Tempa Tsering (; born on 15 May 1950 in Gyangtse,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

). He was a former Kalon (minister) at the Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamshala, India and was a representative of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

and member of the

Tibetan Government in Exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

. At present he is a Director, India and East Asia, for the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, based in New Delhi, India.

Early life and background

Tempa Tsering was born in Drumpa, Gyantse, Tibet on May 15, 1959. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, he and his family escaped into exile in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He received his secondary education from

Dr. Graham's Homes Dr. Graham's Homes (formerly St. Andrew's Colonial Homes) was founded in 1900 by John Anderson Graham, a missionary of the Church of Scotland, who settled in Kalimpong and worked with the local community for several years during the turn of the ...

Kalimpong Kalimpong (Hindi: कलिम्पोंग) is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The re ...

, and subsequently obtained a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree at

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

Madras (Chennai) Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India.

Governmental career

He was elected as the member of the Central Executive Committee of the

Tibetan Youth Congress The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of ...

and its advisor. In 1973, he joined the Tibetan civil service as interpreter and office secretary at the

Bylakuppe Bylakuppe is an area in Karnataka which is home to the Indian town Bylakuppe and several Tibetan settlements (there are several Tibetan settlements in India), established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969). Bylakuppe ...

Tibetan Settlement; from 1973 to 1974 as lower division clerk; between 1974 and 1980 as deputy secretary at the Department of Information and International Relations of the

Government of Tibet in Exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

; between 1981 and 1985 as deputy secretary (and later as additional secretary) at the Office of the

; from 1988 to 1990 as additional secretary at the Department of Home; as chief coordinator at the Chief Representative’s Office for the five settlements in the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

; from 1991 to 1999 as the secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations.

Political career

In 2000, the

Tibetan Parliament in Exile The Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE), officially the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration, is the unicameral and highest legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile of the Tibet Autonomous Reg ...

, from a list of nominees proposed by the Dalai Lama, elected him as minister ( bo, Kalon). He held the portfolio of Kalon for the Department of Home, until the term of the 11th Cabinet (Tibetan: Kashag) expired in 2001. In 2006, he was nominated as Kalon by

Samdhong Rinpoche () is a Tibetan religious title. ''Rinpoche Rinpoche, also spelled Rimboche and Rinboku (), is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language. It literally means "precious one", and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words "gem" ...

and later approved by the Members of Assembly and taken the portfolio of Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations along with the representative of the Dalai Lama in

. In 2016 he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsering, Tempa 1950 births Foreign ministers of Tibet Living people Tibetan diaspora Central Tibetan Administration Tibetan people Tibetan politicians Madras Christian College alumni Representatives of Offices of Tibet