During the campaigning in the 1984 general election, SUF's chief Seow was sued by Lee Kuan Yew (who was then the Prime Minister of Singapore) alongside the members of People's Action Party for slandering defamatory remarks made at two rally speeches that Lee and his cabinet were guilty of corruption. Seow was ordered to pay Lee and the PAP S$250,000 worth of damages and costs each, and by 3 February 1989, Seow was made bankrupt after being unable to keep up with the payments for the damages owned from two separate but similar libel suits brought by PM Lee and the PAP government.