This is just a snapshot of what Dr Chee Soon Juan has been doing in prison since he opted to serve a jail term for speaking in public without a permit — rather than pay the $5,000 fine.

These details emerged after the Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) explained to Today why the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief was hospitalised 11 days into his five-week prison term on Dec 3. The Opposition party had hinted on its website that Chee had been ill-treated, singled out and even drugged — allegations that have been picked up by groups abroad.

Rebutting these claims, MHA said in a statement that Chee stopped eating prison food after five days. The SDP said the prison food made Chee nauseous and he would throw up. But MHA pointed out that his three cell mates and all other prisoners ate the same food without incident. In fact, Chee declared he would eat only home-cooked meals prepared by his wife.

Prison authorities examined the food and found no reason to believe it caused Chee's nausea. To determine the cause of the purported nausea, the prison medical officer asked for a blood test to be conducted and for Chee to be put on an intravenous drip to safeguard his health.

But Chee refused to allow this, said MHA. On Dec 3, the prison medical officer referred Chee to Changi General Hospital.

At the hospital — another food saga erupted. Chee refused to eat the hospital meals even though they were the same as those served to other patients and had been planned by dietitians. But, a day later, Chee changed his mind and decided to eat the dinner he had selected from the hospital menu.

But he has been adamant about refusing medical treatment.

Hospital doctors also advised that Chee be put on an intravenous drip but he rejected the advice and refused to allow this, said MHA.

Chee also refused to allow doctors at Changi General Hospital to conduct a blood test to verify if the prison food was causing him nausea. MHA said doctors were exploring other avenues to address Chee's complaint, such as a CT scan, X-ray and a psychiatric review.

MHA yesterday also dismissed suggestions that Chee had been singled out in prison, noting that Chee had "demanded to be treated differently from other inmates". Its statement added: "He has sought for more yard time, for more visits from his family than is entitled to other prisoners ... "

"If Chee persists in not eating when he can, and refusing medical treatment based on the professional opinion of the medical doctors, he will be causing harm to himself. This situation cannot be condoned. The prison authorities will study and access all means to stop him from breaching prison regulations, and doing harm to his own health."

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