Today (5 December 2023) I had the honour of hanging out with the distinguished Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a friend’s – Professor Wang Gungwu – “Living With Civilisations : Reflections On South-east Asia’s Local and National Cultures” book launch.
A respected and loveable President, it was a pleasure and an honour to hang out with this music fan.
President Tharman is the ninth President of Singapore since 2023.
President Tharman’s list of achievements are vast. I provide only some highlights in this blog. Check out Wikipedia for a more complete list of his resume.
Prior to his presidency, Tharman served as Deputy Prime Minister (2011-19) and Senior Minister of Singapore (2019-23) and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as well as Deputy Chairman of GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund).
President Tharman also commands international respect from the international communities. He chairs the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty, a global council of economic and financial leaders amongst other international bodies. The policy advisory committee of the international Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed Tharman as the Chair (2011-14).
Always great to have a lively and animated conversation with the Top Man in the Country.
Honoured to share a treasured pix with the People’s President.
When the great David Bowie died, President Tharman (then as Deputy Prime Minister) and I were featured in a Straits Times, 19 January 2016, tribute article (above image).
Chatting like old friends and David Bowie fans (above image). Here we are comparing hand sizes.
A music and David Bowie fan, I presented President Tharman with my Sonic Solitude book (above image). President Tharman “blesses” my book.
Fun Game 1 – President Tharman finger-points me (above image).
Fun Game 2 – I finger-point President Tharman (above image).
Our animated fun chat session lasted about 10 minutes (above image).
I did a book swap with the distinguished Professor Wang Gungwu (above image). My book – Sonic Solitude – is a bit louder than his.
The 93 year-young living legend is sprightly, brilliant-minded and fun-loving. My kind of fun guy.
Very kind of Professor Wang to sign his book for me (above image).
The invite-only event is duly reported in leading newspaper Straits Times the same day (above image).
