Benjamin Sheares

Benjamin Sheares
Official portrait, 1971
2nd President of Singapore
In office
2 January 1971 – 12 May 1981
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byYusof Ishak
Succeeded byDevan Nair
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Henry Sheares

(1907-08-12)12 August 1907
Singapore, Straits Settlements
Died12 May 1981(1981-05-12) (aged 73)
Singapore
Cause of deathLung tumour
Resting placeKranji State Cemetery
Political partyIndependent
SpouseYeo Seh Geok Sheares (m. 1939–1981)[1]
Children3
Alma materKing Edward VII College of Medicine
Royal Postgraduate Medical School
Occupation
  • Physician
  • academic

Benjamin Henry Sheares (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a Singaporean physician and academic who served as the second president of Singapore from 1971 until his death in 1981.

Sheares retired in 1960 and was in private practice before being elected as the president of Singapore by the Parliament after the death of Yusof Ishak, the former president of the Republic, on 23 November 1970.[2] He was sworn in on 2 January 1971.

Sheares initially wanted to retire after finishing his second term as he felt that he did not have the energy for another term, but Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew persuaded him to remain and Sheares took on his third term. He served as the president of Singapore for three terms from 2 January 1971 until his death on 12 May 1981. He was succeeded by Devan Nair on 23 October 1981. [3]

Benjamin Sheares remains the only Singaporean President elected for three terms and remained the longest-serving President at 10 years - a record surpassed in January 2010 by his successor S. R. Nathan.

Both the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and Sheares Hall at the National University of Singapore are named after him.[4]

  1. ^ "Remembering Mrs Benjamin Sheares". Duke-NUS. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  2. ^ Singapore. Parliament. Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. (30 December 1970). Election of President of Republic of Singapore (Vol. 30, cols. 378–382); Election of President today. (30 December 1970). The Straits Times, p. 6. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  3. ^ Sheares in a coma. (11 May 1981). The Straits Times, p. 1; Lee, P., Ngoo, I., & Bala, K. (13 May 1981). Singapore mourns. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  4. ^ "How they came to be named". The Straits Times, Retrieved from Newspaper SG. 16 August 1994.

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