Janil Puthucheary

Janil Puthucheary (Tamil: ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி, born 6 November 1972) is a Singaporean politician and medical doctor. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and its Party Whip since June 2019, he has served as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Communications and Information since May 2017 and the Ministry for Health since July 2020. He served as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Transport from May 2018 to July 2020 and the Ministry for Education from May 2017 to April 2018 as well as Minister of State in the Ministry for Communications and Information and the Ministry for Education from January 2016 to April 2017. He has also served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC for Punggol West since September 2015 and for Punggol Coast from May 2011 to August 2015.

The Honourable

Janil Puthucheary

MP
ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry for Communications and Information
Assumed office
1 May 2017
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterYaacob Ibrahim
(2017–2018)
S. Iswaran
(since 2018)
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry for Health
Assumed office
27 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterGan Kim Yong
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry for Transport
In office
1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterKhaw Boon Wan
Senior Minister of State,
Ministry for Education
In office
1 May 2017 – 30 April 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterOng Ye Kung
(Higher Education and Skills)
Ng Chee Meng
(Schools)
Minister of State,
Ministry for Communications and Information
In office
1 January 2016 – 30 April 2017
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterYaacob Ibrahim
Minister of State,
Ministry for Education
In office
1 January 2016 – 30 April 2017
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterOng Ye Kung
(Higher Education and Skills)
Ng Chee Meng
(Schools)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
(Punggol Coast)
Assumed office
11 September 2015
Preceded byPosition established
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
(Punggol West)
In office
7 May 2011 – 24 August 2015
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Party Whip of the People's Action Party
Assumed office
6 June 2019
DeputySim Ann
Zaqy Mohamad
Secretary-GeneralLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byChan Chun Sing
Personal details
Born (1972-11-06) 6 November 1972
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Political partyPeople's Action (2011)
Alma materQueen's University, Belfast
OccupationPolitician

Career

Puthucheary was born in Malaysia[1] and, after training as a doctor in the United Kingdom, worked at hospitals in London, Belfast and Sydney, before moving to Singapore in 2001 to work at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. In 2008, he became a Singapore citizen at the age of 35.[2]

Puthucheary is currently a Senior Consultant in the children's intensive care unit at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. Since 2007, he has also been an Assistant Professor and Medical Director for Faculty Development at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.[3]

Political career

Puthucheary was a member of the PAP's team in the Pasir Ris–Punggol Group Representation Constituency at the 2011 general election. The PAP team, which was led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, defeated the team from the Singapore Democratic Alliance by 100,493 votes (64.8%) to 54,601 (35.2%).[4] Since the election, Puthucheary has represented the Punggol West ward within the constituency in Parliament.[5]

National Service controversy

Dr Puthucheary did not serve national service in Singapore, as first-generation new citizens are not required to do so. Having been compared to Chen Show Mao, a foreign-born new candidate of the Workers' Party who volunteered for national service at naturalisation, he mentioned that he has instead spent the last 10 years saving kids' lives. Some commentators criticised his comment due to the advantages of a professional career compared with national service.[6] His candidacy has led to Low Thia Khiang, the leader of the Workers' Party, to call for an amendment to the Singapore constitution to allow only male candidates who have served their national service to run for elections.[7]

Education

Puthucheary attended primary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before going on to Oundle School in the United Kingdom for his secondary education. He then trained as a paediatrician at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians in London.

Family

Puthucheary is married and has three sons.[8]

Puthucheary is the son of Dominic Puthucheary, a trade unionist and founding member of the PAP who subsequently left the party to join the Barisan Sosialis and was detained under Operation Coldstore in 1963.[9] He was released 10 months later, but was barred from entering Singapore until 1990.

In 2011, speaking to The Straits Times, Dominic stated that he was "very proud of my son and his desire to serve the society he lives in", despite his own past opposition to the PAP government in Singapore.[10]

SAF Volunteer Corps

Puthucheary signed up for the first batch of the SAF Volunteer Corps.[11]

gollark: OOP vs functional programming is a better comparison, yes.
gollark: LIES!
gollark: I avoid using turtles for mining since it seems that it's just too finicky to be useful.
gollark: Nope.
gollark: Well, I don't think it's too dissimilar from CC:T for 1.12, so programs for that ought to work.

References
  1. Chew, Cassandra (22 March 2011). "'I'm staying, I'm fully invested'". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  2. Young, Pak Nang (1 April 2011). "A minimum period of citizenship?". TODAY. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  3. Member's CV: Dr Janil Puthucheary, parliament.gov.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
  4. Parliamentary General Election 2011: Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, singapore-elections.com, retrieved 6 April 2012.
  5. Dr Janil Puthucheary Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, prpg-tc.org.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
  6. Loh, Andrew (15 April 2011). "PAP's Janil Puthucheary: "I did not do NS…"". The Online Citizen. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  7. Loh, Andrew (3 May 2011). "PAP has abused power to secure political advantage: WP". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  8. "Dr Janil Puthucheary". prpg-tc.org.sg. Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  9. "Who Is Dominic Puthucheary?". Singapore Notes.
  10. Their dads were once PAP adversaries, The Straits Times, 22 March 2011.
  11. "First intake of SAF Volunteer Corps enlisted". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
Parliament of Singapore
New constituency Member of Parliament for
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (Punggol West)
2011 – 2015		 Succeeded by
Sun Xueling
New constituency Member of Parliament for
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (Punggol Coast)
2015 – present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Chan Chun Sing		 Chairman of Young PAP
2017 – present		 Incumbent
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