Zainul Abidin (politician)

Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed (born 17 March 1948)[2] is a Singaporean diplomat, business executive and retired politician.[3] He is currently Singapore's ambassador to the State of Kuwait (non-resident) and the Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Middle East. Zainul Abidin Rasheed is also a corporate advisor to Temasek International and holds a number of corporate board positions in Singapore and overseas.He lost his Member of Parliament seat in 2011 Singapore general election.

Honourable Minister Zainul Abidin زاينول عابدين
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In office 30 May 2006 – 7 May 2011
President	S. R. Nathan
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	George Yeo Yong-Boon
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Masagos Zulkifli
Constituency	Aljunied GRC (Eunos)
Mayor of North East District
In office 24 November 2001 – 30 May 2009
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Teo Ser Luck
Singapore Ambassador to the State of Kuwait (non-resident)
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 October 2011
President	Tony Tan Halimah Yacob
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Wong Kwok Pun[1]
Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC (Eunos)
In office 25 October 2001 – 18 April 2011
Preceded by	Sidek Saniff (PAP)
Succeeded by	Pritam Singh (WP)
Majority	16,225 (56.10%)
Member of Parliament for Cheng San GRC (Punggol East)
In office 2 January 1997 – 18 October 2001
Preceded by	Constituency Established
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Majority	9,421 (54.80%)
Personal details
Born	17 March 1948 Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Children	4
Alma mater	National University of Singapore
Occupation	Diplomat

Prior to his retirement from politics, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (Aljunied GRC) from 2001 to 2011. He also declined to not participate in 2011 Singaporean presidential election.

Education

Zainul Abidin Rasheed attended Jalan Daud Primary School, followed by Raffles Institution and then the National University of Singapore, where he read economics. He was awarded the Gold Outstanding Young Singaporean Award in 1974.

Career

Journalistic career

Zainul Abidin was a journalist with Singapore Press Holdings between 1976 and 1996, working as an editor for the Asia News Bulletin, Berita Harian and The Sunday Times, and then Associate Editor of The Straits Times, before being seconded to the government sector. He served in Mendaki (1990 - 1993) and Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) (1991-1996).

Political career

He first stood for the 1997 Singapore general elections under the People's Action Party (PAP) under Cheng San Group Representation Constituency (Cheng San GRC), against the Workers' Party (WP),whose notable candidates were J. B. Jeyaratnam and Tang Liang Hong. The PAP won that constituency.

Zainul Abidin later moved to Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (Aljunied GRC) for the 2001 general elections. In the 2006 general elections, the PAP contested Aljunied GRC against the WP. The PAP garnered 56.09% of the votes in this GRC.

He was appointed Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1998 - 2001. He also held the post of Mayor of the Northeast Community Development Council from 2001 to 2008. He was then appointed Minister of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004 and given a Senior Minister of State role in 2006.

In the 2011 general elections, Zainul Abidin was part of the PAP team which lost Aljunied GRC to the WP, thereby losing his parliamentary seat. In a post-election interview, he suggested that Lee Kuan Yew's remarks on Malays, Muslims and integration in his book, Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, may have had some influence over the Malay votes, and "many were hurt by those remarks and remain so.”[4]

Corporate and public service appointments

He has held various appointments, among them being:

• Member of the National University of Singapore Council,
• Member of the board of trustees, NTUC Healthcare Co-operative Ltd
• Member of the Board of directors of Mendaki Holdings
• Member of the RI Board of Governors
• Advisor of the Singapore Port Workers Union
• Ex-deputy Chairman of the Malay Heritage Foundation
• Member of the National Medical Ethics Committee

In September 2011, after the general elections, Zainul Abidin Rasheed was appointed as the chairman SPH UnionWorks, owned by the Singapore Press Holdings,[5] which operates two Singapore radio stations 91.3FM and 100.3FM.[6] He was also named as the consultant of the book publishing arm SPH's book publishing arm, Straits Times Press (STP).[7] He is also the non-resident Ambassador to Kuwait[8] and a special envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Middle East.[9][10]

Zainul Abidin Rasheed also serves on the boards of various local and international companies including Chairman of Diamond Energy Corporation, deputy chairman, lead independent director of Australian-listed OM Holdings, Director of Mediacorp, Board Member of National Volunteer Philanthropy Centre and Director of Temasek Cares.[11] He also serves as a corporate adviser to Temasek International.[12]

Personal life

Zainul Abidin Rasheed is married with four children.

References

1. "MFA Press Statement : Appointment of Singapore's Ambassador to The State of Israel, Singapore's Ambassador to The State of Kuwait and Singapore's Ambassador to The State of Qatar" (Press release). Singapore: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 28 December 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
2. Curriculum Vitae. www.parliament.gov.sg, 1 June 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
3. Teo, Wan Gek (10 September 2011). "Possible second advisers for Aljunied grassroots". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings.
4. "Many remain hurt by MM Lee's remarks". www.pressreader.com. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
5. "SPH acquires NTUC's remaining 7.1% stake in SPH UnionWorks". AsiaOne. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
6. "Zainul Abidin Bin Mohamed Rasheed: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
7. "News - Singapore Press Holdings". sph.listedcompany.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
8. "MFA Press Statement: Appointment of Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to the State of Kuwait" (Press release). Singapore: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
9. "MFA Press Statement: Singapore's Representation at the Inauguration Ceremony Marking the Opening of the New Expanded Suez Canal, Egypt, 6 August 2015" (Press release). Singapore: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
10. "'New' Suez Canal opens for business". The Straits Times. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
11. "Temasek Foundation Cares - Board of Directors & Management Team". www.temasekcares.org.sg. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
12. "LCD Global Investments appoints Zainul Abidin Bin Mohamed Rasheed as director". Singapore Business Review. Retrieved 2017-09-18.