Benjamin Henry Sheares (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a Singaporean politician, physician and academic who served as the second
president of Singapore
The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the Reserves of the Government of Singapore, reserves and the integrity of the Singapore Civil Service, public serv ...
from 1971 until his death in 1981.
Sheares retired in 1960 and was in private practice before being elected as the president of Singapore by the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
after the death of
Yusof Ishak
Yusof bin Ishak (12 August 191023 November 1970) was a Singaporean politician and journalist who served as the first president of Singapore from 1965 until his death in 1970.
Prior to becoming head of state, Yusof was a well-known journalis ...
, the former president of the Republic, on 23 November 1970. He was sworn on 2 January 1971.
Sheares initially wanted to retire after finishing his second term as he felt that he did not have the energy for another term, but Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
persuaded him and Sheares took on his third term. He served as the president of Singapore for three terms from 2 January 1971 until his death on 12 May 1981.
Both the
Benjamin Sheares Bridge
The Benjamin Sheares Bridge (; ms, Jambatan Benjamin Sheares; ta, பென்ஜமின் ஷியர்ஸ் பாலம்) is the longest bridge in Singapore, spanning 1.8 km, and the tallest, at .
It is named after Benjamin Sheares ...
and Sheares Hall at the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
are named after him.
Early life and education
Sheares was born on 12 August 1907 in Singapore to an Eurasian family with an English lineage. He was the second of six children in the family. His father Edwin H. Sheares, an English technical supervisor of the Public Works Department, and raised in the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. Edwin later married Singapore-born Lilian Gómez, of mixed Chinese and Spanish descent, and had six children—the first died in infancy. Life was hard for the Sheares family with the meagre salary that Edwin received from his post.
As a young child, Sheares was affectionately known as ''Ben'' or ''Bennie''. He was a quiet boy who kept much to himself and loved to play at
Peirce Reservoir, where his father worked.
He had a close relationship with his sister Alice and often loved to role play doctor with her. On one occasion, he made Alice swallow a one-cent coin as a medical "pill" in their game. Benjamin was six years old then and received a good hiding from his mother Lilian. Throughout his growing years, Benjamin showed ambition to become a doctor—a dream deemed almost impossible for someone who was Asian and came from a poor family in the early colonial days of Singapore. However, Alice continued to spirit him on with that dream, against his mother's wishes for her son to take up a job as a clerk and start helping out with the family bills as soon as he completed his Senior Cambridge Examinations (equivalent to O Level).
Sheares was educated at
St. Andrew's School before transferring in 1922 to study at the
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both ...
, the only school equipped with scientific laboratories—making it an ideal place to further his ambition to become a doctor. In 1923, he enrolled into the King Edward VII College of Medicine (now the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
) to begin his medical training. Sheares was aware that his family could not see him through the hefty school fees afforded by the College, therefore he won a generous scholarship offered by the Council of the Medical College with his exemplary academic performance. With this quantum, he was able to give $50 monthly to his mother for the support of his family.
He continued to excel in his studies and was awarded four medals by his college. Later, he passed his Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) final examinations with distinctions.
Medical career
Upon graduation, Sheares worked as an
obstetrician
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
in the Kandang Kerbau Hospital (now
KK Women's and Children's Hospital
KK Women's and Children's Hospital (abbreviation: KKH) is the largest public hospital specialising in healthcare for women and children in Singapore, located at 100 Bukit Timah Road.
From its humble beginnings as a small general hospital in 18 ...
) and a professor at the
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
. He continued to support his family, and assumed full responsibility for his family when his father died in 1940.
Sheares was awarded the
Queen's Fellowship Queens is a borough of New York City.
Queens or Queen's may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Queens (group), a Polish musical group
* "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018
* ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984
* "Queens", a song by ...
which would grant him a two-year postgraduate training in Britain. However, his studies were postponed due to the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During the war in 1941, the hospital Sheares was working at, was damaged by the bombing from the Japanese military and it was converted into a general hospital for injured civilians.
[Chia, P. (27 December 1970)]
Sheares to be president.
