Indranee Rajah

Indranee Thurai Rajah SC (Tamil: இந்திராணி ராஜா, romanized: Intirāṇi Rājā; born 1963)[1] is a Singaporean politician 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.

The Honourable
Indranee Rajah
SC
இந்திராணி ராஜா
Indranee at the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit
Leader of the House
Assumed office
24 August 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
DeputyZaqy Mohamad
Preceded byGrace Fu
Second Minister for National Development
Assumed office
27 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterDesmond Lee
Preceded byDesmond Lee
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
Assumed office
1 May 2018
Serving with Ng Chee Meng (2018–2020)
Tan See Leng (2020–2021)
Maliki Osman (2020–present)
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byChan Chun Sing
(2015–2018)
Josephine Teo
(2017–2018)
Second Minister for Finance
Assumed office
1 May 2018
Serving with Lawrence Wong (2018–2021)
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterHeng Swee Keat
(2018–2021)
Lawrence Wong
(2021–present)
Second Minister for Education
In office
1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterOng Ye Kung
Preceded byNg Eng Hen (2005)
Succeeded byMaliki Osman
Second Minister for Law
In office
1 May 2018 – 30 June 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterK. Shanmugam
Succeeded byEdwin Tong (2020)
Senior Minister of State for Finance
In office
1 October 2015 – 30 April 2018
Serving with Sim Ann (2015–2016)
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterHeng Swee Keat
Preceded byJosephine Teo
Succeeded byChee Hong Tat (2022)
Senior Minister of State for Law
In office
1 November 2012 – 30 April 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byHo Peng Kee
Succeeded byEdwin Tong
Senior Minister of State for Education
In office
1 November 2012 – 30 September 2015
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJanil Puthucheary (2017)
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
In office
8 November 2006 – 18 April 2011
Serving with Matthias Yao
SpeakerAbdullah Tarmugi
Preceded byS. Iswaran
Succeeded bySeah Kian Peng
Member of Parliament
for Tanjong Pagar GRC
(Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru)
Assumed office
23 March 2015
Preceded byLee Kuan Yew
Majority32,470 (26.26%)
Member of Parliament
for Tanjong Pagar GRC
(Tanglin–Cairnhill)
In office
4 November 2001 – 11 September 2015
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born1963 (age 59–60)[1]
State of Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
EducationNational University of Singapore (LLB)
In this Indian name, the name Rajah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Indranee.

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

Indranee attended Marymount Convent Primary School, Marymount Convent Secondary School[2] and Raffles Institution before graduating from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws with honours degree in 1986.

Law career

Indranee 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

Indranee 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

On 20 August 2020, Indranee was appointed as Leader of the House for the 14th Parliament.[9]

Personal life

Indranee is the daughter of A. T. Rajah, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police and former President of the Singapore National Olympic Council.[10] Her father was Hindu and her mother, an ethnic Chinese, was Anglican, and she was raised in her mother's faith.[2]

References
  1. "PARL | MP". www.parliament.gov.sg.
  2. 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.
  3. "Singapore reshuffles Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  4. 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.
  5. "Singapore's 3rd law school to focus on mid-career professionals". SUSS. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. "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.
  7. "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.
  8. "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.
  9. "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.
  10. "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.
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