Tharman Shanmugaratnam Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tharman Shanmugaratnam

• Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a Singaporean economist and statesman of Indian descent.

• For his formal schooling, he went to an Anglo-Chinese School located in Singapore.

• Tharman’s father, Kanagaratnam, was recognized as the father of pathology in Singapore and was appointed as an Emeritus Professor by the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1986 for his exceptional contributions to research and education. He established the Singapore Cancer Registry and led several international organizations focused on cancer research and pathology.
  

  Tharman’s father, Kanagaratnam, in his lab

• In 1978, Tharman along with his classmates Chew Keng Chuan and Yeoh Lam Keong, authored the poetry collection ‘But We Have No Legends.’ He wrote four poems for this collection. At that time, the trio was associated with the Young Writers’ Circle at the National Library. In a 2015 interview, Tharman talked about those times and said that he didn’t think of himself as a poet.
  

  Index of the poetry collection highlighting Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s poems

• He was a student activist while studying in the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Initially, he held socialist views, but his perspectives on economics changed over the course of his career.

• Tharman met Jane Ittogi while studying at the London School of Economics. At the time they met, Tharman was still pursuing his degree while Jane had already completed her master’s in Law as she was three years older than him. They both had a shared passion for social issues and were part of the same circle of friends.

• While studying at Harvard, he received the Lucius N. Littauer Fellows Award (given to Master of Public Administration students who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership).

• In 1982, Tharman started working as an economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which is the central bank of Singapore. From 1982 to 1992, he worked at MAS in different positions such as Senior Economist, Assistant Director, and Deputy Director.

• In 1995, he became the Director of the economics department at MAS for two years. Then, from 1 September 1997 to 30 November 1997, he worked as a Concurrent Special Assistant to the Managing Director. He was appointed as the Deputy Managing Director of the Banking and Financial Supervision department on 1 December 1997. Finally, he became the Managing Director of MAS from 1 April 2001 to 22 October 2001.
  

  Tharman Shanmugaratnam heading a press conference as the director of the MAS

• In April 1995, he switched to the Education Ministry. He started as the Deputy Secretary of Policy and worked in that role until September 1997. After that, from 16 September 1997 to 30 November 1997 he became the Senior Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Education.

• Tharman made his political debut in 2001 as a candidate of PAP (People’s Action Party). He won his first-ever election with a huge margin of 79.75% of the total votes cast.

• Tharman has successfully contested the Jurong GRC seat in five consecutive elections in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2015, and 2020.

• He is the fourth person to receive the Honorary Fellowship of the Economic Society of Singapore in 2010. ^[5]Economic Society of Singapore

• In 2011, he received an honorary fellowship from the London School of Economics, UK.

• In 2011, Tharman was appointed as the chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), which is the policy advisory committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He served in this position until 2014 and became the first Asian to head the IMFC. ^[6]International Monetary Fund

  

  Tharman Shanmugaratnam chairing a meeting at the IMF

• In 2016, Yahoo News conducted a poll asking people to vote for a successor to Lee, who was the Prime Minister at the time. Tharman won with an overwhelming approval of almost 70% of the voters. However, he had previously stated that he did not see himself as a suitable candidate for the position of Prime Minister.

• On 1 January 2017, Tharman became the Chair of the Group of Thirty, a group of prominent global economic and financial leaders. He held this position until 2023.
  

  Tharman Shanmugaratnam as the chairman of the G30

• In April 2017, Tharman was selected by the G20 to lead the Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance.

• In May 2019, He was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• Tharman was appointed as the co-chair of the Advisory Board for the 2019 Human Development Report (HDR) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 22 May 2019. He was then reappointed to the same position for the Human Development Reports of 2020 and 2021.

• Tharman was among those shortlisted to be the next chief of the IMF in 2019.

• In January 2021, Tharman was picked by the G20 again, this time to co-lead another important group called the G20 High-Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

• In March 2022, Tharman was appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism. He also served as a co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. The commission’s initial recommendations played a role in shaping the outcomes of the UN Water Conference held in March 2023.
  

  Tharman Shanmugaratnam (extreme left) co-chairing the Global Water Commission

• Tharman has qualified for the 2023 Presidential Election in Singapore, meeting the public sector criteria. To run for president, Singaporeans must follow a strict process. They need a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and a community certificate, issued by the Presidential Election Committee to prove they meet the criteria. To qualify, a person must meet either the Private or Public sector criteria. Public sector criteria apply if the person held a significant public office or a top role in a government board or company. Private sector criteria apply if the person has been the CEO of a company with S$500 million shareholders’ equity and good profits.

• He chose pineapple as his campaign symbol in the 2023  presidential election of Singapore citing that it is considered a symbol of prosperity in China as well as in India and contains Vitamin C and thiamine, which promotes happy hormones. His slogan during the campaign was ‘Respect For All.’
  

  Tharman Shanmugaratnam campaigning for the Presidential elections

• The 2023 Presidential election in Singapore is the first one to be contested since 2011. Prior to this, the first female president of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, was elected without an election as no other candidate met the qualifications to run for the position.  ^[7]The Economic Times

• Tharman leads the National Skills Future initiative. It gives every Singaporean opportunities to develop themselves and discover new interests at every stage of life.

• Tharman is Chairman of the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute. He also chairs the Board of Trustees of SINDA (Singapore Indian Development Association) which seeks to uplift educational performance and aspirations in the Indian community in Singapore.

• Tharman is the first non-Chinese president of Singapore to win a contested election in a Chinese-dominated society.

• He is the third Indian-origin person to head the state as a President after Sellapan Ramanathan and Chengara Veetil Devan Nair. ^[8]The Economic Times

• He was awarded with the Singaporean National Honour,  Pingat Bakti Masyarakat, a public service medal. Recipients of this award are entitled to use the post-nominal letters PBM with their name.

• Tharman has been practising Chinese calligraphy since 2002.

• He is fluent in four languages, English, Tamil, Malay, and Mandarin.