Tharman Shanmugaratnam

His Excellency Tharman Shanmugaratnam PPA(E) PBM
தர்மன் சண்முகரத்தினம்
Official portrait, 2023
9th President of Singapore
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 September 2023
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong
Preceded by	Halimah Yacob
Senior positions Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore In office 1 May 2011 – 8 July 2023 Preceded by Goh Chok Tong Succeeded by Lawrence Wong
Ministerial offices Senior Minister of Singapore In office 1 May 2019 – 7 July 2023 Serving with Teo Chee Hean (2019 – 2023) Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Preceded by Vacant Succeeded by Lee 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 Minister Lee Hsien Loong Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Heng Swee Keat (Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies) Office abolished (Coordinating Minister for Social Policies) Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore In office 21 May 2011 – 30 April 2019 Serving with Teo Chee Hean (2009–2019) Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Preceded by Wong Kan Seng S. Jayakumar Succeeded by Heng Swee Keat Lawrence Wong Minister for Finance In office 1 December 2007 – 30 September 2015 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Second Minister Lim Hwee Hua Preceded by Lee Hsien Loong Succeeded by Heng Swee Keat Minister for Manpower In office 21 May 2011 – 31 July 2012 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Preceded by Gan Kim Yong Succeeded by Tan Chuan-Jin Minister for Education In office 1 August 2003 – 31 March 2008 Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong Lee Hsien Loong Second Minister Ng Eng Hen Preceded by Teo Chee Hean Succeeded by Ng Eng Hen
Parliamentary offices Preceded by Constituency established Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC (Taman Jurong) In office 3 November 2001 – 7 July 2023 Majority 60,501 (49.24%)
Personal details
Born	Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957-02-25) 25 February 1957 (age 67)[1] Singapore
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	People's Action Party (2001–2023)
Spouse	Jane Yumiko Ittogi
Children	4
Parent	Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam (father)
Education	London School of Economics (BSc) Wolfson College, Cambridge (MPhil) Harvard University (MPA)
Occupation	Politician economist
Signature

Tharman Shanmugaratnam^[a] (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.

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.^[1]He also served as Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies^[2] between 2011 and 2015, Minister for Finance between 2007 and 2015, Minister for Education between 2003 and 2008 and Minister for Manpower between 2011 and 2012.

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^[3], 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.^[4] He has also promoted initiatives to deepen and advance Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.^[5]

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)^[6], whose initial recommendations helped shape the outcomes of the UN Water Conference in March 2023.^[7] 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 to 2024.^[8] The Advisory Board provides intellectual advice and guidance on the overall vision, direction and message of the UN HDR.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] Tharman made his political debut in the 2001 general election^[12], and had been re-elected to Parliament four times^[13] 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^[14] 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. On 2 September 2023, Tharman was announced as the winner after receiving 70.41%^[15] of the vote in a landslide victory and was elected as the ninth president of Singapore.^[16] He is the first presidential candidate not of Chinese descent to win in a contested presidential election in Singapore.^[17]

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