Janil Puthucheary

Janil Puthucheary
The Honourable Dr.; Janil Puthucheary; MP
	ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி
Senior Minister of State, ; Ministry for Communications and Information
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 May 2017 Serving with Sim Ann
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Yaacob Ibrahim ; (2017–2018) ; S. Iswaran ; (since 2018)
Constituency	Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
Senior Minister of State, ; Ministry for Health
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 27 July 2020 Serving with Koh Poh Koon
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Gan Kim Yong
Constituency	Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
Senior Minister of State, ; Ministry for Transport
	In office; 1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Khaw Boon Wan
Senior Minister of State, ; Ministry for Education
	In office; 1 May 2017 – 30 April 2018
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Ong 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 Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Yaacob Ibrahim
Minister of State, ; Ministry for Education
	In office; 1 January 2016 – 30 April 2017
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Ong Ye Kung ; (Higher Education and Skills) ; Ng Chee Meng ; (Schools)
Member of the Singapore Parliament; for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC ; (Punggol Coast)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 11 September 2015
Preceded by	Position established
Member of the Singapore Parliament; for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC ; (Punggol West)
	In office; 7 May 2011 – 24 August 2015
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Party Whip of the People's Action Party
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 June 2019
Deputy	Sim Ann ; (since 2019) ; Zaqy Mohamad ; (2019-2020)
Secretary-General	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Chan Chun Sing
Personal details
Born	6 November 1972; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Political party	People's Action (2011)
Alma mater	Queen's University, Belfast
Occupation	Politician

Janil Arusha Puthucheary (Tamil: ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி, born 6 November 1972) is a Singaporean politician and medical doctor. He was appointed as vice-chairmen of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council's with Sun Xueling. He is the PAP Party Whip since June 2019. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) , he was appointed as the Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Communications and Information since May 2017 and the Ministry for Health since July 2020 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He is to helm the Young PAP was elected as the People's Action Party Central Executive Committee as Assistant Organising Secretary.

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.

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

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 previous 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]

References

Chew, Cassandra (22 March 2011). "'I'm staying, I'm fully invested'". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
Young, Pak Nang (1 April 2011). "A minimum period of citizenship?". TODAY. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
Member's CV: Dr Janil Puthucheary, parliament.gov.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
Parliamentary General Election 2011: Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, singapore-elections.com, retrieved 6 April 2012.
Dr Janil Puthucheary Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, prpg-tc.org.sg, retrieved 6 April 2012.
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.
Loh, Andrew (3 May 2011). "PAP has abused power to secure political advantage: WP". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
"Dr Janil Puthucheary". prpg-tc.org.sg. Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
"Who Is Dominic Puthucheary?". Singapore Notes.
Their dads were once PAP adversaries, The Straits Times, 22 March 2011.
"First intake of SAF Volunteer Corps enlisted". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.

External links

Janil Puthucheary on Parliament of Singapore
Janil Puthucheary at pap.org.sg

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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[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.