Appointment of Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Non-Resident Ambassador to the State Of Israel

The Government has appointed Mr Jaya Ratnam as Singapore’s next Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Mr Lim Chuan Poh as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the State of Israel.

  Mr Jaya Ratnam was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, concurrently accredited to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and European Union, from July 2016 to December 2020. Prior to that, he was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam from June 2012 to March 2016.

Mr Ratnam joined the Foreign Service in 1991. He has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs covering Europe, Southeast Asia, International Organisations, International Economics and Consular. He has also served in the Singapore Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta, and Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Ratnam graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 1991. He obtained a Masters in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, United States of America in 2000. Mr Ratnam was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2012.

Mr Lim Chuan Poh is Chairman of the Singapore Food Agency. Prior to this, Mr Lim was the Executive Chairman of A*STAR from 2007 to 2019.  He was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education from 2003 to 2007. Before joining the Ministry of Education, Mr Lim spent 23 years with the Singapore Armed Forces and last held the office of the Chief of Defence Force. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in 2001.

Mr Lim is a Board Member of Nanyang Technological University since 2003 and is the inaugural Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, since 2010. Mr Lim was appointed an Adjunct Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore from 2013 to 2017.

Mr Lim graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Mathematics in 1983 and received a Master of Arts degree in 1988. He received a Masters in Business Administration degree (with distinction) from Cornell University in 1993.

Mr Lim was awarded the Public Administration Medal, Gold (Military) in 1999 and the Meritorious Service Medal (Military) in 2003.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

19 JANUARY 2021

MR JAYA RATNAM

AMBASSADOR TO THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

  Mr Jaya Ratnam was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, concurrently accredited to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the European Union, from July 2016 to December 2020. Prior to this, Mr Ratnam was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam.

  Mr Ratnam joined the Singapore Foreign Service in June 1991. In the Ministry’s Headquarters, Mr Ratnam served in various capacities on issues covering Europe, Southeast Asia, International Organisations, International Economics and Consular. He has also served in overseas posts at the Singapore Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta and Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Ratnam graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 1991, and a Masters in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, United States of America in 2000.

Mr Ratnam was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2012 and Long Service Medal in 2014.

Mr Ratnam is married to Mrs Sujatha Ratnam and they have three children.

[Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

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MR LIM CHUAN POH

NON-RESIDENT AMBASSADOR TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL

  Mr Lim Chuan Poh is Chairman of the Singapore Food Agency.

Prior to this, Mr Lim was the Executive Chairman of A*STAR from 2007 to 2019.  He was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education (MOE) from 2003 to 2007. Before joining MOE, he spent 23 years with the Singapore Armed Forces and last held the office of the Chief of Defence Force. He held various appointments in the course of his military career, including Head, Joint Plans Department; Commander of the 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade; Commander, 9th Division; Chief of Army from 1998 to 2000; and Chief of Defence Force from 2000 to 2003. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General (LG) in 2001.

  Mr Lim has been a Board Member of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) since 2003 and is the inaugural Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, a joint Medical School between NTU and Imperial College, since 2010.

  He was a member of the National Research Foundation from 2006 till 2019; Chairman of the National Infocomm Security Committee from 2010 to 2015 and co-chaired the inaugural National Cybersecurity R&D Executive Committee until 2016.  Mr Lim was appointed  an Adjunct Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY SPP) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 2013 to 2017.

  Mr Lim graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Mathematics in 1983 and received a Master of Arts degree in 1988 from Cambridge University. He attended the Camberley Staff College in 1988 and graduated with the Best Overseas Student Award. He received a Masters in Business Administration degree (with distinction) from Cornell University in 1993 and attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2003.

  Mr Lim was awarded the Public Administration Medal, Gold (Military) in 1999 and the Meritorious Service Medal (Military) in 2003.  For his outstanding services, he was recognised by the USA with the award of the Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) in 1999 and again in 2001; the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (Thailand) in 2001; and the Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama (Indonesia) – The Grand Meritorious Military Order – 1st Class in 2001. He was also awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour (France) in 2016.

[Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

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