Bilahari Kausikan | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan [1] 1954 (age 69) Colony of Singapore |
Alma mater | Columbia University University of Singapore |
Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan [1] is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998.
Kausikan's father, P.S. Raman, was a British Raj-born Tamil Brahmin who moved to Singapore after the Partition of India. He married Lim Eng Neo, a Peranakan, and they had three children. [2]
P.S. Raman named his son Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan: Bilahari is the name of a raga; Kausikan is a form of the Vedic surname Kaushik; Setlur is a Brahmin sub-caste; and Papanasam is the name of P.S. Raman's home village in Tamil Nadu. Kim Hee (金喜; Jīn Xǐ; 'golden joy') [3] is the Chinese name that Kausikan's mother gave him. [1]
Kausikan graduated from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore), majoring in political science. He subsequently received a scholarship from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to pursue a PhD in international relations at Columbia University, with the aim of becoming an academic. [4]
During this time, he would secretly submit articles to The Straits Times under the pseudonym "Bee Kim Hee". [5] [6] Half way into his dissertation, he decided to drop out from the course and return to Singapore, where he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). [4] He ultimately graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University. [7]
Kausikan joined the civil service in 1981 as a foreign service officer, and was assigned to the Administrative Service in 1983. [7]
Kausikan's father, P.S. Raman, gained Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's attention after he advised against editing out the video of Lee tearing while announcing Singapore's expulsion from the Malaysian Federation in 1965. Thereafter, he was appointed to various diplomatic positions, including Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia during Konfrontasi , and subsequently as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
After recovering from a heart attack during his tenure in Jakarta, P.S. Raman was reassigned as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and served in that capacity for a year and a half. [1] [8]
Kausikan was appointed as Singapore's Ambassador to Russia in 1994, with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Finland. Kausikan served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998, with concurrent accreditation as Singapore's High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico. [9]
In 1998, Kausikan was appointed as Deputy Secretary (Foreign Affairs) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary in 2001, and was promoted to Permanent Secretary on 1 September 2010. [7]
He is currently serving as Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore and is a Senior Fellow at the SMU School of Social Sciences. [10] [11]
Sellapan Ramanathan, often known as S. R. Nathan, was a Singaporean politician and civil servant who served as the sixth president of Singapore between 1999 and 2011. He was the longest-serving president in Singapore's history.
The Internal Security Department (ISD) is the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Singapore under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), tasked to confront and address security threats, including both domestic and international terrorism, and foreign subversion and espionage. The ISD has the utmost right to detain without trial individuals suspected to be a threat to national security.
Lui Tuck Yew is a Singaporean diplomat, former politician and two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Singapore Ambassador to the United States since 2023. He previously served as Singapore Ambassador to China between 2019 and 2023, and before that was Ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2019.
Tommy Koh Thong Bee is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1968 and 1971.
The Security and Intelligence Division (SID) is the foreign intelligence service of Singapore under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), tasked to gather, process, and analyse information from around the world that concerns the national security and national interests of Singapore.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is a law-enforcement agency within the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the border control agency responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in Singapore.
Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed is a Singaporean diplomat, former politician and journalist. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Eunos ward of Aljunied GRC between 2001 and 2011 and Cheng San GRC representing Punggol East ward from 1997 to 2001.
The Pingat Jasa Gemilang is a Singaporean national honour and medal instituted in 1962. It may be awarded to any person who has performed "service of conspicuous merit characterised by resource and devotion to duty, including long service marked by exceptional ability, merit and exemplary conduct within Singapore". It may also be awarded to any person outside of Singapore under exceptional circumstances.
The Pingat Bakti Setia is a Singaporean decoration instituted in 1962. The medal may be awarded to any person who has completed 25 years continuous service in either government related services, in the field of education or military service.
Russia–Singapore relations are the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries, Russia and Singapore. Russia has an embassy in Singapore. Singapore has an embassy in Moscow. Both countries are full members of APEC. Relations between the 2 countries have been friendly since bilateral ties were established. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after Singapore imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed Singapore on a list of "unfriendly countries" along with Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the United States, European Union members, NATO members, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Micronesia and Ukraine.
Sam Tan Chin Siong is a Singaporean former politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Radin Mas division of Tanjong Pagar GRC between 2006 and 2011 and Radin Mas SMC between 2011 and 2020.
The Republic of Singapore officially became the 117th member of the United Nations (UN) after its independence on August 9, 1965. From 2001 to 2002, Singapore held a rotational seat on the United Nations Security Council and has participated in UN peacekeeping/observer missions in Kuwait, Angola, Kenya, Cambodia and Timor Leste.
North Korea–Singapore relations are bilateral relations between North Korea and Singapore.
Chee Hong Tat is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been serving as Senior Minister of State for Finance since 2022, and Senior Minister of State for Transport since 2020. Chee has also been serving as Acting Minister for Transport since 12 July 2023, after S. Iswaran was put on a leave of absence while he is under an investigation launched by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Toa Payoh West–Thomson division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC since 2015.
Huang Jing is a Chinese-American political scientist and alleged foreign agent. He was the director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation and the Lee Foundation Professor on US-China Relations at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy until his permanent residence was revoked after the Ministry of Home Affairs called him "an agent of influence of a foreign country" on August 4, 2017.
Datuk Seri Ramlan bin Ibrahim is a current member of the Election Commission of Malaysia and a former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia. He is the 15th person to hold the post since the establishment of the Ministry in 1956.
Dickson Yeo Jun Wei, also known as Dickson Yeo, is a Singaporean convicted of espionage by the United States on behalf of the People's Republic of China. On 24 July 2020, he pleaded guilty at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia of assisting China in collecting information in the United States without prior notification made to the United States Attorney General under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Douglas Foo Peow Yong is a Singaporean business executive and former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP). He is the founder and chairman of Sakae Holdings Ltd; as well as Singapore’s Non Resident High Commissioner to Tanzania and appointed representative to the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. He is also the President of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), Vice-President of the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF) and Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).
He used to write for The Straits Times under a variant of his name - Bee Kim Hee. "I was on a scholarship and not supposed to work. But ST paid me well. I wrote about the United Nations. I made enough in three months to live the rest of the year comfortably.