K. Shanmugam
Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam SC (Tamil: காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 and Minister for Home Affairs since 2015. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is a Member of the 14th Parliament and has been representing the Chong Pang ward of Nee Soon Group Representation Cons*uency (GRC) since 2011. Within the PAP, he holds the position of the party's Central Executive Committee Treasurer. He was also previously Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2015.
A lawyer by profession, Shanmugam had made a name for himself in litigation, arbitration and insolvency cases before he entered politics. In 1998, at the age of 38, he was of the youngest lawyers in Singapore to be appointed Senior Counsel. Along with Davinder Singh, he was known as one of the "twin *ans of litigation" and a prominent figure in Singapore's legal circles. Shanmugam has also received praise for being one of the top cross-examiners in Singapore and has acted for and against all three Prime Ministers of Singapore in civil lawsuits.
Kurt Campbell, former United States *istant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, once spoke of Shanmugam: "The quality of his mind is impressive. In meetings with him, he has legal framing, approaches problems in a deeply systemic way, is unsentimental about the world, clear-eyed and very strategic... He can be hard-headed about what is best for Singapore, but he is always upfront and clear."
Contents
- 1 Education
- 2 Legal career
- 3 Political career
- 3.1 As Minister for Law
- 4 Other appointments
- 4.1 Directorships
- 4.2 Board
- 5 Personal life
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Education
Shanmugam was educated in Raffles Ins*ution from 1972 to 1977. He went on to read law at the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Law and graduated in 1984.
During his time in law school, Shanmugam earned several awards, book prizes and scholarships for being the top student from his first to third years and for academic merit (1982–1983). He also won the Montrose Memorial Prize for Jurisprudence (1984).
Shanmugam was awarded the Adrian Clarke Memorial Medal, the Leow Chia Heng Prize and the External Examiner's Prize (1984) for being the top law student of his graduating cl* and top student in the final-year examinations. He also represented Singapore in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Compe*ion in 1984, in which his team won Runner-Up in the International Division.
Legal career
After being admitted to the Singapore Bar as an advocate and solicitor in 1985, Shanmugam went into private practice and became a senior partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution at Allen & Gledhill.
In 1998, Shanmugam became one of the youngest lawyers to be appointed Senior Counsel (SC) of the Supreme Court at the age of 38.
Shanmugam has acted for Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his predecessors (Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong) in lawsuits. In 1995, the International Herald Tribune selected Shanmugam to represent them after the Lees and Goh initiated a civil libel lawsuit against the newspaper. Lee Kuan Yew later stated that the Tribune's decision to choose Shanmugam to represent them even though he was a People's Action Party member and was close to the Lees and Goh, was the highest form of praise to the Senior Counsel's integrity and to the integrity of the Singapore government as a whole.
Political career
Shanmugam entered politics when he joined the People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting Sembawang Group Representation Cons*uency (GRC) in the 1988 general election. The PAP team won and Shanmugam became a Member of Parliament representing the Chong Pang ward of Sembawang GRC.
Shanmugam served as a Member of Parliament and continued to practise law until 2008 when he joined the Cabinet to replace S. Jaya*ar as Minister for Law. He was concurrently appointed Second Minister for Home Affairs in 2008, and succeeded Wong Kan Seng as Minister for Home Affairs in 2010.
Following the 2011 general election, Shanmugam relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Home Affairs and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, while continuing to serve concurrently as Minister for Law. As of 2015, Shanmugam remains as a Member of Parliament representing Chong Pang ward, which had become part of Nee Soon GRC.
Following Shanmugam's remarks on changes to the qualifying criteria for Singapore's elected presidency, he was criticised by former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock for pre-empting the legislative process and the Presidential Elections Committee, which decides the eligibility of candidates for the presidential election.
In February 2018, Shanmugam said that Singapore would change its criminal breach of trust (CBT) laws to address concerns that company directors and key officers of charities would face lower maximum penalties for CBT offences compared to their employees.
Shanmugam was a member of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods formed in 2018. During the public hearings, he questioned Simon Milner, Facebook's Vice President of Public Policy for Asia-Pacific, about the misuse of online data by Cambridge *ytica., and crossed swords with historian Thum Ping Tjin over a paper about Operation Coldstore written by Thum in 2013.
As Minister for Law
As Minister for Law, Shanmugam was a believer in tempering the law with empathy. This has been the basis to make Singapore's laws to be more comp*ionate, with greater collectivism, and to make the country to looks out for those who are unable to look after themselves.
During Shanmugam's tenure as Minister for Law, some changes to the criminal and family justice system were effected. These include:
- Overhaul of the existing Penal Code, to modernise Singapore's criminal laws and enhance protection for the vulnerable in society, such as women and children.
- Enactment of the Protection from Har*ment Act, to provide remedies and recourse for victims of har*ment, online bullying and stalking. Subsequent amendments fortified the Act by establishing a stand-alone Protection from Har*ment Court to allow protection to be obtained expediently by victims, including that of intimate partner violence.
- Enhancing access to justice through government funding for legal representation of accused persons.
- Major changes to the family justice system, in which the child's welfare and best interests are placed at the centre of the system. Changes also include helping families navigate the court system with less costs and delays by handling family disputes in less rancorous ways.
