S. Rajaratnam

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S. Rajaratnam DUT
சின்னத்தம்பி ராஜரத்னம்
1st Senior Minister of Singapore
In office 2 January 1985 – 3 September 1988
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Lee Kuan Yew (1990)
2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
In office 1 June 1980 – 1 January 1985 Serving with Goh Keng Swee (1973–1980)
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Toh Chin Chye (1968)
Succeeded by	Goh Chok Tong Ong Teng Cheong
Minister for Labour
In office 16 April 1968 – 4 July 1971
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Jek Yeun Thong
Succeeded by	Ong Pang Boon
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 9 August 1965 – 1 June 1980
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	S. Dhanabalan
Minister for Culture
In office 5 June 1959 – 12 August 1965
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Othman Wok
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Singapore
In office 2 November 1963[1] – 9 August 1965
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Kampong Glam
In office 30 May 1959 – 17 August 1988
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Loh Meng See (PAP)
Personal details
Born	Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (1915-02-25)25 February 1915 Jaffna, British Ceylon
Died	22 February 2006(2006-02-22) (aged 90) Singapore
Cause of death	Heart failure
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse	Piroska Feher ​ ​ (m. 1943; died 1989)​
Parent	S. Sinnathamby (father)
Alma mater	King's College London
Occupation	Politician journalist

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam DUT (Tamil: சின்னத்தம்பி ராஜரத்னம்; 25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat who served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1980 and 1985. Rajaratnam is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. He was also one of the founders of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country continuously since independence.

Rajaratnam was one of the pioneering leaders who led the self-governance of Singapore from the British Empire in 1959 and the independence of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965. He devoted much of his adult life to public service, and helped shape the mentality of Singaporeans on contemporary issues. The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University and the S. Rajaratnam block of Raffles Institution are named after him.