A lawyer by profession, Rahayu specialises in civil litigation and family law. She made her political debut in the 2015 general election as part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Jurong GRC and won 79.3% of the vote.
Rahayu joined Heng, Leong & Srinivasan LLC as a partner in January 2008, specialising in civil litigation and family law. In 2013, she left practice and served as Deputy Registrar at the Syariah Court of Singapore before returning to practice in August 2015. She is also an Associate Mediator accredited by the Singapore Mediation Centre.[6][4][7]
Political career
Rahayu was announced as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate on 20 August 2015 to join the five-member PAP team contesting in Jurong GRC during the 2015 general election.[8] After the PAP team won with 79.29% of the vote against SingFirst,[9] Rahayu became a Member of Parliament representing the Bukit Batok East ward of Jurong GRC.[1] In 2017, she was part of the taskforce set up to implement tighter regulations on formula milk manufacturers.[10]
On 15 May 2021, she received an additional appointment as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information.[1] Rahayu was promoted to Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Health on 13 June 2022 with the Ministry of Law added to her portfolio. At the same time, she relinquished her Communications and Information portfolio.[12] In the May 2024 Cabinet Reshuffle prior to Prime Minister-Designate Lawrence Wong being sworn in as Singapore's 4th Prime Minister, Rahayu was promoted to Minister of State in the Ministry of Health as well as the Ministry of Communications and Information, while relinquishing her appointment in the Ministry of Law. Rahayu was sworn into her new portfolios on 15 May 2024. [13]
Personal life
Rahayu is the eldest of three children[14] and her parents were a security officer and a civil servant.
Rahayu is married to a civil servant[4] and has a son.[15]
The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the constituency/seat he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; WP: The Workers' Party; PSP: Progress Singapore Party All of the leaders of the respective GRCs are in underline. MP(s) who is go on a leave of absence is in italic. NMPs do not belong to any party.
The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the constituency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; WP: The Workers' Party NMPs do not belong to any party. There were two terms of NMPs in this parliament, with nine NMPs in each term.