SINGAPORE — After spending about 50 hours over the past four days on a fundraising trek across the island, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan completed his mission this afternoon (Nov 15), with about 100 party members and supporters cheering for him at the finishing point at Hong Lim Park.

The 53-year-old kicked off his 140km-long walk on Thursday, starting with the western parts of Singapore, before moving to the north, east and finally, south over the next three days.

The amount of funds raised has not been tabulated, said Central Executive Committee member Bryan Lim. Donations came in the form of cash and cheques handed to Dr Chee during his walk, as well as transfers to the party’s bank account.

When he arrived at Hong Lim Park at 4.30pm yesterday, Dr Chee was greeted with a peck on the cheek by his wife, Madam Huang Chih-Mei, who also draped the party flag around his shoulders. Dr Chee thanked the crowd before settling into a chair to rest and gulp a can of isotonic drink.

The SDP also held a rally at Hong Lim Park, where party members Paul Tambyah, John Tan, Jaslyn Go and Damanhuri Abas — all of whom stood in the Sept 11 polls — spoke briefly, before handing the stage over to Dr Chee.

Likening the four-day walk to a microcosm of his political journey, Dr Chee said: “(There are) long stretches of loneliness where you walk by yourself, interspersed with bursts of high-energy activity where you say ‘Hi’ to everyone — like elections. In between, fatigue starts to set in. You had to take that first step to embark on this journey. After that, there’s no looking back.”

Next on his agenda? “I’d like to put my feet in a bucket of ice water, kick back and do nothing. Then have a meal with my family,” said Dr Chee.