Vivian Balakrishnan
Vivian Balakrishnan was born in Singapore on January 25th, 1961 and is the Politician. At the age of 63, Vivian Balakrishnan biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Vivian Balakrishnan (born 25 January 1961) is the Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs and a member of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
He is also the Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Programme Office.
He has served in Singapore as Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Minister for Youth and Sports, as well as second Minister for Education, Communications, and Industry.
Balakrishnan was named Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development in 2002 and chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee.
From 2004 to 2008, he served as the chairman of the Young PAP.
He is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency. Balakrishnan obtained a President's Scholarship at the National University of Singapore.
He later pursued postgraduate education in ophthalmology, and was accepted as a Fellow of Edinburgh's Royal College of Surgeons.
He was named as an associate professor at the National University of Singapore and then became the medical director of Singapore's National Eye Centre.
He was also the chief executive of Singapore General Hospital.
He served as the commanding officer of the second Combat Support Hospital of the Singapore Armed Forces prior to his political career. During his first and second bids for the Parliament at Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC respectively, his team was uncontested.
Balakrishnan's crew, which included Liang Eng Hwa, Christopher de Souza, and Sim Ann, defeated the opposition party from Singapore's National Democratic Party with 66.62% of the votes.
When Lee Hsien Loong was sworn in as Singapore's third Prime Minister on August 12, he joined the cabinet on August 12, 2004.
Early life and education
Vivian Balakrishnan was born in Singapore on January 25th, 1961, to an Indian Tamil father and a Chinese mother with roots from Fuqing, Fujian.
He was educated at Anglo-Chinese School and National Junior College before being given the President's Scholarship in 1980 to study medicine at the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He served two terms as the president of the NUS Student Union and later as the chairman of the union council.
Balakrishnan obtained a postgraduate degree in ophthalmology and became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1991.
Personal life
He is married to Joy Balakrishnan, and the three children have a daughter and three sons. He is a Christian.
Medical career
Balakrishnan had worked at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London between 1993 and 1995 as a specialist senior registrar, where he subspecialised in paediatric ophthalmology.
When Balakrishnan returned to Singapore, he became a consultant ophthalmologist at the Singapore National Eye Centre and National University Hospital, and an associate professor of ophthalmology at the National University of Singapore in 1998.
In 1999, he became the medical director of the Singapore National Eye Centre, and later the chief executive officer of the Singapore General Hospital in 2000. Balakrishnan was also the commanding officer of the 2nd Combat Support Hospital of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) between 1999 and 2002.
In the 1990s, he hosted the series Health Matters on Singapore television.
Political career
Balakrishnan made his political debut in the 2001 general election as part of the five-member PAP team contesting in Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC and won by an uncontested walkover. He was subsequently appointed Minister of State for National Development, and Chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee in 2002. He was later appointed Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry in 2004.
In 2004, Balakrishnan was appointed Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. He was made a full member of the Cabinet in 2005.
During the 2006 general election, Balakrishnan was part of a five-member PAP team led by Lim Swee Say, contesting in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and won by an uncontested walkover.
As Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Balakrishnan raised the public assistance scheme from $260 for a single-person household in 2007, to $400 for a single-person household in 2011.
During the 2011 general election, Balakrishnan led the four-member PAP team which includes Liang Eng Hwa, Christopher de Souza and Sim Ann contesting in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and won 60.1% of the vote. This was the first time Holland–Bukit Timah GRC were being contested since its formation in 2001.
During his political campaign for the 2011 general election, Balakrishnan said that the opposition candidates from the Singapore Democratic Party did not have any plans for the constituency, and their selection of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC was an opportunistic act. He suggested that they were trying to suppress a certain YouTube video featuring a member of the opposition team and that it raised questions about their agenda and motivation. It was later discovered that the video included opposition member Vincent Wijeysingha at a forum discussing issues surrounding gay rights and section 377A of the Penal Code in Singapore. The PAP team issued a statement asking the opposition whether they were pursuing a "gay agenda". The opposition denied it, saying they were not pursuing the gay agenda and the issue was put to rest. The PAP drew criticism from internet users in Singapore for their election strategy.
The opposition candidates raised the issue of government spending for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, which Balakrishnan had overseen as Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, saying that the budget exceeded the initial estimates of S$104 million by over three times. Balakrishnan acknowledged that they had got the initial estimates wrong as it was the first time that an event of that scale was organised in Singapore. He asserted that the increased budget did not affect other programmes of the ministry, and that 70% of the spending for the event went into paying local firms for their services. He declared that his team had spent less than the finalised budget amount and did not waste money.
On 21 May 2011, Balakrishnan was appointed Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, taking over from Yaacob Ibrahim. After the 2015 general election, Balakrishnan was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.