SR Nathan: former longest-serving Singapore President of Indian-origin passes away

August 23, 2016

The Indian-origin former Singapore President S.R. Nathan passed away days after suffering a stroke. He was 92.
He was the sixth and longest-serving President of Singapore. He was closely associated with the country’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew.

About S.R Nathan

Born as Sellapan Ramanathan on 3 July 1924 in the family of Indian Tamil descent in Straits Settlements of Singapore.
He had served as President of Singapore for two terms from 1999 to 2011. He was elected unopposed as President for first time in August 1999.
He officially stepped down in August 2011 after announcing that he would not seek a third term.
After stepping down he had worked as Distinguished Senior Fellow at Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and at Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences.
Prior to becoming President, he held key positions in the Singapore Civil Service and also in security, intelligence and foreign affairs.
In 1988, he was appointed as Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia and later Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1996.
Awards and honours: Government of India had conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) upon him in 2012 in recognition of his contribution in building closer links between India and Singapore.

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