Tharman Shanmugaratnam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids His Excellency Tharman Shanmugaratnam PPA(E)
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 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) Ong Ye Kung (Coordinating Minister for Social Policies) Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore In office 21 May 2011 – 30 April 2019 Serving with Teo Chee Hean 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 In office 3 November 2001 – 7 July 2023 Succeeded by Shawn Huang (West Coast–Jurong West GRC – Taman Jurong) Majority 60,501 (49.24%)
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Jurong GRC (Taman Jurong)
Personal details
Born	Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957-02-25) 25 February 1957 (age 68) Singapore
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	People's Action Party (2001–2023)
Spouse	Jane Yumiko Ittogi ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	4
Parent	K. Shanmugaratnam (father)
Education	London School of Economics (BSc) Cambridge University (MPhil) Harvard University (MPA)
Occupation	Politician economist
Signature

Tharman Shanmugaratnam (born 25 February 1957) is a Singaporean politician and economist. He is the ninth and current President of Singapore. He won the 2023 presidential election to take on this role.

Before becoming president, Tharman held many important jobs in Singapore's government. He was the Senior Minister of Singapore from 2019 to 2023 and the Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2019. He also served as the Minister for Finance, where he managed the country's money.

Tharman was a member of the People's Action Party (PAP) for over 20 years. He represented the Jurong GRC area in Parliament from 2001 to 2023.

In June 2023, he announced he would run for president. Because the president must not belong to any political party, he resigned from the government and the PAP. On 2 September 2023, he won the election with over 70% of the vote. He became the first person not of Chinese background to be elected president by the people of Singapore.

Early Life and Schooling

Tharman was born in Singapore in 1957. His family has roots in Sri Lanka. As a young man, he went to the Anglo-Chinese School.

For his university studies, he went to the famous London School of Economics (LSE) in England. There, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. Later, he studied at the University of Cambridge, also in England, and then at Harvard University in the United States. At Harvard, he earned a Master's degree in Public Administration and won an award for being an excellent student.

When he was a student in the United Kingdom, Tharman was a student activist. This means he was involved in speaking up about social and political issues.

Career Before Politics

Tharman began his career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which is like the country's central bank. He became its top economist. He also worked for the Ministry of Education. He later returned to the MAS and became its managing director. In 1999, he received the Public Administration Medal (Gold) for his excellent work.

In 1992, while working at the MAS, Tharman was involved in a legal case about secret government information. A newspaper had published the government's economic numbers before they were supposed to be released. Tharman was questioned about whether he had shared this information.

The court found that he had not shared any secrets on purpose. However, he was fined for being careless with the information. This event did not stop him from later taking on bigger and more important jobs for the country.

Political Career

Tharman entered politics in the 2001 general election. He was part of a team from the People's Action Party that won the election in Jurong GRC. After that, he was given jobs in the government, including working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Education.

Important Government Roles

From 2003 to 2008, Tharman served as the Minister for Education. He then became the Minister for Finance in 2007, a job he held for nine years.

In 2011, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. This is one of the most senior positions in the government. In 2019, he became a Senior Minister, where he advised the prime minister on economic issues.

He was a popular politician. In the 2015 general election, the team he led in Jurong GRC won with nearly 80% of the vote.

In July 2023, Tharman stepped down from all his government jobs and left the PAP to run for president.

Work with International Groups

Besides his work in Singapore, Tharman has held many important international roles. He has been recognized around the world for his knowledge of economics and finance.

Some of his key international jobs include:

• Chairman of a committee at the International Monetary Fund (IMF): From 2011 to 2014, he led a key policy group at the IMF, which works to keep the world's economy stable.
• Leader at the Group of Thirty: This is a private group of top economic and financial leaders from around the world. He became its chairman in 2017.
• Working with the United Nations (UN): He has co-chaired groups that advise the UN on important topics like human development and preparing for future pandemics.
• Board member of the World Economic Forum (WEF): Since 2019, he has been part of the board of this organization, which brings together world leaders to discuss global issues.

Presidency

On 8 June 2023, Tharman announced he would run for president. His campaign slogan was "Respect for All."

The election was held on 1 September 2023. Tharman won by a large margin, receiving 70.41% of the votes. This was the highest vote share ever for a presidential election in Singapore. He was sworn in as the ninth President of Singapore on 14 September 2023.

As president, Tharman represents Singapore on the world stage. In January 2024, he made his first state visit to Brunei. He has also visited Italy and Estonia. On 15 May 2024, he appointed Lawrence Wong as Singapore's fourth prime minister.

Personal Life

Tharman is a fourth-generation Singaporean. His father, Professor K. Shanmugaratnam, was a famous medical scientist known as the "father of pathology in Singapore."

Tharman is married to Jane Yumiko Ittogi, a lawyer who is active in social work. They have four children: one daughter and three sons.

In his youth, Tharman loved sports, including hockey, football, and cricket. He believes that sports teach important life lessons, like teamwork, discipline, and how to handle both winning and losing.

See also

In Spanish: Tharman Shanmugaratnam para niños