Paul Tambyah
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Paul Anantharajah Tambyah (born 5 February 1965), is a
Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Ind ...
doctor and professor of infectious diseases, a politician, and a writer. He is President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection and also President of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases The International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), established in 1986, is a nonprofit organization that monitors infectious diseases on a global scale. It also offers grants and fellowships, publishes a journal, and runs online learning pl ...
. He is also the Chairman of the
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party ( abbreviation: SDP) is a politcal party in Singapore. The party was founded on 6 August 1980 by Chiam See Tong. During the 1991 general election, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen won Bukit Gombak SMC and Ne ...
, a position he has held since September 2017.


Early life and education

Born in Singapore to the
endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...
Dr John Tambyah and social worker Leaena Chelliah on 5 February 1965, Tambyah learned
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
as a second language in Saint Andrew's School and can converse in Mandarin. He later attended
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 ...
in 1981. Tambyah graduated from the National University of Singapore with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery to become a doctor in 1988. He did his postgraduate training in
Infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
under Dr Dennis G. Maki at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
and graduated in 1999.


Career


Medical career

After completing his training in Wisconsin, he returned to Singapore as the first and only infectious diseases consultant at
National University Hospital The National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary referral hospital and academic medical centre in Singapore, located in Kent Ridge. It is a 1,160-bed tertiary hospital serving more than 670,000 outpatients and 49,000 inpatients and serves ...
. In 2000 he became one of the committee members of the Action for AIDS Singapore, the only HIV/AIDS agency in Singapore first founded in 1988. Tambyah became an associate Professor of Medicine in 2001. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Tambyah helped establish the NUH Division of Infectious Diseases, with Professor Dale Fisher and trainee Dr Louis Chai joined in December 2004. Since then, the Division has grown and currently includes 13 consultants, a resident physician and 2 senior residents. In 2011, Tambyah became the President of the Asia-Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, and led the Singapore Society of Infectious Diseases from 2011 to 2015. Tambyah eventually became a full professor on 5 July 2013. Tambyah became the assistant Dean of
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, established in 1905, is the first institution of higher learning in Singapore and the genesis of the National University of Singapore. The School is one of many who offer medical programmes in the Asia Pacif ...
, National University of Singapore in 2015. In June 2020, he became a president-elect of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases The International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), established in 1986, is a nonprofit organization that monitors infectious diseases on a global scale. It also offers grants and fellowships, publishes a journal, and runs online learning pl ...
, set to become the first Singaporean to hold the position and was expected to start his term in 2022. On 6 December 2020, Tambyah received a Red Ribbon Award by Action for AIDS Singapore for his contributions to HIV-related causes. On 5 October 2021, Tambyah was recognised as one of the four eminent senior clinicians to receive the Distinguished Senior Clinician Award as conferred by the Ministry of Health in Singapore. On 20 December 2022, Tambyah became the new President of the International Society of Infectious Diseases Executive Committee, replacing Alison Holmes who would currently served as its immediate past-President.


Activism

Tambyah was noted to be one of the founding members of MARUAH Singapore, a human rights organization which was founded in 2007 in Singapore. Due to the limitations of civil society activism, he eventually left the organization to join politics.


Political career

Tambyah started getting involved with the
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party ( abbreviation: SDP) is a politcal party in Singapore. The party was founded on 6 August 1980 by Chiam See Tong. During the 1991 general election, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen won Bukit Gombak SMC and Ne ...
in 2010 and spoke as a guest speaker at the SDP rallies during the
2011 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April 2011 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post sys ...
. He was one of the two potential candidates with the then party treasurer Dr Vincent Wijeysingha for the 2013 Punggol East by-election on January, before the party announced its decision not to contest and backed the Workers' Party to compete against the
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
. Tambyah became a member of the SDP's Healthcare Advisory Panel in July 2013. In 2015, he became a political candidate as part of the SDP team and contested the
Holland–Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency The Holland–Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the central, western and northern areas of Singapore. The GRC consists of four divisions: Cashew, Bukit Timah, Ulu Pan ...
(GRC) in the
2015 Singaporean general election Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...
. On 26 September 2017, he was elected as Chairman by the CEC members during the Singapore Democratic Party 18th Ordinary Party Conference, replacing Wong Souk Yee. On 30 June 2020, Tambyah was fielded as a SDP candidate for the
Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency The Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency (SMC) located in the western area of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament for the constituency is Liang Eng Hwa of the People's Action Party (PAP) . History Th ...
during the
2020 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on Friday, 10 July 2020 to elect 93 members to the Parliament of Singapore across 31 constituencies. Parliament was dissolved and the general election called by President Halimah Yacob on 23 June, on t ...
.


Personal life

Tambyah married Dr Siok Kuan, a senior lecturer of marketing at
NUS Business School 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 ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tambyah, Paul 1965 births Living people Singapore Democratic Party politicians Singaporean activists Saint Andrew's School, Singapore alumni National University of Singapore alumni Singaporean healthcare managers Singaporean infectious disease physicians 20th-century Singaporean physicians 21st-century Singaporean physicians