Singapore — The country has a new Ambassador to Japan, Mr Peter Tan Hai Chuan, as well as a new Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mr S Premjith. Both men have been had lengthy careers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over the past three decades.
Mr Tan is the former Ambassador to Korea, while Mr Premjith has served as the Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, as well as the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
On her Facebook account on Thursday, September 26, President Halimah Yacob posted photos of herself presenting Letters of Credence to Messrs Tan and Premjith. The announcements concerning the new ambassador was also announced via a media release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 26.
The release states that Mr Tan graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts in 1992, and received his master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Columbia University in the US in 2000, where he had received the prestigious Fullbright Scholarship.
He is married to Madam Sim Siew Eng, and in 2008 received the Silver Public Administration Medal.
After his graduation from NUS, Mr Tan joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The MFA press statement says that as part of the Ministry, he “served in various capacities dealing with issues related to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, United Nations and Technical Cooperation.”
Here are other highlights from his work with the MFA
— First Secretary, Singapore Embassy in Tokyo, from 1995 to 1998
— Counsellor at the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, from 2001 to 2002
—Deputy Chief of Mission, Singapore Embassy in Tokyo, from 2002 to 2005
—Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2011 through 2015
—Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asia and ASEAN from 2015 to 2019
Mr Premjith is an Economics graduate from Murdoch University in Australia, where he graduated from in 1994. Under the Raffles/Chevening Scholarship, he received his Master of Philosophy from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 2002.
Upon graduation from Murdoch University, Mr Premjith joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he “served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handling issues related to International Economics, Southeast Asia, and South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa directorates,” according to the MFA statement, which also mentioned that he is married to Ms Libby Sang.
Here are some highlights in his career as a diplomat
—First Secretary at the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta from 1997 to 2001
— Director of the South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa Directorate from 2005 to 2010
—Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia from 2010 to 2013
—Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 2013 to 2019./ TISG
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