New Nominated Members of Parliament appointed by President Tony Tan at Istana

At the Istana after the ceremony are (from left) Nominated Members of Parliament associate professor Randolph Tan, Kuik Shiao-Yin, Rita Soh, Chia Yong Yong, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, President Tony Tan Keng Yam and wife Mary Tan, NMPs Thom
At the Istana after the ceremony are (from left) Nominated Members of Parliament associate professor Randolph Tan, Kuik Shiao-Yin, Rita Soh, Chia Yong Yong, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, President Tony Tan Keng Yam and wife Mary Tan, NMPs Thomas Chua, Ismail Hussein, K. Karthikeyan, Dr Benedict Tan and Professor Tan Tai Yong. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE - Nine new Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) received their instruments of appointment from President Tony Tan Keng Yam at an Istana ceremony as they began their 2½-year term on Tuesday.

The group, chosen by a parliamentary committee chaired by Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, will be sworn in when Parliament next sits on Sept 8.

The NMPs are corporate lawyer Chia Yong Yong, 52, who has peroneal muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair; Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Thomas Chua, 60; veteran unionist K. Karthikeyan, 55; social entrepreneur Kuik Shiao-Yin, 36; Board of Architects Singapore president Rita Soh, 55; doctor and former national sailor Benedict Tan, 47; labour economist Randolph Tan, 50; veteran historian Tan Tai Yong, 51; and bank executive Ismail Hussein, 51, who is a director of the Association of Muslim Professionals.

In a separate ceremony on Tuesday at the Istana, Mr Albert Chua was appointed Second Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The MFA veteran joined the Foreign Service branch of the Administrative Service in 1992, and served in various posts in the ministry before becoming principal private secretary to then Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong from 2004 to 2006. He was appointed as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia in 2008 and, in 2011, was Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

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