S Iswaran’s daughter is no longer a Singapore citizen

SINGAPORE: According to the Aug 22 edition of the Gazette, the official journal of the Singapore government, the daughter of former Transport Minister S Iswaran is no longer a citizen of the city-state.

One can lose Singaporean citizenship in different ways. Under Singapore law, one may renounce citizenship when he or she is at least 21 years old, is of sound mind, and has acquired citizenship in another country. Those who have decided to renounce their Singapore citizenship are required to complete a personal particulars form and supplementary forms and hand in these and other documents to a Singapore Overseas Mission or at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building. They also have the option to send these in by post to the ICA.

Under other circumstances, the government may also deprive a person of their citizenship. The news about Mr Iswaran’s daughter was published in the Gazette under the heading “Deprivation of Citizenship”. One of the most common ways a person is deprived of Singapore citizenship is when he or she applies for a foreign passport, since, unlike some countries, Singapore does not allow a person to hold dual citizenship. However, no details have been given to explain the circumstances under which Ms Iswaran has lost her Singapore citizenship.

Ms Iswaran’s background

Former Transport Minister Iswaran is married to Kay Mary Taylor, and they have three children: two sons and Monisha Catherine.

According to her LinkedIn page, Ms Iswaran is a journalist and has been working at Mamamia, the biggest media brand for women in Australia, since May. At the company, she is an executive producer of a daily pop culture and entertainment podcast titled The Spill.

Prior to working at Mamamia, Ms Iswaran worked as a news producer at The Project in Melbourne. She has worked at media companies in Australia over the past decade.

After finishing her secondary education in Singapore, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from a university in Australia.

Her father had served as a Member of Parliament at West Coast GRC from 1997 to 2024. He also had stints as Minister for Trade and Industry, Minister for Communications and Information, and Minister of Transport.

In July 2023, he was arrested in relation to a corruption investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), and by the following January, he resigned from his post. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges in September of the same year, handing over S$384,000, an amount said to have been given to him in bribes. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison. /TISG

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