We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
One Degree, Many Choices from PART IV - NON-ENGINEERING PURSUITS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
“Engineering taught me to break a problem into parts and find solutions. These skills helped my political career.”
— R. Sinnakaruppan, MPE PioneerOFTEN REFERRED TO AS “first among equals”, R. Sinnakaruppan was the first from the NTI pioneer engineering Class of 85 to enter politics at age 31, only six years after he graduated from MPE. While getting involved in grassroots work during his spare time, Sinna came face to face with poverty. He saw people who were struggling to put food on the table or a roof over their heads. His eyes were opened to the reality of hunger pangs for some people in affluent Singapore. The two-term Member of Parliament from 1991 to 2001 said, “My parents were not rich but at least we did not have to worry about where our next meal was coming from.”
Sinna's foray into politics started in 1985 when a friend cum grassroots leader Quah Siew Heng roped him in to reach out to people in one-room flats in Toa Payoh. He started a sports club to engage them. From there, his desire to help the lower strata of society grew. “One thing led to another and soon I was helping out at the Meet-The-People sessions,” said Sinna who became the Assistant Secretary of Kuo Chuan People's Action Party branch. At that time, the MP in charge of that constituency was Mr Wong Kan Seng, the former Deputy Prime Minister. Sinna was then working as a project manager with National Semiconductor.
In 1990, he was appointed to the NTU Council which was preparing for the transition from NTI to NTU. He sat on the Board of Directors, now known as the Board of Trustees. He got noticed and was asked by the government to reach out to the Indian community. He joined the Hindu Endowments Board and the Action Committee on Indian Education, chaired by the respected career civil servant Mr J.Y. Pillay.
It was a speedy trip to the “world of politics” in Sinna's words. His profile was raised by his grassroots and Indian community work. In the run-up to the 1991 parliamentary election, Mr Wong and Mr Pillay recommended him to the PAP leadership. In June 1991, he was interviewed by then DPM Lee Hsien Loong and then Law cum Home Affairs Minister S. Jayakumar.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.