Arumugam Ponnu Rajah

Arumugam Ponnu Rajah (7 July 1911 – 28 September 1999), also known as A. P. Rajah, was a Singaporean judge, diplomat and politician who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 1964 and 1966.

Arumugam Ponnu Rajah
Official portrait, 1964
Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore
In office
1 October 1976 – 30 September 1990
Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
In office
1964–1966
DeputyFong Kim Heng
Punch Coomaraswamy[1]
Preceded byEdmund W. Barker
Succeeded byPunch Coomaraswamy
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Farrer Park SMC
In office
1959–1963
Preceded byAnthony Rebeiro Lazarous
Succeeded byS. R. Dharmarajoo
Personal details
Born7 July 1911
Port Dickson, British Malaya
Died28 September 1999(1999-09-28) (aged 88)
Singapore
Resting placeBidadari Cemetery, Singapore
Spouse
Vijaya Lakshmi
​
(died 1971)​
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Occupation
  • Judge
  • diplomat
  • politician

Rajah also served as Singapore High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and later Singapore High Commissioner to Australia.[2][3]

He was Singapore's first Supreme Court judge to remain on the bench after turning 70.[3][4]

Education

Rajah received his early education at St. Paul's Institution and Raffles Institution.[5] In 1932, he attended University of Oxford where 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

In 1948, Rajah contested in the Legislative Council of Singapore for Rural West Constituency as a Progressive Party candidate 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 the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[10] In 1959, Rajah re-entered politics as an independent candidate[11] and was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Farrer Park.[12] He lost his seat in 1963,[13] but was appointed the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore in 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 the Pro-Chancellor of National University of Singapore from 1990 to 1999.[15]

Family and death

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
  1. "Speakers of Parliament". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Scroll to bottom and expand the list of former Deputy Speaker
  2. "My first task—by Mr. Rajah". The Straits Times. 7 August 1966. p. 6.
  3. "Justice Rajah re-appointed". The Straits Times. 11 October 1987. p. 15.
  4. "Justice A.P. Rajah retires after 14 years on the Bench". The Straits Times. 29 September 1990. p. 26.
  5. "Former Supreme Court judge and envoy dies". The Straits Times. 30 September 1999. p. 28.
  6. "President for NUS convocation". The Straits Times. 13 November 1984. p. 11.
  7. "Election Results". The Straits Times. 21 March 1948. p. 1.
  8. "Singapore Legislative Council General Election 1948 > Rural West". Singapore Elections.
  9. Who's who in Malaysia and guide to Singapore. J. V. Morais. p. 112.
  10. "Coming home". The Straits Times. 7 July 1953. p. 7.
  11. "Now a whole Lib-Soc committee resigns". The Straits Times. 23 April 1959. p. 6.
  12. "THE RESULTS: ALL YOU". The Straits Times. 31 May 1959. p. 4.
  13. "THIS IS THE WAY THE VOTING WENT". The Straits Times. 22 September 1963. p. 2.
  14. "RAJAH MADE A HIGH COURT JUDGE". The Straits Times. 5 September 1976. p. 1.
  15. "President Wee Kim Wee with Pro-Chancellors of National University of Singapore at NUS convocation, 1990". BookSG. Retrieved 20 April 2020 – via NLB.
  16. Chia, Joshua Yeong Jia (2016). "Arumugam Ponnu Rajah". infopedia – via NLB.
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