Tamil-origin Tharman Shanmugaratnam sworn in as Singapore's ninth President

Tharman Shanmugaratnam was sworn in at the Istana on Thursday (Sep 14) as Singapore's ninth President, two weeks after his landslide election victory.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam was sworn in at the Istana on Thursday (Sep 14) as Singapore's ninth President, two weeks after his landslide election victory.

Mr Tharman took his oath of office at the State Room of the Istana, in front of guests that included former presidents Halimah Yacob and Tony Tan, as well as members of the Cabinet.

Mr Tharman, a former Senior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, won 70.41 per cent of the vote in the Sept 1 election, including overseas ballots.

Former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song received 15.72 per cent of the vote while former NUTC Income Tan Kin Lian garnered 13.87 per cent.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam whose grandparents are from Urelu in the Jaffna district of Northern Sri Lanka has made a history on September 1 by getting elected as President of Singapore. He registered a landslide victory in the presidential election.

Generally referred to as Tharman, the 66 year old London School of Economics, Cambridge and Harvard educated economist is also the first “Ceylon Tamil” to be elected as Singapore president. He has earlier served as Singapore’s deputy Prime Minister and Finance minister.