Tharman Shanmugaratnam[a]PPA(E) (born 25 February 1957), also known mononymously as Tharman, is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been serving as the ninth president of Singapore since 2023.
Tharman was committed through his years in government to building economic resilience and a more inclusive society. He introduced major educational reforms while serving as Education Minister, to make for a broader and more flexible system of meritocracy. He later led the ‘SkillsFuture’ programme, aimed at enabling life-long learning for all.[3] He has also promoted initiatives to deepen and advance Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.
Tharman has led several international councils focused especially on global financial reforms, preparedness for future pandemics, education, and global water sustainability. He currently chairs the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Group of Thirty (G30), a grouping of eminent thought leaders in economic policymaking, academia and the financial industry. He also co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW),[4] whose initial recommendations helped shape the outcomes of the UN Water Conference in March 2023.[5] In addition, he is co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, established by the World Bank Group in July 2024.[6] He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an advisory board that helps shape the strategic directions of the WEF.
Tharman co-chaired the Advisory Board for the UN Human Development Report (HDR) from 2019 – 2024.[7] The Advisory Board provides intellectual advice and guidance on the overall vision, direction and message of the UN HDR. He led the Board for the 2023/24 HDR with Joseph E. Stiglitz, and co-chaired with Thomas Piketty, Michael Spence, and Michèle Lamont, respectively, for the previous three editions of the HDR.
A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Jurong GRC between 2001 and 2023.[8] Tharman made his political debut in the 2001 general election,[9][10] and had been re-elected to Parliament four times[9] at subsequent general elections in 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020.
On 8 June 2023, Tharman announced his intention to run for the 2023 presidential election and his scheduled resignation on 7 July 2023 from all his positions in the government and as a member of the PAP, as the presidency is a non-partisan office.[11][12] On 2 September 2023, Tharman was announced as the winner after receiving 70.41%[13] of the vote in a landslide victory and was elected as the ninth president of Singapore.[14] He is the first presidential candidate not of Chinese descent to win in a contested presidential election in Singapore.[15]
Tharman was a student activist while studying in the United Kingdom during the 1970s.[20] He originally held socialist beliefs, but his views on economics evolved over the course of his working career.[20]
Early career
Tharman started his working career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), where he became its chief economist.[21] He later joined the Singapore Administrative Service and served in the Ministry of Education as Senior Deputy Secretary for Policy,[22] before returning to the MAS where he eventually became its managing director. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1999.[23] He resigned as managing director of the MAS to contest in the 2001 general election as a candidate for the People's Action Party.
Official Secrets Act case
While serving as director of the Economics Department of the MAS in 1992, Tharman was one of five persons charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) in a case involving the publication of Singapore's 1992 second-quarter flash GDP growth projections in the Business Times newspaper. The others included the editor, Patrick Daniel, of the Business Times.[24]
The OSA case, which lasted over a year, was reported extensively in the Singapore press.[25][26] Tharman contested, and was eventually acquitted of, the charge of communicating the GDP growth flash projections.[27] The District Court then introduced a lesser charge of negligence, as the prosecution's case had been that the figures were seen on a document that he had with him on a table during his meeting with private sector economists together with one of his colleagues.[28] Tharman also contested this lesser charge of negligence, and defended himself on the witness stand for a few days.[29]
The Court nevertheless convicted him and the others in the case.[30] Tharman was fined S$1,500, and the others S$2,000.[30] As there was no finding that he communicated any classified information, the case did not pose any hurdle to his subsequent appointment as the managing director of the MAS, nor to his subsequent larger national responsibilities.
Following the 2011 general election, Tharman was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, while retaining his portfolio as Minister for Finance. He also served as Minister for Manpower between 2011 and 2012 concurrently. After the 2015 General Election, he stepped down as Minister for Finance on 30 September 2015,[34] after 9 years. He remained Deputy Prime Minister and was also appointed Coordinating Minister for Social Policies.
On 23 April 2019, it was announced that both Tharman and Teo Chee Hean were appointed Senior Ministers effective from 1 May 2019 under a Cabinet reshuffle, relinquishing their Deputy Prime Minister portfolios. Tharman would also be Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and advise the prime minister on economic policies.[36]
Tharman retained his parliamentary seat in Jurong GRC at the 2020 general election, after winning 74.62% [37] of the vote against the five-member Red Dot United team.
In July 2023, Tharman stepped down from Parliament and all his positions in the government and resigned as a member of the PAP in order to stand as a candidate in the 2023 Singaporean presidential election.[38]
In May 2019, Tharman was appointed Deputy Chairman of GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, a position he held until 7 July 2023. Tharman also served as Director of GIC between 2004 and 2023, and Chairman of the Investment Strategies Committee (ISC) between 2011 and 2023. On 8 July 2023, Tharman was succeeded by Lawrence Wong as Chairman of the Investment Strategies Committee (ISC).[41]
Tharman chaired the International Advisory Council (IAC) of the Economic Development Board (EDB) between 2014 and 2023,[42] and the International Academic Advisory Panel that advises the Singapore Government on strategies regarding the university sector.[43] On 8 July 2023, Tharman was succeeded by Lawrence Wong in both positions.
