Indians in Singapore - Participation in National Life

Participation in National Life

Indian Singaporeans have made their mark nationally and even internationally in a variety of arenas.

• Politics - Indians have been well represented in national politics, including the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) as well as opposition parties. Indians have served as two out of six Presidents of Singapore, two out of four Senior Ministers and two out of nine Deputy Prime Ministers. At some point, Indians have been Ministers of almost all ministries, including Foreign Affairs and Finance. The only key posts Indians have not held are Prime Minister and Defence Minister. As of April 2008, Indians were over-represented in the Cabinet (4 cabinet ministers, or 20% of the total) as well as in Parliament among both elected (10.7%) and unelected MPs (20%).

• The law - Historically, Indians have been prominent in the legal profession, including the judiciary. In 2007, 12 out of 45 persons listed in the Singapore Academy of Law's senior counsel directory, or 26.7%, were Indian. In the Subordinate Courts of Singapore, 9.8% of all District Judges was ethnic Indian. Meanwhile, in the Supreme Court of Singapore, 14%, or two of the 14 Supreme Court Judges and Judicial Commissioners, are Indian.

• Diplomacy - Indians have traditionally served in the Singapore Diplomatic Service in disproportionate numbers. The Second Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Bilahari Kausikan, is Indian, as have been three of its five Ministers to date. As of March 2007, a survey of the Singapore Government Directory Interactive website showed about 27% of the heads of Singaporean diplomatic missions abroad were Indian, including heads of missions to the UN in New York and Geneva, High Commissioners to Malaysia and South Africa and Ambassadors to Belgium (de facto representative to the European Union) Germany, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

• Education - Since colonial times, teaching was a job Indians were traditionally involved in. In 2006, Indians remained well represented in the teaching service. In March 2007, the Singapore Government Directory Interactive website showed that 13.3% of primary school principals were Indian, as were 10.3% of secondary school principals. Indians also head prominent higher education schools and think tanks, including the NUS Faculty of Engineering, Institute of Policy Studies, Institute of South Asian Studies, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

• The arts - Indian Singaporeans have distinguished themselves in a number of cultural fields, including contemporary forms of art targeted at a broad national and international audience, as well as more traditional Indian art forms. From 1979 to 2006, Indian Singaporeans have won 10, or 11.4%, of the 88 Cultural Medallions conferred, the highest honour to artists given by the Singapore government.

• Civil Service - In addition to the foreign, legal and education services, Indians have also traditionally entered the Singapore Civil Service. Several individuals have risen to prominence in various government ministries and statutory boards. 9.4% of the heads of Singapore's 64 statutory boards are Indian - these are the National Library Board, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Hindu Endowments Board, Hindu Advisory Board and Sikh Advisory Board.

• Business - In 2006, Forbes listed four ethnic Indians among the 40 largest private individual and family fortunes in Singapore, which is 10% of the list. These four individuals each represent large and diversified business empires in their own right, ranging from commodities to retail to electronics, amongst others.