Out of nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), 3 Indian-origin Singaporeans have been nominated for parliament in Singapore. All nine NMPs took oath of office on Wednesday. The NMPs are appointed for a two-and-a-half-year term.
Of the nine Nominated Members of Parliament, Raj Joshua Thomas, an Indian-origin lawyer is ready to serve for a second term in Singapore parliament.
Two other Indian origin NMPs are Parekh Nimil Rajnikant, CEO of acquisition firm Pegasus Asia; and Chandradas Usha Ranee, an art historian and co-founder of Plural Art magazine.
Not to forget that lawyer turned politician Halimah Yacob who is currently incumbent President of Singapore is also Indian-origin Muslim. She is of Malay descent. Prior to her presidency, she was Singapore’s parliament speaker. She assumed office in 2007 as parliament speaker.
Indian-origin persons are making history by leading many posts worldwide. Rishi Sunak has made history by becoming UK’s first Indian-origin PM. Kamala Harris is the first female, Indian and Black American vice president. Indian origin Pravind Jugnauth is currently serving as PM of Mauritius.
Interestinly, Mauritius’s president is also of Indian-origin named Prithvirajsing Roopun. He has been serving as president of Mauritius since 2009. Another Indian-origin Mohamed Irfaan Ali took oath as Guyana’s 9th executive president in August 2020 and now he is 10th president of the country. In the past, in many Caribbean countries, Indian-origin persons have held many prestigious political posts. These are just a few examples, there are many Indian-origin persons excelling all over the world.
Incumbent PM of Portugal Antonio Costa has his roots in India. Currently Harsh Vardhan Singh, an Indian-origin engineer in the US, has announced his bid for the White House to become US President from the Republican party.
Indian diaspora is flourishing globally and many Indian-origin persons are holding many crucial positions whether it is in politics or in business.