Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, had some sad news to announce on Aug. 21.

He shared in a Facebook post that his mother had passed away earlier on the same day.

Chee said it was a "difficult period" for her during the last few months, but at least she is no longer in pain.

He shared two photos of himself with his mother, which you can see below:

In the book Teacher Thinker Rebel Why? Portraits of Chee Soon Juan, then-SDP assistant treasurer Jaslyn Go recalled that Chee's mother supported him at SDP rallies, and had been doing so ever since he joined the party.

"CSJ's mother comes to almost all of the SDP's rallies. She has been doing this since he joined the Party. During one of the GE 2011 rallies, she came to me and told me that it pains her to read the local newspapers that portray her son negatively."

In 2015, Chee said he had tried to keep his private life away from the public eye to not give ammunition to his detractors, but relented, after his wife gave permission for her and their children to appear in videos about his personal life.

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Top image from Chee Soon Juan's Facebook page.