Indian-origin economist Tharman Shanmugaratnam sworn in as Singapore’s new president

Singapore: Indian-origin Singapore-born economist Tharman Shanmugaratnam was on Thursday sworn in as the ninth president of the city-state.

Tharman, 66, will serve a six-year term. He succeeds President Halimah Yacob, Singapore’s first female president, whose term ended on September 13.

Tharman, who has served Singapore all his life in public service, was overwhelmingly endorsed by the city-state’s predominantly Chinese society.

He served as a senior minister between 2019 and 2023; coordinating minister for social policies between 2015 and 2023; and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore between 2011 and 2023. He also served as Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister from May 2011 to May 2019.

Singapore, in the past, has had two Indian-origin presidents.

Sellapan Ramanathan, popularly known as S R Nathan, a Singaporean politician and civil servant of Tamil descent, served as the president of Singapore. In 2009, Nathan defeated Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore’s longest-serving president.

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985. Born in 1923 in Malacca, Malaysia, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala.