S. R. Nathan | |
|---|---|
| செல்லப்பன் ராமநாதன் | |
.jpg) Nathan in 2003 | |
| 6th President of Singapore | |
| In office 1 September 1999 – 1 September 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Goh Chok Tong Lee Hsien Loong |
| Preceded by | Ong Teng Cheong |
| Succeeded by | Tony Tan |
| Singapore Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office 20 September 1990 – June 1996 | |
| President | Wee Kim Wee Ong Teng Cheong |
| Preceded by | Tommy Koh |
| Succeeded by | Chan Heng Chee |
| Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia | |
| In office April 1988 – July 1990 | |
| President | Wee Kim Wee |
| Director of the Security and Intelligence Division | |
| In office August 1971 – February 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Tan Boon Seng |
| Succeeded by | Eddie Teo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sellapan Ramanathan (1924-07-03)3 July 1924 Singapore, Straits Settlements |
| Died | 22 August 2016(2016-08-22) (aged 92) Singapore |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Resting place | Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Urmila Nandey |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Malaya |
| Occupation |
|
Sellapan RamanathanDUTPJG[1][2] (IPA:/ˈsɛləpənrɑːməˈnɑːðən/; 3 July 1924 – 22 August 2016),[3] often known asS. R. Nathan, was a Singaporean civil servant, diplomat and politician who served as the sixthpresident of Singapore between 1999 and 2011.[4] He was the longest-serving president in the country's history, holding office for two full terms. Prior to his presidency, Nathan held various key positions in the public service, including roles in theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, theMinistry of Home Affairs and theSecurity and Intelligence Division (SID). He also served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia andAmbassador to the United States.
Nathan was born in Singapore when it was a part of theStraits Settlements. He faced financial difficulties during his childhood, particularly after the death of his father. He left school during his teenage years and worked various jobs during theJapanese occupation of Singapore inWorld War II, including as a translator. After the war, he resumed his education and graduated with a Diploma in Social Studies from theUniversity of Malaya's Singapore division in 1954. He began his civil service career in theLabour Ministry in 1955 and later moved to the Foreign Ministry.
In the course of his civil service career, Nathan held several senior appointments, including Director of the SID and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1974, during theLaju incident, he volunteered to accompany members of theJapanese Red Army andPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine out of Singapore to ensure the safe release of civilian hostages, a move that drew national and international attention. He later served as Executive Chairman ofThe Straits Times Press from 1982 to 1988, High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1988 to 1990 and Ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1996.
Nathan was elected President of Singapore in1999 and re-elected in2005, both times unopposed after other prospective candidates were deemed ineligible. His presidency, largely ceremonial in accordance with theConstitution, was marked by public engagement and support for charitable causes, including the launch of thePresident's Challenge in 2000. Following his retirement in 2011, he continued to contribute to public life through writing and advisory roles. He died in 2016 at the age of 92 and was accorded a state funeral.
Nathan, who was of Tamil descent, was born inSingapore on 3 July 1924. He spent his childhood with his parents, V. Sellapan and Abirami, and two older brothers inMuar,Johor, in a house overlooking theStrait of Malacca.[5] Nathan would eventually be one of seven siblings; his three older brothers died in childhood.[6] His father had been posted to theMalayan town as a lawyer's clerk for a firm that serviced rubber plantations, but theGreat Depression and rubber slump of the 1930s sent the family's fortunes crashing. Nathan's father accrued debts and eventually committed suicide when Nathan was eight.[5]
Returning to Singapore, Nathan received his primary education atAnglo-Chinese Primary School and Rangoon Road Morning School, and his secondary education atVictoria School. However, Nathan was often truant in school and was eventually expelled from school twice and, after quarrelling with his mother, ran away from home at the age of 16.[6] During theJapanese occupation of Singapore, Nathan learned Japanese and worked for the Japanese civilian police as a translator.[7][8] After the war, whilst working, he completed his secondary education through a correspondence course withWolsey Hall, Oxford,[9] and entered theUniversity of Malaya (then in Singapore), where he became the secretary of theUniversity Socialist Club in his second year of university.[10]
He graduated in 1954 with a Diploma in Social Studies (Distinction).[5] He earned a diploma from theUniversity of Malaya in Singapore in 1954. This was followed by a long career in theSingapore Civil Service, which he joined in 1955. Between 1962 and 1966 he was seconded to theNational Trades Union Congress, and then worked in theMinistry of Foreign Affairs andMinistry of Home Affairs. He was with theSecurity and Intelligence Division of theDefence Ministry when theLaju incident happened in 1974, and was among the government officers who agreed to accompany terrorists who had bombed petroleum tanks to Kuwait to secure the release of civilian hostages and ensure the terrorists' safe passage. He served as First Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1982.
Nathan left the Civil Service in 1982 to take up the executive chairmanship of theStraits Times Press; he also held directorships in other companies. Between 1988 and 1996 he served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia andAmbassador to the United States, before his 12-year term as President of the Republic from 1999 to 2011. Following retirement, Nathan turned to writing and also became a Distinguished Senior Fellow at theSchool of Social Sciences ofSingapore Management University (SMU), and at theInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies. He died in 2016 and was accorded astate funeral by theGovernment.
Among the awards and honours Nathan received were the renaming ofSingapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) School of Human Development and Social Services toS R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD) in 2018,Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1964, thePingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Public Administration Medal, Silver) in 1967, thePingat Pentadbiran Awam (Meritorious Service Medal) in 1975, and theDarjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek) (First Class) in 2013; and honorary degrees from theNational University of Singapore and SMU.
Nathan began his career in theSingapore Civil Service as a medical social worker in 1955. He was appointed Seamen's Welfare Officer the following year. In 1962, he was seconded to the Labour Research Unit of theNational Trades Union Congress (NTUC), first as assistant director and later as director of the Labour Research Unit until January 1966.[5] Nathan negotiated Singapore's membership of theAfro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation.[6] He later served as a member of the NTUC's Board of Trustees from 1983 to April 1988.[11][12]
In February 1966, Nathan was transferred to theMinistry of Foreign Affairs. He served as Assistant Secretary and rose to be Deputy Secretary before being appointed Deputy Secretary of theMinistry of Home Affairs in January 1971. On 6 August of the same year, Nathan moved to theMinistry of Defence where he was Director of theSecurity and Intelligence Division (SID).[13] In theLaju incident on 31 January 1974, members of the terroristJapanese Red Army and thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine[14] bombed petroleum tanks onPulau Bukom off the coast of Singapore; Nathan was among a group of government officers who volunteered to be held hostage by the JRA and flown to Kuwait to secure the release of civilian hostages and ensure the terrorists' safe passage.[15][16] For his bravery, in August 1974 he was awarded thePingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal).[17]
In February 1979, Nathan returned to the Foreign Ministry and became its First Permanent Secretary until February 1982, when he left to become the Executive Chairman of the newspaper company theStraits Times Press. The appointment was viewed dimly by journalists who felt that the Government was trying to limitfreedom of the press; they wore black armbands in protest. According to Nathan in a 2010 interview, " When they saw I was not doing what they expected me to do, they began to have confidence."[6] At various times between 1982 and 1988, Nathan also held directorships of several other companies, including theSingapore Mint, The Straits Times Press (London),Singapore Press Holdings andMarshall Cavendish. He held a directorship in theSingapore International Media between September 1996 and August 1999. He was Chairman ofMitsubishi Heavy Industries Singapore, a ship-repairing and engineering joint venture with theMitsubishi Group of Japan, from 1973 to 1986. From 1983 to April 1988, Nathan was Chairman of theHindu Endowments Board. He was a founding member of theSingapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), and its term trustee until August 1999.[12]
In April 1988, Nathan was appointed Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia, and in July 1990 he becameAmbassador to the United States, serving until June 1996.[12] On his return, Nathan was made anAmbassador-at-Large and was concurrently Director of theInstitute of Defence and Strategic Studies at theNanyang Technological University. He resigned as ambassador and director of the institute on 17 August 1999 to become an independent candidate in the1999 Singapore presidential election.[12]
During the1999 presidential election, as two other prospective candidates were found to be constitutionally ineligible, Nathan was elected unopposed as president on 18 August 1999 and wasex officio appointed Chancellor of theNational University of Singapore and theNanyang Technological University.[5]
His candidacy was supported by Senior MinisterLee Kuan Yew and former PresidentWee Kim Wee.[5] Nathan succeededOng Teng Cheong as the president of Singapore, and was sworn in on 1 September 1999.[18]
Nathan launched the annualPresident's Challenge charity fundraising initiative in 2000. Continued in 2012 by his successor, PresidentTony Tan, and as of 2016 aboutS$160 million had been raised by the movement.[19]
During the2005 presidential election, thePresidential Elections Committee (PEC) declared Nathan as the only eligible candidate on 13 August, rejecting three other applications based on constitutional criteria.[20] Thus, Nathan was elected unopposed for a second term on 17 August 2005.[5] He was sworn in for a second term of office on 1 September 2005,[12] and as of 2016, is the only person who has served two terms as president.[3]
On 21 January 2009, Nathan approved in principle the Government's request to draw $4.9 billion from the nation'spast financial reserves to fund the Government's Resilience Package consisting of two schemes aimed at preserving jobs and businesses during theGreat Recession: the Jobs Credit scheme, which provided employers with financial assistance to pay employees' salaries; and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative, which helped mid-sized companies to obtain credit. This was the first time thePresident's discretionary powers had been exercised for this purpose.[21] The President's formal approval of the drawdown was subsequently signified in two notifications dated 13 March 2009.[22]
On 1 July 2011, Nathan announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office as president. He cited his age as one of the reasons, as he did not believe he could undertake indefinitely the heavy responsibilities and physical demands of the position of head of state at 87. He left office on 1 September that same year and was succeeded byTony Tan.[23] A few weeks later, on 19 September, his bookAn Unexpected Journey: Path to the Presidency[9] was launched by Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong.[24] At the same time, the S. R. Nathan Educational Upliftment Fund was inaugurated to provide bursaries, scholarships and other forms of financial assistance to needyInstitute of Technical Education, polytechnic and university students.[25]
As President, Nathan was the patron ofSingapore Management University from 2000 to 2011, and after completing his term of office he became a Distinguished Senior Fellow of theSMU School of Social Sciences.[26] Additionally, he was also a patron of theSingapore University of Social Sciences from 2006 to 2011. He held a similar position at theInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies.[5] He was also the first patron of the Inter-Religious Organisation from 2012 till his death in 2016.[27]
On 15 December 1958, Nathan married Urmila Nandey (born 1929)[28][29] and had one son and one daughter.
Nathan suffered astroke on the morning of 31 July 2016 and was taken toSingapore General Hospital's Intensive Care Unit.[30] He died in hospital on 22 August that year at 9:48 pmSST, aged 92.[3] He was survived by his wife Urmila Nandey (known as Umi), their daughter Juthika and son Osith, three grandchildren, and his sister Sundari.[3][31]
As a mark of respect, the Government directed that theNational Flag would fly athalf-mast from all government buildings from 23 to 26 August. Nathan's bodylay in state atParliament House on 25 August to enable members of the public to pay their respects.[32]
On 26 August, astate funeral was held to honour Nathan. His body was conveyed by a ceremonial25-poundergun carriage from Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre of theNational University of Singapore (NUS). The state funeral procession passed by landmarks of significance to his life, includingCity Hall, where he had attended threeNational Day Parades;The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, formerly the Fullerton Building which had housed the Marine Department where he had worked; andNTUC Centre, recalling Nathan's time in the labour movement.[33] Speakers who delivered eulogies at the state funeral included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Ambassadors-at-LargeTommy Koh andGopinath Pillai.[34] The music played at the ceremony included the song "Thanjavooru Mannu Eduthu" ("Taking the Sands ofThanjavur") from the Tamil filmPorkkaalam (Golden Age, 1997), about a dollmaker who moulds a doll of a beautiful lady with sand, clay and water from different lands, and eventually gives life to the doll. It was Nathan's favourite song as he saw it as a metaphor for Singapore's multiracial heritage.[35]
The state funeral was followed by a private cremation atMandai Crematorium.[32]
In 2018, theSingapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) School of Human Development and Social Services renamed theS R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD) in honor of Nathan to recognise his advocacy of social and community causes when he was patron of SUSS.[36]
In addition to thePingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal) he was awarded in 1975 for his actions during the Laju incident, Nathan was conferred theBintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1964 and thePingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Public Administration Medal, Silver) in 1967.[5] On 8 August 2013, Nathan was conferred theDarjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek) (First Class).[37] On 2006 he was conferred withOrder of the Bath.
Nathan, who had been chancellor of NUS from 1999 to 2011 during his presidency, was conferred an Eminent Alumni award by the university in 2007,[38] and an honoraryDoctor of Letters (D.Litt.) on 5 July 2012.[39] SMU also conferred on him an honorary D.Litt. on 14 July 2014.[40] In 2015, theFaculty of Arts and Social Sciences of NUS gave him its Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award for lifetime achievement.[41]
Nathan was theSingapore Scout Association's Chief Scout when he was president.[42] He received the Asia-Pacific Regional Distinguished Scout Award in 2005, and the Association's Distinguished Service Award (Gold) in 2010.[5]
Nathan's achievements were also recognised abroad. During a state visit to Bahrain on 22 November 2010 he was given theAl-Khalifa Order,[43] and while on a state visit to Mauritius in June 2011 he was conferred an honoraryDoctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) degree by theUniversity of Mauritius for his contributions to education and culture.[44] In 2012, theGovernment of India conferred thePravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) to Nathan in recognition of his contribution in building closerlinks between Singapore and India.[45]
Singapore:.svg)
First class of theOrder of Temasek (DUT) - 2013.png)
Meritorious Service Medal (PJG) - 1974.png)
Silver of thePublic Administration Medal - 1967.png)
Public Service Star - 1964
Bahrain:
Collar of the Order of al-Khalifa - 2010
India:
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman - 2010
United Kingdom:
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) - 2006
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of Singapore 1999–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Nonpartisan nominee forPresident of Singapore 1999 (no ballot) 2005 (no ballot) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
