Arumugam Ponnu Rajah
Arumugam Ponnu Rajah | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1964 | |
| Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore | |
| In office 1 October 1976 – 30 September 1990 | |
| 1stSpeaker of the Parliament of Singapore | |
| In office 1964–1966 | |
| Deputy | Fong Kim Heng Punch Coomaraswamy[1] |
| Preceded by | Edmund W. Barker |
| Succeeded by | Punch Coomaraswamy |
| Member of theSingapore Parliament forFarrer Park SMC | |
| In office 1959–1963 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Rebeiro Lazarous |
| Succeeded by | S. R. Dharmarajoo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 July 1911 Port Dickson,British Malaya |
| Died | 28 September 1999(aged 88) Singapore |
| Resting place | Bidadari Cemetery,Singapore |
| Spouse |
Vijaya Lakshmi (died 1971) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Occupation |
|
Arumugam Ponnu Rajah(7 July 1911 – 28 September 1999), also known asA. P. Rajah,was a Singaporean judge, diplomat and politician who served asSpeaker of the Parliament of Singaporebetween 1964 and 1966.
Rajah also served as Singapore High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and later Singapore High Commissioner to Australia.[2][3]
He was Singapore's firstSupreme Courtjudge to remain on thebenchafter turning 70.[3][4]
Education
[edit]Rajah received his early education atSt. Paul's InstitutionandRaffles Institution.[5]In 1932, he attendedUniversity of Oxfordwhere he received a law degree.[5]He was later conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 14 November 1984.[6]
Career
[edit]In 1948, Rajah contested in theLegislative Council of SingaporeforRural West Constituencyas aProgressive Partycandidate but lose to independent candidate, Srish Chandra Goho (S C Goho).[7][8] In 1949, Rajah was elected a city councillor.[9] In 1953, Rajah represented Singapore to attend theCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[10] In 1959, Rajah re-entered politics as an independent candidate[11]and was elected to theLegislative AssemblyforFarrer Park.[12] He lost his seat in 1963,[13]but was appointed theSpeaker of the Legislative Assembly of Singaporein 1964.[3] In 1965, after Singapore gained independence, the Legislative Assembly of Singapore was renamed the Parliament of Singapore and he became the first Speaker of the Parliament.[3]
In 1966, Rajah was appointed as the High Commissioner to UK.[14] Between 1971 and 1973, he was appointed as the High Commissioner to Australia and Fiji.[14]
Rajah returned to Singapore in 1973 to resume legal practice, and was later appointed as a Supreme Court judge on 1 October 1976.[14]He held the appointment till he retired on 30 September 1990 at the age of 79.[4]
Rajah was thePro-ChancellorofNational University of Singaporefrom 1990 to 1999.[15]
Family and death
[edit]Rajah died on 28 September 1999.[5][16]His wife, Vijaya Lakshmi had died before him in 1971.[5]He was survived by his son Chelva and daughter Mala.[5]
References
[edit]- ^"Speakers of Parliament".Parliament of Singapore.Archivedfrom the original on 21 January 2020.
Scroll to bottom and expand the list of former Deputy Speaker
- ^"My first task—by Mr. Rajah".The Straits Times.7 August 1966. p. 6.
- ^abcd"Justice Rajah re-appointed".The Straits Times.11 October 1987. p. 15.
- ^ab"Justice A.P. Rajah retires after 14 years on the Bench".The Straits Times.29 September 1990. p. 26.
- ^abcde"Former Supreme Court judge and envoy dies".The Straits Times.30 September 1999. p. 28.
- ^"President for NUS convocation".The Straits Times.13 November 1984. p. 11.
- ^"Election Results".The Straits Times.21 March 1948. p. 1.
- ^"Singapore Legislative Council General Election 1948 > Rural West".Singapore Elections.Archived fromthe originalon 16 May 2022.Retrieved13 May2021.
- ^Who's who in Malaysia and guide to Singapore.J. V. Morais. p. 112.
- ^"Coming home".The Straits Times.7 July 1953. p. 7.
- ^"Now a whole Lib-Soc committee resigns".The Straits Times.23 April 1959. p. 6.
- ^"THE RESULTS: ALL YOU".The Straits Times.31 May 1959. p. 4.
- ^"THIS IS THE WAY THE VOTING WENT".The Straits Times.22 September 1963. p. 2.
- ^abc"RAJAH MADE A HIGH COURT JUDGE".The Straits Times.5 September 1976. p. 1.
- ^"President Wee Kim Wee with Pro-Chancellors of National University of Singapore at NUS convocation, 1990".BookSG.Retrieved20 April2020– via NLB.
- ^Chia, Joshua Yeong Jia (2016)."Arumugam Ponnu Rajah".infopedia– via NLB.