Tharman Shanmugaratnam is Minister for Finance in Singapore.
Tharman spent much of his earlier professional life at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and integrated financial regulator, where he was the chief executive before his entry to politics in 2001. He has served in the economic and education ministries since then, including five years as Minister for Education. He was appointed Minister for Finance in Dec 2007.
In May this year, he was appointed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to chair an Economic Strategies Committee, comprising public and private sector leaders. The Committee will develop strategies for Singapore to build capabilities and maximize opportunities as a global city in a new global environment. It will put forward its key recommendations by Jan 2010.
Tharman also serves on the boards of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and the MAS, and the National Research Foundation. He is in addition Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), which seeks to uplift educational aspirations and strengthen resilience in the local Indian community; Chairman of the Ong Teng Cheong Institute of Labour Studies; and Chairman of the Council of Advisors of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees Union (SISEU).
Tharman did his undergraduate and masters education in Economics at the London School of Economics and Cambridge University. He later obtained a masters in Public Administration at Harvard University, where he received the Lucius N Littauer Fellow award.
Married to Jane Yumiko Ittogi, who practised law and is now focused on the non-profit arts sector. They have four children, three boys and a girl, all in their teens.
July 2009