Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's

Permanent Representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

between 1995 and 1998.

Early life and education

Kausikan's father, P.S. Raman, a

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 ...

-born

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as we ...

who moved to Singapore after the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. He remarried to Lim Eng Neo, a

Peranakan The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, t ...

, they have three children. His father named him Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan. "Bilahari" is the name of a

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

, "Kausikan", a form of the Vedic surname

Kaushik Kaushik ( hi, कौशिक) or Kaushike ( mr, कौशिक) or Koushik/Kousik is a caste of patri-clan (gotra) of Brahmins and Kshatriya named after Brahmarishi Vishvamitra. Kaushik is used as a surname by Brahmins and Kshatriya of Vishwamit ...

, "Setlur", a Brahmin sub-caste, and "Papanasam", the name of his father's village in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language— ...

. "Kim Hee" () was the Chinese name that Kausikan's mother gave him. Kausikan graduated from the University of Singapore (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 ...

), majoring in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He subsequently received a scholarship from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to pursue a PhD in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...

at Columbia University, with the aim of becoming an academic. During this time, he would secretly submit articles to ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'' under the pseudonym "Bee Kim Hee". Half way into his dissertation, he decided to drop out from the course and return to Singapore, where he joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(MFA). He ultimately graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree from Columbia University.

Career

Kausikan joined the civil service in 1981 as a foreign service officer, and was assigned to the Administrative Service in 1983. His father gained 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 ...

's attention after he advised against editing out the video of Lee tearing while announcing Singapore's expulsion from the Malaysian Federation in 1965. Thereafter, he was appointed to various diplomatic positions, including Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia during '' Konfrontasi'', and subsequently as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Recovering from a heart attack during his tenure in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, he was reassigned as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and served in that capacity for a year and a half. Kausikan was appointed as Singapore's Ambassador to Russia in 1994, with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Finland. Kausikan served as Singapore's

between 1995 and 1998, with concurrent accreditation as Singapore's High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico. In 1998, Kausikan was appointed as Deputy Secretary (Foreign Affairs) at the

. He was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary in 2001, and was promoted to

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

on 1 September 2010. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the

and is a Senior Fellow at the SMU School of Social Sciences.

Honours

Pingat Pentadbiran Awam The Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (English: Public Administration Medal) is a Singaporean decoration instituted in 1963 and has three grades: * Emas (Gold) * Perak (Silver) * Gangsa (Bronze) The medal may be awarded to any of the following persons fo ...

(Emas) (Public Administration Medal (Gold)) *

Pingat Jasa Gemilang The Pingat Jasa Gemilang ( en, Meritorious Service Medal) is a Singaporean national honour and medal instituted in 1962. It may be awarded to any person who has performed "''service of conspicuous merit characterised by resource and devotion to ...

(Meritorious Service Medal) * Order of Bernardo O'Higgins (Gran Cruz) by the

President of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is r ...

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dic ...

, December 2002 * Oman Civil Merit Order (Second Class), by the

Sultan of Oman The sultan of the Sultanate of Oman is the monarchical head of state and head of government of Oman. It is the most powerful position in the country. The sultans of Oman are members of the Busaid dynasty, which has been the ruling family o ...

Qaboos bin Said al Said Qaboos bin Said Al Said ( ar, قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said ...

, February 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kausikan, Bilahari 1954 births Living people Singaporean diplomats Permanent secretaries of Singapore Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Chinese descent Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam Recipients of the Pingat Bakti Setia Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Ambassadors of Singapore to Russia