3 distinguished Indian-origin Singaporeans to be appointed as Nominated MPs in Parliament

Singapore: Three distinguished Indian-origin Singaporeans have been named among the nine people who will be appointed as Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) and sworn in next month.

Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a council member of the Singapore Business Federation, Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant, Chandradas Usha Ranee, co-founder of Plural Art Magazine and course coordinator at the Nanyang Business School, and lawyer Raj Joshua Thomas are among the nine appointees announced on Monday.

The nine nominated MPs were selected by a Special Select Committee of Parliament, chaired by then-Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin, out of a total of 30 names put up for consideration for NMP positions, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

They will be appointed for a two-and-a-half-year term by President Halimah Yacob on July 24 and sworn in when Parliament sits in August.

The 60-year-old Parekh is also the partner and head of Asia, Australia and New Zealand at Tikehau Capital and the chief executive of Pegasus Asia, a special-purpose acquisition company listed on the Singapore Exchange.

He has initiated programmes that focus on helping to increase financial literacy in Singapore.

Parekh currently serves as a board director of Elevandi, a set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to foster an open dialogue between the public and private sectors to advance FinTech in the digital economy.

As a member of the Advisory Council of James Cook University (Singapore), he has initiated programmes that focus on helping to increase financial literacy in Singapore.

Parekh has been a Singaporean citizen for 10 years and living here for 17 years.

Meanwhile, Chandradas, 42, who is the first time serving MP and worked as a tax lawyer for 12 years, said she hoped to address issues relating to the promotion and sustainability of the arts sector as a whole.

“This is a multilayered concern which should be addressed from different perspectives – in terms of legal awareness, financial sustainability, freedom of expression, education and good working conditions for artists and other creatives,” The Singapore Daily quoted her as saying.

Thomas, 43, is the only one serving his second term as an NMP.

He is currently the President of the Security Association Singapore (SAS) and has been involved as a volunteer lawyer under the Law Society’s Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.