the election, Chee attracted attention in the media when he encountered Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong while campaigning at a hawker centre.

The PAP took Chee to task for this, claiming that any accusation that Parliament had been misled about an alleged loan to Suharto was untrue, and demanding that he either apologise or face a defamation lawsuit.

[9] On 11 September 2012, former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong said they had no objection to accepting Chee's offer to pay the reduced sum of $30,000 to annul his bankruptcy.

[10] Chee contested as a candidate of Singapore Democratic Party along with Prof Paul Tambyah, Sidek Mallek, and Chong Wai Fung for the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC for the 2015 general elections.

He began his campaign by raising the issue of the high cost of living in Singapore, stressing that there was a need for Singaporeans to have an alternative voice in Parliament.

[11] In subsequent election rallies, Chee unveiled the SDP's proposals, which included the raising of personal income taxes on the top 1% of taxpayers to the year-2000 level, the introduction of a minimum wage, as well as the creation of a national healthcare plan to be funded by cutting the defence budget by 40%.

In response, the People's Action Party (PAP) team described the proposals as "unrealistic", saying that the SDP's policies involved "tax-and-spend" programmes that would set Singapore "on the road to (debt-stricken) Greece".

"[20] Observers attributed Chee's improved public image to a greater level of transparency and accessibility to information than in the past, as a result of technology like social media.

[25] For this, he was fined $3,000 because even though he was registered to speak at the Speakers' Corner, he did not have an additional police permit required for almost all public events, including concerts and political rallies.

[26] On 1 May 2002, Chee staged a rally in front of The Istana, the official residence and office of the President of Singapore, even though his application to the police for a licence to hold the assembly had been denied.

[29] As an undischarged bankrupt, Chee became ineligible to stand in general elections and was required to seek a court-appointed Official Assignee's permission before making any trips abroad.

[30] In April, Chee was stopped at Changi Airport as he was preparing to board a flight to Istanbul because, as an undischarged bankrupt, he could not leave Singapore without his court-appointed Official Assignee's approval, which he had not obtained.

[43][44] On 13 September 2006, Chee invited both World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato to his planned rally.

An application by his sister, Chee Siok Chin, to represent the "Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia" was approved by the IMF and World Bank but was rejected by the Singapore government.

[47] On 16 September 2006, Chee started off the "Empower Singaporeans Rally and March" at 11am at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park, but was stopped by the police who formed a human barricade around him.

[51] On 17 September 2006, Chee announced his plan to continue his protest by remaining in Hong Lim Park until the start of the IMF and World Bank meetings, which were two days away.

[53] He further announced that the 72-hour protest was just a start, and that over the next few months he intended to recruit and train more activists for a campaign to bring pressure on the Singapore government to reform.

[56] Another defamation lawsuit was brought against Chee following an article published in the SDP's party newspaper, The New Democrat, which questioned the role of the Singapore government in the 2005 National Kidney Foundation scandal.

[59] On 3 December 2006, after the doctor at the Queenstown Remand Prison had found traces of blood in Chee's urine, he was admitted under guard to Changi General Hospital.

His opinions often challenge the status quo and address critical matters such as government policies, civil liberties, and electoral reform, providing insights into his vision for a more inclusive and equitable society.