Role Politician | Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Name K. Shanmugam Preceded by S. Jayakumar | |
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Spouse Seetha Shanmugam (m. 2008) Similar People Lee Kuan Yew, Lim Chin Siong, Toh Chin Chye Profiles | ||
Supper with k shanmugam
Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam SC, (Tamil: காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Minister for Law since May 2008 and the Minister for Home Affairs since October 2015, a post which he had briefly served from November 2010 to May 2011. He previously served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from May 2011 to September 2015. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1988 representing the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (1988-2011) and the Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (since 2011), serving the Chong Pang ward in both constituencies.
Contents
- Supper with k shanmugam
- The singapore conference csis the hon k shanmugam
- Education
- Career
- Political career
- Other appointments
- Directorships
- Personal life
- References
The singapore conference csis the hon k shanmugam
Education
Shanmugam was educated in Raffles Institution from 1972 to 1977, before going on to study law at the National University of Singapore where he graduated at the top of his class with a First Class Honours degree in 1984.
Career
After being admitted to the Singapore Bar as an advocate and solicitor in 1985, Shanmugam went into private practice and became a Senior Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution at the Singapore law firm Allen & Gledhill.
Shanmugam had a successful practice and was consistently recognised in various international publications as one of the top litigation, arbitration and insolvency counsel in Asia. While he was in private practice, he regularly handled trial work in major corporate, commercial, insolvency disputes for private and public listed companies, major international and Singaporean banking and financial institutions, multinational corporations and professional practices.
In 1998, Shanmugam became one of the youngest lawyers to be appointed a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore at the age of 38.
Political career
Shanmugam became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1988 when he was elected as a member for the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) of Sembawang. He served as an MP and continued to practise law until 2008, when he was brought into the Cabinet to replace S. Jayakumar as Minister for Law. He was concurrently made the Second Minister for Home Affairs in 2008, and succeeded Wong Kan Seng as Minister for Home Affairs in 2010.
Following the 2011 general election, Shanmugam relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Home Affairs and was made the Minister for Foreign Affairs, while continuing to serve as Minister for Law. As of 2015, Shanmugam remains as a Member of Parliament serving Chong Pang while being actively concerned about the terror threat of the region.
Following Shanmugam's remarks on changes to the qualifying criteria for Singapore's elected presidency, he was slammed by former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock for pre-empting the legislative process and the Presidential Elections Committee, which decides the eligibility of candidates for the Singapore presidential elections.
Other appointments
Shanmugam served on the board of directors for several companies before his appointment to the Singapore Cabinet.
Directorships
Personal life
A Tamil Indian, Shanmugam has been married to psychologist Dr Seetha Shanmugam since 2008. He was previously married to Dr Jothie Rajah, a legal academic and daughter of former Judicial Commissioner K. S. Rajah.