Indranee Thurai Rajah SC (Tamil: இந்திராணி ராஜா, romanized: Intirāṇi Rājā; born 12 April 1963)[1][2] is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance since 2018, Second Minister for National Development and Leader of the House since 2020. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru division of Tanjong Pagar GRC since 2015.
Indranee Rajah | |
|---|---|
| இந்திராணி ராஜா | |
 Indranee in 2018 | |
| Leader of the House | |
| Assumed office 24 August 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong |
| Deputy | Zaqy Mohamad |
| Preceded by | Grace Fu |
| Minister in the Prime Minister's Office | |
| Assumed office 1 May 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong |
| Preceded by | Chan Chun Sing (2015–2018) Josephine Teo (2017–2018) |
| Second Minister for National Development | |
| Assumed office 27 July 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong |
| Minister | Desmond Lee |
| Preceded by | Desmond Lee |
| Second Minister for Finance | |
| Assumed office 1 May 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong |
| Minister | Heng Swee Keat (2018–2021) Lawrence Wong (2021–present) |
| Second Minister for Education | |
| In office 1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Ong Ye Kung |
| Preceded by | Ng Eng Hen (2005) |
| Succeeded by | Maliki Osman |
| Second Minister for Law | |
| In office 1 May 2018 – 30 June 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | K. Shanmugam |
| Preceded by | S. Jayakumar (1988) |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Tong (2020) |
| Senior Minister of State for Finance | |
| In office 1 October 2015 – 30 April 2018 Serving with Sim Ann (2015–2016) | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Heng Swee Keat |
| Preceded by | Josephine Teo |
| Succeeded by | Chee Hong Tat (2022) |
| Senior Minister of State for Law | |
| In office 1 November 2012 – 30 April 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Preceded by | Ho Peng Kee |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Tong |
| Senior Minister of State for Education | |
| In office 1 November 2012 – 30 September 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Janil Puthucheary (2017) |
| Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore | |
| In office 8 November 2006 – 18 April 2011 Serving with Matthias Yao | |
| Speaker | Abdullah Tarmugi |
| Preceded by | S. Iswaran |
| Succeeded by | Seah Kian Peng |
| Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru) | |
| Assumed office 23 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Majority | 32,470 (26.26%) |
| Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Tanglin–Cairnhill) | |
| In office 4 November 2001 – 11 September 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 April 1963[1][2] State of Singapore |
| Political party | People's Action Party |
| Education | National University of Singapore (LLB) |
Prior to entering politics, Indranee was a lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Drew & Napier. She was appointed Senior Counsel in January 2003.
Indranee made her political debut in the 2001 general election as part of a six-member PAP team contesting in Tanjong Pagar GRC and won. She was subsequently elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Tanglin–Cairnhill ward of Tanjong Pagar GRC.
After the death of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on 23 March 2015, Indranee served as the MP for the Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru ward concurrently until the 2015 general election as no by-elections were called due to it being a group representation constituency (GRC). Since then, Indranee has been representing the Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru ward of Tanjong Pagar GRC.
Education
editIndranee attended Marymount Convent Primary School, Marymount Convent Secondary School[3] and Raffles Institution before graduating from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws with honours degree in 1986.
Law career
editIndranee began her legal career in 1987 with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She joined Drew & Napier in 1988 and became a director of the firm in 1991. She was a litigator and had an active court practice as an advocate and solicitor, specialising in cross-border dispute resolution. She was appointed Senior Counsel by Chief Justice Yong Pung How in January 2003.
Political career
editIndranee served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament between 2006 and 2011.
On 31 July 2012, Indranee was designated as Senior Minister of State for Law and Senior Minister of State for Education before being appointed on 1 November 2012.[4]
Indranee led a 12-member committee in 2013 to provide a strategic direction for the planned third law school in Singapore, including its admissions criteria, curriculum development and educational philosophy.[5] On 16 February 2016, the committee which includes the Ministry of Law and Singapore University of Social Sciences, held a joint press conference to announce the opening of the SUSS School of Law.[6]
Indranee relinquished her position as Senior Minister of State for Education, before being appointed as Senior Minister of State for Finance on 1 October 2015.[7]
On 9 March 2018, Indranee criticised Workers' Party Member of Parliament Sylvia Lim on Facebook after the latter voiced her suspicion on the government's intention to raise the GST in order to extract an apology. The public criticised Indranee and other PAP members for hounding Lim and being narrow-minded, and supported Lim for asking a legitimate question on behalf of her constituents.[8]
On 1 May 2018, Indranee was appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education. She was succeeded by Edwin Tong as Second Minister for Law on 30 June 2018.[9]
On 20 August 2020, Indranee was appointed as Leader of the House for the 14th Parliament.[10]
Personal life
editIndranee is the daughter of A. T. Rajah, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police and former President of the Singapore National Olympic Council.[11] Her father was a Tamil Hindu and her mother, an ethnic Chinese, was Anglican, and she was raised in her mother's faith.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "PARL | MP". www.parliament.gov.sg.
- ^ a b "Parliament of Singapore : MP Indranee Rajah's CV". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
- ^ a b Long, Susan (28 March 2014). "Life lessons from my mother". Council for Third Age (C3A). Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ "Singapore reshuffles Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ Sandra Davie (28 November 2013). "Top legal minds to help shape 3rd law school". The Straits Times (reproduced on Singapore Law Watch). Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
- ^ "Singapore's 3rd law school to focus on mid-career professionals". SUSS. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
- ^ "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ^ "Indranee Rajah Faces Backlash for Renewed Attack on Sylvia Lim over GST Hike "Test Balloons" Suspicion". 9 March 2018. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (Apr 2018)". Prime Minister's Office. 24 April 2018. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ "Indranee Rajah named Leader of the House, Tan Chuan-Jin to be nominated again as Speaker of Parliament: PMO". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "A.T. RAJAH (A NAME IN POLICE AND ATHLETICS) DIES IN HOSPITAL". The Straits Times. Courtesy of NewspaperSG. 16 September 1968. p. 9. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
External links
edit- Indranee Rajah on Prime Minister's Office
- Indranee Rajah on Parliament of Singapore