Three Singaporeans with a long record of public service have been conferred the Distinguished Service Order, one of the top national honours, for their contributions to the country over the years.
They are among 6,258 to get National Day honours this year.
The Distinguished Service Order, the highest accolade this year, is awarded to veteran diplomat and former Indian Heritage Centre advisory board chairman Gopinath Pillai, 84; Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Lee Tzu Yang, 67; and the Ministry of Health's (MOH) chief health scientist Tan Chorh Chuan, 62.
Mr Pillai, a former ambassador-at-large, facilitated greater synergy and interaction between India and Singapore, said his citation. As chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 2004 to 2021, he played a leading role in fostering Singapore-India relations.
His other roles included chairman of the Hindu Advisory Board from 1990 to 1999 and founding chairman of NTUC FairPrice Co-operative from 1983 to 1993.
Mr Lee, who has been PSC chairman since 2018, was recognised for his contribution to the public service, education and the arts. Under him, the PSC brought in a more diverse pool of scholarship candidates.
He is also chair of the board of trustees of the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the Esplanade and the Founders' Memorial Steering Committee.
"This is an honour I humbly accept on behalf of others who work with me. In my short time on the PSC, I have seen members and secretariat work tirelessly to increase our reach for diversity in talent, and to improve selection of strengths and traits, to enable the public service to do an even better job," Mr Lee said.
Professor Tan, who is also executive director of the MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation, said he was thankful for the opportunity to work in three areas that mean a great deal to him: improving health and healthcare, building the local research and innovation ecosystem, and contributing to the transformation of NUS. He was NUS president from 2008 to 2017.
"What was especially exciting and meaningful for me was the chance to be involved in creating and strengthening bridges between these sectors, to increase the overall impact," he said.
He also highlighted the strength, commitment and resilience of those he had worked with, in particular during the Sars epidemic in 2003, when he was director of medical services, and the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Four veterans in their fields were conferred the next highest award, the Meritorious Service Medal.
They are Mr Chan Yeng Kit, permanent secretary at MOH; Dr Andrew Phang, Justice of the Court of Appeal; Mr Seah Moon Ming, chairman of SMRT; and Mr David Wong, chairman of Republic Polytechnic.
Four foreign business leaders were among 67 individuals recognised with a Public Service Star for their contributions.
Mr Marcus Wallenberg, 65, a Swedish member of the Temasek International Panel, was Temasek's first international board director, from 2008 to 2020. Said the chair of northern European financial services group SEB: "Working with Temasek and Singapore for many years has been a true pleasure, as well as an opportunity for me to widen my perspectives and learn a lot from many exceptional people."
Sir James Dyson, 75, British founder and chairman of home appliance giant Dyson, said the award was a great honour and recognition of the whole Dyson team here. "Today, we proudly call the historic St James Power Station our global headquarters, and our wonderful Singapore engineers and scientists are driving exciting research programmes with Singapore's excellent universities - it is a highly supportive environment for a high-technology manufacturer," he said.
Also recognised were Mr Shimano Yozo, Singapore's Honorary Consul-General in Osaka, Japan, who is chairman and chief executive of bicycle component manufacturing firm Shimano; and Mr Bill Winters, a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's International Advisory Panel and group CEO of Standard Chartered Bank.
One recipient conferred honours posthumously is Dr Agnes Koong, who was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze). The former community health director at SingHealth Polyclinics died last year at age 44 from leukaemia.
She was clinic director at Marine Parade Polyclinic from 2012 to 2019, where she oversaw the launch of a locker box service for collection of urgent medication after hours.
The late Mr Subaraj Rajathurai, a wildlife consultant and well-known conservationist, was conferred the Public Service Medal (Posthumous). He died in October 2019, aged 56.
His wife, former nurse Shamla Subaraj, said she and her two sons are deeply appreciative.
"It is surreal - I know he has done a lot for Singapore, especially for ecotourism. He would be chuffed, if he is listening from up there," she said. "He made his passion his work. It resonated with him as he was also very passionate when it came to wildlife, and he lived his life fighting for the wildlife and being a voice for the animals."
• A full list of the 2022 National Day Award recipients is available at the Prime Minister's Office website https://www.pmo.gov.sg/national-day-awards