- Introduction of community-based sentences to tap on community resources in the rehabilitation of offenders.
- Review of the mandatory death penalty to give judges discretion to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment in cases involving unintentional homicide and drug trafficking by couriers, if the stipulated conditions for such are met.
- Amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act to fortify Singapore's drug rehabilitation regime through a more calibrated approach.
Other appointments
Shanmugam served on the board of directors for several companies before his appointment to the Singapore Cabinet.
Directorships
- Non-Executive Director of Sembcorp (July 1998 – April 2008)
- Director of Asia Food & Properties (July 1997 – 2001)
- Director of Golden Agri-Resources (May 1999 – 2001)
Board
- Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law
- Raffles Ins*ution Board of Governors
- Media Development Authority
- Sembawang Corporation Industries Ltd
Shanmugam served as the President of the Singapore Indian Development *ociation (SINDA) from March 2002 to March 2009.
Personal life
A Tamil Indian, Shanmugam has been married to clinical psychologist Dr Seetha Shanmugam since 2008.
Shanmugam is a practising Hindu. He is also often involved in various religious activities organised by communities of various faiths. He has met Pope Francis in the Vatican City and has referred to the Pontiff as exemplifying the "essence of religion" and a "strong advocate of interfaith dialogue and understanding".
Shanmugam also participates regularly in the Taoist Nine Emperor God's festival in his Cons*uency since he became an MP for the area.
References
External links
- K. Shanmugam on Prime Minister's Office
- K. Shanmugam on Parliament of Singapore
- K. Shanmugam on Facebook
All of the leaders of the respective GRCs are in underline. NMPs do not belong to any party.Other Current/Former MPs Nav Boxes1413121110The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the cons*uency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; WP: The Workers' Party
NMPs do not belong to any party. There were two terms of NMPs in this parliament, with nine NMPs in each term.Other Current/Former MPs Nav Boxes1413121110The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the cons*uency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; SPP: Singapore People's Party; WP: The Workers' Party
For NCMPs, Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Jong are from the WP, while Lina Loh is from the SPP. NMPs do not belong to any party. There were two terms of NMPs in this parliament, with nine NMPs in each term.Other Current/Former MPs Nav Boxes1413121110The party affiliation of each member is indicated right after the cons*uency he or she represents. PAP: People's Action Party; SDA: Singapore Democratic Alliance; WP: The Workers' Party
NMPs do not belong to any party. There were two terms of NMPs in this parliament, with nine NMPs in each term.Other Current/Former MPs Nav Boxes1413121110Judicial officersNotable Senior Counsel
- Alvin Yeo
- Cavinder Bull
- Davinder Singh
- Edwin Tong
- Hri *ar Nair
- Lionel Yee
- Michael Hwang
- Murali Pillai
- Philip Jeyaretnam
- Thio Shen Yi
- Adrian Tan
- Edmund Sim
- Eugene Thuraisingam
- Glenn Knight
- Josephus Tan
- Lawrence Ang
- M Ravi
- Quek Mong Hua
- Rajesh Sreenivasan
- Roger Tan
- Stephanie Yuen-Thio
- Tan Choo Leng
- David Tan
- Eleanor Wong
- Eugene Tan
- Goh Yihan
- Harry E. Groves
- Ho Peng Kee
- Leslie C. Green
- Lionel A. Sheridan
- Muthu*araswamy Sornarajah
- Simon Chesterman
- Simon Tay
- Tan Cheng Han
- Tan Yock Lin
- Thio Li-ann
- Thio Su Mien
- Tommy Koh
- Walter Woon
- Leslie Chew
turned-politicians
- Amrin Amin
- Chen Show Mao
- Chia Yong Yong
- Chiam See Tong
- Chin Tet Yung
- Christopher de Souza
- Desmond Lee
- Edwin Tong
- Ellen Lee
- Indranee Rajah
- Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss
- Lim Biow Chuan
- Lim Tean
- Michael Palmer
- Murali Pillai
- Ong Kian Min
- Pritam Singh
- Sin Boon Ann
- Sylvia Lim
- Vikram Nair
or deceased lawyers
- David Marshall
- Francis Seow
- Harry Elias
- Hugh Hickling
- J. B. Jeyaretnam
- John Lay*
- Joseph Grimberg
- K. S. Rajah
- Koh Eng Tian
- Kwa Geok Choo
- Lee Kuan Yew
- Ling How Doong
- N. Ganesan
- Robert Carr Woods
- Sandrasegaran Woodhull
- Song Ong Siang
- Subhas Anandan
- Tan Chye Cheng
- Tang Fong Har
- Tang Liang Hong
- Teo Soon Kim
- William Napier
- Allen & Gledhill
- Allen & Overy
- Ashurst
- Clifford Chance
- Clyde & Co
- CNPLaw
- Donaldson & Burkinshaw
- Drew & Napier
- Eversheds Harry Elias
- Hill Dickinson
- Khattar Wong
- Lee & Lee
- Morgan Lewis Stamford
- Rajah & Tann
- Rodyk & Davidson
- Shook Lin & Bok
- Spruson & Ferguson
- WongPartnership
- NUS Faculty of Law
- SUSS School of Law
- Yong Pung How School of Law
- Law Society of Singapore
- Singapore Academy of Law