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
Tharman chaired the Board of Trustees of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA),[44] which seeks to uplift educational performance and aspirations in the Indian community in Singapore from 2008 until 2023.[45] He also chaired the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute from 2002 until 2023.[46]
Tharman led the SkillsFuture programme, launched in 2014 with the aim of developing skills of the future, and opportunities for life-long learning and job upskilling among Singaporeans. He also chaired the tripartite councils from 2011 to 2016 which drove national efforts to transform productivity through innovation and skills, and the implementation of industry-specific transformation programmes. This included the Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity (CSIP).[48]
Tharman co-chaired a few bilateral committees to promote economic and trade relations between Singapore and other countries, including the Singapore-Liaoning Economic and Trade Council from 2004 to 2008,[49] and the High-Level Russia-Singapore Inter-Governmental Commission from 2011 to 2022.[50]
International appointments
In 2011, members of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), appointed Tharman as its chair where he served until 2014. In announcing Tharman's selection, the IMF said that his "broad experience, deep knowledge of economic and financial issues, and active engagement with global policy makers will be highly valuable to the IMFC".[51]
In April 2017, Tharman was appointed by the G20 to chair the G20 Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Global Financial Governance. In October 2018, the Group proposed reforms[52] for a more effective system of global development finance and for financial stability.
On 1 January 2017, Tharman succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet as Chair of the Group of Thirty, an independent global council of leading economic and financial policymakers.[53] Tharman was subsequently succeeded by Mark Carney and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees on 1 January 2023.
In May 2019, Tharman was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF).[57]
In January 2021, Tharman was appointed by the G20 to co-chair the G20 High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, alongside Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Lawrence Summers.[58]
In March 2022, Tharman was appointed a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's High‑Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.[59]
Tharman co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water with Mariana Mazzucato, Ngozi Owonjo-Iweala, and Johan Rockström. Its initial recommendations helped shape the outcomes of the UN Water Conference in March 2023.[60]
He is also co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, established by the World Bank Group in July 2024.[61]
On 8 June 2023, Tharman announced his intention to be a candidate in the 2023 presidential election.[62][63] He resigned from all his positions in the government and as a member of the People's Action Party (PAP) on 7 July in order to stand in the election, as the presidency is a non-partisan office.
On 26 July, Tharman launched his presidential campaign with the campaign slogan "Respect for All".[64] On 7 August, he submitted his application for the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to the Elections Department.[65] He was issued the COE on 18 August by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC).[66]
On 2 September, Tharman was announced as the winner after receiving 70.41% of the vote, with Ng Kok Song receiving 15.72% and Tan Kin Lian receiving 13.87%, and was elected as the ninth president of Singapore.[67] He is the first non-Chinese presidential candidate to win in a contested presidential election in Singapore.[68] Tharman also garnered the highest vote count in Singapore's presidential electoral history of 70.41%.
He was sworn in on 14 September at a ceremony held at the Istana, succeeding Halimah Yacob.[69]
On 24 January 2024, Tharman made his first state visit to Brunei as president. His predecessor, Halimah Yacob also made her first State Visit overseas, to Brunei. He also made state visits to Italy and Estonia in June.[70] On 15 May 2024, Tharman appointed Lawrence Wong as the 4th prime minister of Singapore after Lee Hsien Loong resigned as prime minister.
In July 2010, Tharman became the fourth recipient of the Honorary Fellowship of the Economic Society of Singapore,[72] after Goh Keng Swee, Lim Chong Yah, and Goh Chok Tong.
In May 2017, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) conferred its highest award,[73] the Medal of Honour, on Tharman for his varied contributions to the labour movement including "driving national initiatives to better the lives of workers" and "his deep commitment to building an inclusive society".[74]
In October 2019, Tharman received the Institute of International Finance's inaugural Distinguished Leadership and Service Award,[76] together with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, for his role as a leading proponent of global reforms to de-risk and grow development finance and to achieve more resilient capital flows.
Tharman was named Finance Minister of the Year 2013 by Euromoney,[77] in recognition of the roles he played in the economic restructuring of Singapore and as statesman of the region on the international stage.
Tharman was conferred the Freedom of the City of London award [78] in June 2019, in recognition of his significant contributions to global finance governance, and his efforts to strengthen ties between Singapore and the city.
Personal life
Tharman is a fourth-generation Singaporean of Ceylonese-Tamil ancestry.[79][80] One of three children, Tharman is the son of Emeritus Professor K. Shanmugaratnam,[80] a medical scientist known as the "father of pathology in Singapore", who founded the Singapore Cancer Registry and led a number of international organisations related to cancer research and pathology.[81][82][83]
Tharman is married to Jane Yumiko Ittogi, a Singaporean lawyer of Chinese–Japanese descent. She founded and chairs Tasek Academy and Social Services, a local NGO, and is actively engaged in its initiatives for social development and sustainability. The couple have one daughter and three sons together.[84][85]
Tharman was an active sportsman in his youth, particularly in hockey, athletics, football, and cricket, and has expressed his views on how sports instils lessons for life. He spoke about sports as a form of education in Game for Life: 25 Journeys,[86] published by the Singapore Sports Council in 2013, as "a huge deal for character... Children learn the value of teams. They learn the discipline of repeated practice, and how there is no other way to develop expertise. Plus, the ability to fall or lose in competition and pick oneself up... with humility."
In Singapore's Chinese-language media, Tharman is often referred to as 尚达曼 (pinyin: Shàng Dámàn), an approximate transliteration of Tharman Shanmugaratnam.[87] The name was given to him by a leading Chinese language specialist in 1995. Tharman has practiced Chinese calligraphy since 2002.
^"尚达曼：善用科技保存和分配水资源 能化解气候危机隐忧". 8world (in Chinese (Singapore)). Singapore. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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.
The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the constituency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; SPP: Singapore People's Party; WP: The Workers' Party For NCMPs, Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Jong are from the WP, while Lina Loh is from the SPP. NMPs do not belong to any party. There were two terms of NMPs in this parliament, with nine NMPs in each term.
The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the constituency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; SDA: Singapore Democratic Alliance; 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.
