Abdullah bin Tarmugi ( Jawi: عبدالله بن ترموڬي; born 25 August 1944) is a Singaporean former politician who served as

Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential lin ...

between 2002 and 2011.

Early life

Born to a Javanese father and a Chinese mother, Abdullah's father was a low-salaried surveyor's assistant and his grandfather ran a provision shop. Abdullah studied at

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 ...

and obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the

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 ...

, followed by a post-graduate diploma in urban studies from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1972 under a

Commonwealth Scholarship The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed b ...

Political career

Abdullah was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 2011, starting out at

Siglap Siglap is a neighbourhood located in Bedok in the East Region of Singapore. The area also encompasses the Frankel and Opera Estates and their names have sometimes been used interchangeably to refer to the approximate same area. The planning su ...

constituency and later

Bedok Group Representation Constituency Bedok Group Representation Constituency (Traditional Chinese: 勿洛集選區;Simplified Chinese: 勿洛集选区) is a defunct Group Representation Constituency in Bedok, Singapore that existed from 1988 to 1997. Members of Parliament Candida ...

(Bedok GRC) from 1991 to 1996. After Bedok GRC and Eunos GRC was merged to form

East Coast GRC The East Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency in the eastern area of Singapore. The areas of the Group Representation Constituency consists of locations such as East Coast Park, Bedok, Chang ...

in 1997, Abdullah still remained in the Siglap ward but under East Coast GRC. Abdullah was the Minister for Community Development (subsequently the Minister of Community Development and Sports) and the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs from 1994 to 2002 and 2000 to 2002 respectively. Abdullah was also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 1989 to 1993 before becoming the Speaker of Parliament on 25 March 2002. He declined to contest the Singapore Presidential Elections in 2017. Abdullah announced his retirement from politics on 24 March 2011, prior to the 2011 general elections. In January 2012, Abdullah was appointed to the

Presidential Council for Minority Rights The Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR) is a non-elected government body in Singapore established in 1970, the main function of which is to scrutinize most of the bills passed by Parliament to ensure that they do not discriminate ...

by Singapore President

Tony Tan Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. He did not seek for a second term as president in 2017 due to a constitutional amendment ...

and a permanent member by President

Halimah Yacob Halimah Yacob (Jawi script: ; born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former lawyer who has been serving as the eighth president of Singapore since 2017. Prior to her presidency, she was the country's Speaker of the Parliament of S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah, Tarmugi 1944 births Living people Members of the Parliament of Singapore National University of Singapore alumni Alumni of the University of London People's Action Party politicians Raffles Institution alumni Singaporean Muslims Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean people of Javanese descent Singaporean people of Malay descent Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore