Janil Puthucheary
Janil Puthucheary | |
|---|---|
ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி | |
| Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Communications and Information | |
| Assumed office 1 May 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Yaacob Ibrahim (2017–2018) S. Iswaran (2018–2021) Josephine Teo (since 2021) |
| Constituency | Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC |
| Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Health | |
| Assumed office 27 July 2020 Serving with Koh Poh Koon | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Gan Kim Yong (2020–2021) Ong Ye Kung (since 2021) |
| Constituency | Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC |
| Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Transport | |
| In office 1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Khaw Boon Wan |
| Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Education | |
| In office 1 May 2017 – 30 April 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Ong Ye Kung (Higher Education and Skills) Ng Chee Meng (Schools) |
| Minister of State, Ministry for Communications and Information | |
| In office 1 January 2016 – 30 April 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Yaacob Ibrahim |
| Minister of State, Ministry for Education | |
| In office 1 January 2016 – 30 April 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Minister | Ong Ye Kung (Higher Education and Skills) Ng Chee Meng (Schools) |
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (Punggol Coast) | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Majority | 44,466 (28.30%) |
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (Punggol West) | |
| In office 7 May 2011 – 24 August 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sun Xueling |
| Party Whip of the People's Action Party | |
| Assumed office 6 June 2019 | |
| Deputy | Sim Ann (since 2019) Zaqy Mohamad (2019-2020) |
| Secretary-General | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Preceded by | Chan Chun Sing |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 November 1972 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Political party | People's Action Party (2011) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Queen's University, Belfast |
| Occupation | Politician |
Janil Arusha Puthucheary (Tamil: ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி, born 6 November 1972) is a Singaporean politician and medical doctor. He was appointed as vice-chairmen of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council's with Sun Xueling. He is the PAP Party Whip since June 2019. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) , he was appointed as the Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Communications and Information since May 2017 and the Ministry for Health since July 2020 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He was elected as the People's Action Party Central Executive Committee Assistant Organising Secretary.[1]
He served as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Transport from May 2018 to July 2020 and the Ministry for Education from May 2017 to April 2018 as well as Minister of State in the Ministry for Communications and Information and the Ministry for Education from January 2016 to April 2017.
He has also served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC for Punggol West since September 2015 and for Punggol Coast from May 2011 to August 2015.
Career[]
Puthucheary was born in Malaysia[2] and, after training as a doctor in the United Kingdom, worked at hospitals in London, Belfast and Sydney, before moving to Singapore in 2001 to work at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. In 2008, he became a Singapore citizen at the age of 35.[3]
Puthucheary was a Senior Consultant in the children's intensive care unit at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. From 2007, he has also been an Assistant Professor and Medical Director for Faculty Development at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.[4]
Political career[]
Puthucheary was a member of the PAP's team in the Pasir Ris–Punggol Group Representation Constituency at the 2011 general election. The PAP team, which was led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, defeated the team from the Singapore Democratic Alliance by 100,493 votes (64.8%) to 54,601 (35.2%).[5] Since the election, Puthucheary has represented the Punggol West ward within the constituency in Parliament.[6]
He was appointed as Pasir Ris–Punggol Town Council vice-chairman with Sun Xueling.
National Service controversy[]
Puthucheary did not serve national service in Singapore, as first-generation new citizens are not required to do so. Having been compared to Chen Show Mao, a foreign-born new candidate of the Workers' Party who volunteered for national service at naturalisation, he mentioned that he has instead spent the last 10 years saving kids' lives. Some commentators criticised his comment due to the advantages of a professional career compared with national service.[7] His candidacy led Workers' Party leader Low Thia Khiang to call for an amendment to the Singapore constitution to allow only male candidates who have served their national service to run for elections.[8]
Education[]
Puthucheary attended primary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before going on to Oundle School in the United Kingdom for his secondary education. He then trained as a paediatrician at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians in London.
Family[]
Puthucheary is married and has three sons.[9]
Puthucheary is the son of Dominic Puthucheary, a trade unionist and founding member of the PAP who subsequently left the party to join the Barisan Sosialis and was detained under Operation Coldstore in 1963.[10] He was released 10 months later, but was barred from entering Singapore until 1990.
In 2011, speaking to The Straits Times, Dominic stated that he was "very proud of my son and his desire to serve the society he lives in", despite his own past opposition to the PAP government in Singapore.[11]
SAF Volunteer Corps[]
Puthucheary signed up for the first batch of the SAF Volunteer Corps.[12]
References[]
- ^ "CEC". People's Action Party. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
- ^ Chew, Cassandra (22 March 2011). "'I'm staying, I'm fully invested'". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ Young, Pak Nang (1 April 2011). "A minimum period of citizenship?". TODAY. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ Member's CV: Dr Janil Puthucheary, parliament.gov.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ Parliamentary General Election 2011: Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, singapore-elections.com, retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ Dr Janil Puthucheary Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, prpg-tc.org.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ Loh, Andrew (15 April 2011). "PAP's Janil Puthucheary: "I did not do NS…"". The Online Citizen. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ Loh, Andrew (3 May 2011). "PAP has abused power to secure political advantage: WP". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ "Dr Janil Puthucheary". prpg-tc.org.sg. Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "Who Is Dominic Puthucheary?". Singapore Notes. 24 March 2011.
- ^ Their dads were once PAP adversaries, The Straits Times, 22 March 2011.
- ^ "First intake of SAF Volunteer Corps enlisted". 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
External links[]
- Janil Puthucheary on Parliament of Singapore
- Janil Puthucheary at pap.org.sg
| show Member of multiple Parliaments of Singapore |
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- Members of the Parliament of Singapore
- People's Action Party politicians
- Singaporean paediatricians
- 1972 births
- Living people
- Malaysian people of Indian descent
- Malaysian emigrants to Singapore
- People who lost Malaysian citizenship
- Naturalised citizens of Singapore