Gopinath Pillai

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Gopinath Pillai
BBM
ഗോപിനാഥ് പിള്ള
Padmashree Gopinathan Pillai.jpg
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Singapore, Straits Settlements
Alma mater University of Malaya (BA)
Occupations
  • Diplomat
  • businessman
Children4
ParentK.S. Pillai (father)

Gopinath Pillai (born 1937) BBM is a Singaporean diplomat and businessman who served as an ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [1] [2]

Contents

In 2012, Pillai was conferred the Padma Shri by the Indian government, the fourth highest Indian civilian award. [3]

Early life

Pillai was born in Singapore to K. S. Pillai, a journalist who ran a daily, Kerala Bandhu, known to be the only Malayalam language daily published outside India. [2] He spent eight years of his childhood in Kerala, India, where his family is from, as he could not return to Singapore due to the outbreak of World War II. [2] After the closure of the daily, his family finances dwindled and Pillai opted for a government-funded education. [2] He graduated from the University of Malaya with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 and was a member of the Socialist Club. [4] [5]

Pillai started his career as a journalist with Reuters [4] [6] but had to abandon the job to fulfil his commitment to the government to work as a teacher, a prerequisite for availing government funding for education in Singapore. [2] He subsequently joined Bangkok Bank [4] as an Economic Research Officer and worked as a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review . [2] He worked at the bank for five years before moving to Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd as an economist, during which Singapore had become a separate country in 1965. [4] He stayed in Malaysia until 1969, when he returned to Singapore with his family to take up an appointment as the head of a government-owned textile factory. [2] He later worked at United Industrial Corporation and then the State Trading Corporation [2] for around 10 years in total. [5] [7]

Pillai attends conferences and seminars and delivers keynote addresses. [1] [6] [8] He has authored two books, The History of Banking in Thailand [4] [6] and The Political Economy of South Asian Diaspora: Patterns of Socio-Economic Influence. [9]

Public career

Pillai served the first chairman of NTUC FairPrice after its establishment in 1983, a position he held until 1993. [4] He remains as a Trustee of NTUC FairPrice. [10]

Pillai's diplomatic career started with his assignment with the Government Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs in the 1980s. [4] In 1990, he was appointed as Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Iran, a post he held until 2008. [4] [11] He later served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Pakistan. [2] [4] Pillai is a former Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [2] [4] [8] [12] [13]

Business career

Pillai launched KSP Group along with two of his friends, Sat Pal Khattar and Haider Sithawalla, and holds the post of a Director of the company. [2] [10] The company has since been rebranded as KSP Investments Private Limited, and serves as the holding company for Pillai's business investments. [2] He is reported to have invested in a number of businesses and holds positions in many of them. He is the executive chairman of Savant Infocomm, an IT company, [4] [5] [10] Playware Studios Pte Ltd [14] [15] and holds the chairmanship of companies such as Windmill International Private Limited [10] [16] and Gateway Distriparks Limited and one of its subsidiaries, Snowman Logistics Limited. [2] [5] [10] He is the director of another Gateway Distriparks subsidiary, Gateway Rail Freight Limited [2] and JTC Consultancy Services (Holdings) Private Limited. [5] He is also the director of AEC Edu Group Private Limited [17] and holds directorship of two of its subsidiaries, AEC College and AEC Education Plc. [5] [12]

Social career

Pillai is the chairman of the Management Board of the Institute of South Asian Studies, [4] [8] [10] [12] [18] a National University of Singapore-funded research institute. [19] He also holds the post of the deputy chairman of Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital [4] [6] [8] a healthcare centre in Singapore for rehabilitative care. [20]

Awards and recognitions

Pillai, a recipient of the Meritorious Award and Friend of Labour Award from National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) [5] [10] and Distinguished Alumni Award from the National University of Singapore, received the MCD Award from the Ministry of Community Development and Sports in 1998. [4] [5] [10] In 1999, he received the Public Service Star Award. [4] [5] [10] [12] Singapore Computer Society conferred on him the Friend of IT Award in 2001 [5] [10] and the Singaporean government honoured Pillai, in 2009, with the National Day Award. [4] The Indian government included him in the Republic Day honours list in 2012 for the civilian honour of Padma Shri. [3] [4] [12] In August 2022, he was conferred the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Distinguished Service Order) by the Singapore government. [21]

Personal life

Pillai is married and the couple have four children. [4]

See also

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References

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  21. ↑ "National Day Awards 2022". Prime Minister's Office, Singapore. 9 August 2022.

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