The Straits Times, p. 1 Retrieved from NewspaperSG; National Library Board. (2004)
After the war, Sheares was appointed as an acting professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the hospital, which he held on until he went for his postgraduate studies at the
Royal Postgraduate Medical School
The Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) was an independent medical school, based primarily at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of Imperial ...
in 1947. He returned to Singapore in 1948 and returned to his post as acting professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kandang Kerbau Hospital before he became a full professor in 1950. Sheares then retired from the hospital in 1960 and went into private practice until he was elected as the
president of Singapore
The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the Reserves of the Government of Singapore, reserves and the integrity of the Singapore Civil Service, public serv ...
by the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
[ He became Honorary Consultant after his retirement and continued teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the hospital.
]
Personal life
Sheares married to Yeo Seh Geok Sheares in 1939 and they had three children together, Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
, Edwin Chin-Hwee and Joseph.
Presidency (1971–1981)
Benjamin Sheares became Singapore's second president on 2 January 1971. His mother was 91 years old when she learnt that her son had become the president of Singapore. Just two weeks before she died, she said ''"God has blessed Bennie especially after the way he looked after us and me."'' According to a medical assistant of his, Sheares had possibly donated his entire salary as president to charity.
Sheares served three terms as president from 2 January 1971 until 12 May 1981. He originally wanted to retire after finishing his second term as he felt that he did not have the energy for another term, but Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
persuaded him and Sheares, aged 70 then, took on his third term as president. Sheares held the office until his death in 1981. Devan Nair
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair and better known simply as Devan Nair, was a Malaysian-Singaporean politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resi ...
succeeded him as president.
Notable contributions
During his time as Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kandang Kerbau Hospital (now KK Women's and Children's Hospital
KK Women's and Children's Hospital (abbreviation: KKH) is the largest public hospital specialising in healthcare for women and children in Singapore, located at 100 Bukit Timah Road.
From its humble beginnings as a small general hospital in 18 ...
) during the Japanese occupation, Sheares pioneered the lower Caesarian section which resulted in a lower mortality and morbidity rate in pregnant women than the upper Caesarian section.
The method is currently the most common Caesarian section method used today.[ Another one of Sheares' main contributions to medicine was a technique to create an ]artificial vagina
An artificial vagina is a device designed to imitate the female sex organ. To achieve this, it will generally be made of a soft material, lubricated, and sometimes heated.
There are different types of artificial vaginas. They may be designed ...
for those born without one. A modification of it is still used for sex change operations today.
Death and legacy
Sheares was found to have tumors in his lung in November 1980 while serving his third term as president. He slipped into a coma on 8 May 1981 and died four days later on the 12th of that month. He was buried at Kranji State Cemetery
The Kranji State Cemetery ( zh, 克兰芝国家公墓; ; ta, கிராஞ்சி மாநில கல்லறையில்) is a national cemetery of Singapore. This cemetery is located at Kranji near Kranji War Cemetery.
With an are ...
.
The Benjamin Sheares Bridge
The Benjamin Sheares Bridge (; ms, Jambatan Benjamin Sheares; ta, பென்ஜமின் ஷியர்ஸ் பாலம்) is the longest bridge in Singapore, spanning 1.8 km, and the tallest, at .
It is named after Benjamin Sheares ...
, Sheares Avenue and Sheares Link are named after him. In academia, the student's residence Sheares Hall at the National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
, Benjamin Henry Sheares Professorship in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Benjamin Sheares Professorship in Academic Medicine, and the Benjamin Sheares College at the Duke–NUS Graduate Medical School are all named after him.
See also
* President of Singapore
The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the Reserves of the Government of Singapore, reserves and the integrity of the Singapore Civil Service, public serv ...
* Benjamin Sheares Bridge
The Benjamin Sheares Bridge (; ms, Jambatan Benjamin Sheares; ta, பென்ஜமின் ஷியர்ஸ் பாலம்) is the longest bridge in Singapore, spanning 1.8 km, and the tallest, at .
It is named after Benjamin Sheares ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheares, Benjamin Henry
1907 births
1981 deaths
Singaporean gynaecologists
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Presidents of Singapore
Raffles Institution alumni
Singaporean Protestants
Saint Andrew's School, Singapore alumni
National University of Singapore faculty
Singaporean Christians
Singaporean people of Chinese descent
Singaporean people of English descent
Singaporean people of British descent
Singaporean people of Spanish descent