Indranee Rajah

Indranee Thurai Rajah SC (Tamil: இந்திராணி ராஜா; born 1963)[1] is a Singaporean politician who has been holding the Cabinet portfolios of Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance since 2018, as well as Second Minister for National Development since 2020. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she is a Member of the 14th Parliament and has been representing the Tanjong Pagar–Tiong Bahru ward of Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2015. She has also been Leader of the House since 2020. Within the PAP, she is a member of the party's Central Executive Committee. She is the fourth woman in Singaporean history to become a Cabinet minister after Lim Hwee Hua, Grace Fu and Josephine Teo.

The Honourable
Indranee Thurai Rajah
SC
இந்திராணி ராஜா
Indranee at the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit
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 (since 2020)
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byChan Chun Sing
(2015–2018)
Josephine Teo
(2017–2018)
ConstituencyTanjong Pagar GRC
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
Second Minister for Education
In office
1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterOng Ye Kung
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMaliki Osman
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
(since 2021)
Second Minister for Law
In office
1 May 2018 – 30 June 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterK. Shanmugam
Succeeded byEdwin Tong
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry for Finance
In office
1 October 2015 – 30 April 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterHeng Swee Keat
Preceded byJosephine Teo
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry 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,
Ministry for Education
In office
1 November 2012 – 30 September 2015
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJanil Puthucheary
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Tanjong Pagar GRC
(Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru)
Assumed office
23 March 2015
Preceded byLee Kuan Yew
Majority32,470 (26.26%)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Tanjong Pagar GRC
(Tanglin-Cairnhill)
In office
4 November 2001 – 11 September 2015
Personal details
Born1963[1]
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party (2001)
EducationNational University of Singapore
In this Indian name, the name Rajah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Indranee.

Before entering politics, Indranee was a lawyer working at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Drew & Napier. She was appointed Senior Counsel in January 2003. In 2001, Indranee made her political debut by contesting in the 2001 general election as part of a six-member PAP team contesting in Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC). Her team won the election and she became a Member of Parliament representing the Tanglin-Cairnhill ward of Tanjong Pagar GRC. Since the 2015 general election, she has switched to representing the Tanjong Pagar - Tiong Bahru ward of Tanjong Pagar GRC.

Education

Indranee had her early education in Marymount Convent Primary School, Marymount Convent Secondary School[2] and Raffles Institution. She was accepted into the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and graduated with a Bachelor of Law (Honours) 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 a Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2006 to 2011.

On 31 July 2012, Indranee was promoted to Senior Minister of State for Law and Education and formally assumed these positions on 1 November 2012.[3]

Starting in November 2013, Indranee led a 12-member committee to provide strategic direction for a planned third law school in Singapore, including its admissions criteria, curriculum development and educational philosophy.[4] On 16 February 2016, the committee, Ministry of Law and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) jointly held a press conference to announce the opening of the SUSS School of Law.[5]

Indranee became Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law from 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 goods and services tax 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 constituency.[7]

On 1 May 2018, Indranee was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education. As a transition arrangement, she was also appointed Second Minister for Law until 30 June 2018 when Edwin Tong took over from her as Senior Minister of State for Law.[8]

On 20 August 2020, Indranee was named Leader of the House for the 14th Parliament of Singapore.[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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