Paul Tambyah

Paul Anantharajah Tambyah (born 5 February 1965), is a Singaporean doctor and professor of infectious diseases, a politician, and a writer. He holds the SDP chairmanship under Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan since September 2017.[1]

Paul Tambyah
Tambyah at a Singapore Democratic Party rally during the 2015 general election
7th Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party
Assumed office
26 September 2017
Preceded byWong Souk Yee
Secretary-GeneralChee Soon Juan
Personal details
Born
Paul Anantharajah Tambyah

(1965-02-05) 5 February 1965
Singapore, Malaysia
NationalitySingaporean
Political partySingapore Democratic Party (2015⁠–⁠present)
Spouse(s)Siok Kuan Tambyah
MotherLeaena Tambyah
FatherJohn Tambyah
ResidenceSingapore
EducationBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
Alma materNational University of Singapore
University of Wisconsin
OccupationInfectious Diseases Expert
ProfessionPhysician
WebsitePaul Tambyah on Facebook
Medical career
InstitutionsNational University Hospital
Sub-specialtiesInfectious disease

Early life and education

Born in Singapore to John Tambyah and Leaena Chelliah in 1965,[2][3] Tambyah learned Mandarin as a second language in school and can converse in Mandarin.[4] Tambyah graduated from the National University of Singapore with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery to become a doctor in 1988. He was trained in Infectious disease at the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 1999.

Career

Medical career

Tambyah became an associate Professor of Medicine in 2001 and eventually became a full professor in 2013.[5]

Tambyah subsequently became a president of the Asia-Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection and led the Singapore Society of Infectious Diseases from 2011 to 2015.[5] He is also one of the committee members of the Action for Aids Singapore, the only HIV/AIDS agency in Singapore.[6]

He became the assistant Dean at the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Medicine in 2015. In June 2020, he became a president-elect of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, set to become the first Singaporean to hold the position and is expected to start his term in 2022.[1]

Activism

Tambyah was noted to be one of the founding members of MARUAH Singapore, a human rights organization which was founded in 2007 in Singapore. Due to the limitations of civil society activism, he eventually left the organization to join politics.[7]

Political career

Tambyah at a Singapore Democratic Party rally during the 2015 general election

Tambyah started getting involved with the Singapore Democratic Party in 2010 and spoke as a guest speaker at the SDP rallies during the 2011 Singaporean general election. He became a member of the SDP's Healthcare Advisory Panel in 2013.[8] In 2015, he became a political candidate as part of the SDP team and contested the Holland–Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2015 Singaporean general election.

On 26 September 2017, he was elected as Chairman by the CEC members during the Singapore Democratic Party 18th Ordinary Party Conference, replacing Wong Souk Yee.[9][10]

On 30 June 2020, Tambyah was fielded as a SDP candidate for the Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency during the 2020 Singaporean general election.[11]

Personal life

Tambyah was married to Dr Siok Kuan, a senior lecturer of marketing at NUS Business School.[12]

References

  1. "Paul Tambyah to become first S'porean to head International Society of Infectious Diseases". TODAYonline. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  2. "Policies, politics and paranoia: Singapore Democratic Party chairman Paul Tambyah goes On the Record". Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. "Honouring a dedicated physician and family man". medicine.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  4. "'SDP's Paul Tambyah's thoughts on Chee Soon Juan and the Covid-19 situation | 20 Answers With…'". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. "Find A Doctor - NUH | National University Hospital". www.nuh.com.sg. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  6. "The Team". Action for AIDS Singapore. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  7. "Doctor, Prof, NSMan: Mothership.sg Q&A with SDP's Paul Tambyah". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  8. "Congratulations to Paul Tambyah". yoursdp.org. 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  9. "Paul Tambyah elected new chairman of SDP". yoursdp.org. 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  10. "SDP elects Professor Paul Tambyah as new chairman". CNA. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  11. hermesauto (2020-06-30). "Singapore GE2020: SDP fields chairman Paul Tambyah in Bukit Panjang SMC, faces PAP's Liang Eng Hwa". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  12. "'Will be remiss if we do not speak up'". Retrieved 27 July 2020.
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