Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Tharman Shanmugaratnam
PPA(E)
தர்மன் சண்முகரத்தினம்
Official portrait, 2023
9th President of Singapore
Assumed office
14 September 2023
Prime Minister
Preceded byHalimah Yacob
Senior positions
Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
In office
1 May 2011 – 8 July 2023
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Succeeded byLawrence Wong
Ministerial offices
Senior Minister of Singapore
In office
1 May 2019 – 7 July 2023
Serving with Teo Chee Hean
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded byLee Hsien Loong
Coordinating Minister for Social Policies
In office
1 October 2015 – 7 July 2023
Economic and Social Policies: 1 October 2015 – 30 April 2019
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHeng Swee Keat
(Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies)
Ong Ye Kung
(Coordinating Minister for Social Policies)
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
In office
21 May 2011 – 30 April 2019
Serving with Teo Chee Hean
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byWong Kan Seng
S. Jayakumar
Succeeded byHeng Swee Keat
Lawrence Wong
Minister for Finance
In office
1 December 2007 – 30 September 2015
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Second MinisterLim Hwee Hua
Preceded byLee Hsien Loong
Succeeded byHeng Swee Keat
Minister for Manpower
In office
21 May 2011 – 31 July 2012
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byGan Kim Yong
Succeeded byTan Chuan-Jin
Minister for Education
In office
1 August 2003 – 31 March 2008
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Lee Hsien Loong
Second MinisterNg Eng Hen
Preceded byTeo Chee Hean
Succeeded byNg Eng Hen
Parliamentary offices
Preceded byConstituency established
In office
3 November 2001 – 7 July 2023
Succeeded byShawn Huang
(West Coast–Jurong West GRC – Taman Jurong)
Majority60,501 (49.24%)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Jurong GRC
(Taman Jurong)
Personal details
Born
Shanmugaratnam Tharman[1]

(1957-02-25) 25 February 1957[2]
Colony of Singapore
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
People's Action Party
(2001–2023)
Spouse
Jane Yumiko Ittogi
(m. 1990)
Children4
Parent
  • K. Shanmugaratnam (father)
EducationLondon School of Economics (BSc)
Cambridge University (MPhil)
Harvard University (MPA)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • economist
Signature

Tharman Shanmugaratnam[a] PPA(E) (born 25 February 1957) is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been the current and ninth President of Singapore since 2023 after winning the 2023 presidential election.

Prior to his presidency, Tharman served as Senior Minister of Singapore between 2019 and 2023, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore between 2011 and 2023, and Deputy Prime Minister between 2011 and 2019.[2] He also served as Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies[3] between 2011 and 2015, Minister for Finance between 2007 and 2015, Minister for Education between 2003 and 2008 and Minister for Manpower in 2011 and 2012.

A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 2001 and 2023.[4] Tharman made his political debut in the 2001 general election,[5][4] and had been re-elected to Parliament four times at subsequent general elections in 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020.[5]

In June 2023, Tharman announced his intention to run for the presidential election, as well as his scheduled resignation on 7 July from all his positions in the government and as a member of the PAP, as the presidency is a non-partisan office.[6][7] On 2 September, Tharman was announced as the winner after receiving 70.4% of the vote in a landslide victory and was elected as the ninth president of Singapore.[8] He is the first presidential candidate of non-Chinese descent to win a contested presidential election in Singapore.[9]

  1. ^ "Application for COE- Tharman Shanmugaratnam" (PDF). Elections Department Singapore. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b "MP | Parliament Of Singapore". Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies – Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies" (PDF). www.parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Siow, Christine; Diviyadhaarshini, B. N. B.; Kannan, Yugesh; Chan, Suzanne (10 June 2023). "Tharman a 'great MP' who will be missed, say Jurong GRC residents". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b "President's Biography". Istana Singapore. June 2024.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3547586 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference TPR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be Singapore's 9th President after 70.4% landslide win". CNA. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  9. ^ Tan, Eugene (5 September 2023). "What Tharman's massive election win could mean for politics in Singapore". The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 July 2024.


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