If the veteran politician does not pay up, he could lose his seat in parliament and be disqualified from standing at the next general elections due by the end of next year.

This is the text of his open letter to Singapore citizens:

Dear fellow Singaporeans,

The next general elections should be held be the end of 2001. I am ready, willing and eager to do battle again for the people, if God wills it. But whether I do so or not depends on you who read this letter.

Ever since I entered parliament in 1981, the PAP have tried their hardest to keep me out. In 1986, I was forced to leave parliament after I was "convicted" of crimes which the Privy Council in London later said I never committed. They described the convictions as a "serious miscarriage of justice". Not only was I thrown out of parliament, I was imprisoned for one month and barred from practising law.

Then in 1991, the elections were brought forward to September to prevent me from being elected. The elections were not due until 1993 and the only reason for holding the elections earlier was to keep me out (my disqualification ran out in November 1991).

And now, eight individuals - Nirumalan K. Pillai, Pakir Maideen, V R P Manickam, A R Mashuthoo, V Krishnasamy, Naseer bin Ghani, Indra Krishnan and Samy Veerasamy - have commenced bankruptcy proceedings against me over a judgment they obtained against me, the Workers' Party, and A. Balakrishnan over an article (of which Balakrishnan was the author) in the party newspaper. Although the judgment is against the three, they have chosen to proceed only against me. They are represented by Mr Davinder Singh, the lawyer for Mr Lee Kuan Yew in another suit by him against me.

Mr Ravindran s/o Ramasamy, a PAP member of parliament, is one of the ten Plaintiffs who obtained judgment. He commenced his own bankruptcy proceedings but I managed to pay him by installments. The remaining eight are demanding payment of the full sum due to them for damages - $233,264.60 rejecting my offers to pay them in installments.

I am unable to repay the full sum in one payment. I have lost everything fighting the PAP on behalf of the people. In 1980, after my wife died, I sold our bungalow house to pay Lee for a previous lawsuit that he brought against me. In 1983, I was forced to sell an apartment I bought in 1990, again to pay Lee. I have no more property to sell and I do not have any material possession. In all, I have paid over a million dollars in actions brought by Lee in 1976 and 1990. I have also paid Goh Chok Tong $69,000 over another lawsuit he brought against me after the last elections when I was elected to parliament as an NCMP.

If I do not pay the eight Indian plaintiffs, and I simply cannot pay them in one sum, the chances are I will be declared a bankrupt and forced to leave parliament and not be able to stand in the next elections.

The situation is therefore critical. If you believe that there should be a strong opposition in parliament and would like me to continue in parliament, there is only one thing to do. Find the money to pay the eight Indian plaintiffs. The time has come for you to act, seeing that I cannot pay by myself anymore.

You may pay your contributions to my POSB Account No. 200-62244-8. If you do, you will send a strong message to the PAP that you want a strong opposition in parliament.

May God guide you and bless you.

J B Jeyaretnam