Gopinath Pillai
Gopinath Pillai | |
---|---|
Born |
1937 79) Singapore | (age
Occupation | Diplomat and business person |
Parent(s) | K.S Pillai |
Awards |
Padma Shri National Day Award NTUC Meritorious Award NTUC Friend of Labour Award SU Distinguished Alumni Award MCD Award Public Service Star Award BBM Friend of IT Award |
Website | Official web site |
Gopinath Pillai is a Singaporean diplomat of Indian origin[1] and business person. He is an Ambassador-at-large for the Government of Singapore.[2] He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.[3]
Biography
Gopinath Pillai was born in Singapore to K.S Pillai, a journalist who ran a daily, Kerala Bandhu, known to be the only Malayalam language daily published outside India.[2] He spent eight years of his childhood in the Indian state of Kerala where his family is from, as he could not return to Singapore after a visit to his native place due to the World War II.[2] Afterwards, with the closure of the daily, his family finances dwindled and Pillai opted for government funded education.[2] His graduate studies were at the University of Malaya where he was a member of the Socialist Club and secured the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1961.[4][5]
His career started as a journalist with Reuters[4][6] but had to abandon the job to fulfill his commitment to the government to work as a teacher, a prerequisite for availing government funding for education in Singapore.[2] Later, he joined Bangkok Bank[4] as Economic Research Officer and also worked as a correspondent for Far Eastern Economic Review.[2] He worked with the bank for five years and moved to Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd as an economist during which time Singapore became a separate country in 1965.[4] He stayed in Malaysia till 1969 and when country was rocked by riots of a racial nature, he returned to Singapore with his family to take up an appointment as the head of a Government run textile factory.[2] The next two moves were to United Industrial Corporation and then to the State Trading Corporation, Singapore[2] for a total service of around 10 years.[5][7]
Gopinath Pillai attends conferences and seminars and delivers keynote addresses.[1][6][8] He has authored two books, The History of Banking in Thailand[4][6] and The Political Economy of South Asian Diaspora: Patterns of Socio-Economic Influence.[9] Pillai is married and the couple has four children.[4]
Government and diplomatic career
He is the first chairman of NTUC FairPrice when it was launched in 1983, a post he held till 1993[4] and remains as its Trustee.[10] The diplomatic career of Pillai started with his assignment with the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs in the Eighties.[4] In 1990, he was appointed as the non-resident Ambassador to Iran, a post he held till 2008.[4][11] Later, he also worked as the Singapore High Commissioner to Pakistan.[2][4] Pillai is an incumbent Ambassador-at-Large for the Government of Singapore.[2][4][8][12]
Business career
Gopinath Pillai launched KSP Group along with two of his friends, both Singaporeans of Indian origin, Sat Pal Khattar and Haider Sithawalla and holds the post of a Director of the company.[2][10] The company has since been rebranded as KSP Investments Private Limited, and serves as the holding company for Pillai's business investments.[2] He is reported to have invested in a number of businesses and holds positions in many of them. He is the executive chairman of Savant Infocomm, an IT company[4][5][10] and holds the chairmanship of companies such as Windmill International Private Limited[10][13] and Gateway Distriparks Limited and one of its subsidiaries, Snowman Logistics Limited.[2][5][10] He is the director of another Gateway Distriparks subsidiary, Gateway Rail Freight Limited[2] and JTC Consultancy Services (Holdings) Private Limited.[5] He is also the director of AEC Edu Group Private Limited[14] and holds directorship of two of its subsidiaries, AEC College and AEC Education Plc.[5][12]
Social career
Gopinath Pillai is the chairman of Management Board of the Institute of South Asian Studies,[4][8][10][12][12][15] a National University of Singapore funded research institute.[16] He also holds the post of the deputy chairman of Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital[4][6][8] a known healthcare centre in Singapore for rehabilitative care.[17]
Awards and recognitions
Gopinath Pillai, a recipient of Meritorious Award and Friend of Labour Award from National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)[5][10] and Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Singapore, received the MCD Award from the Ministry of Community Development and Sports, Singapore in 1998.[4][5][10] The next year, in 1999, he received the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star Award BBM).[4][5][10][12] Singapore Computer Society conferred on him the Friend of IT Award in 2001[5][10] and the Government of Singapore honoured Pillai, in 2009, with the National Day Award.[4] The Government of India included him in the Republic Day honours list in 2012 for the civilian honour of Padma Shri.[3][4][12]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Arabian Business". Arabian Business. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Live Mint". Live Mint. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "South Asian Diaspora". South Asian Diaspora. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Business Week". Business Week. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "LKY". LKY. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "India Info". India Info. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "Global Schools". Global Schools. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ Pillai, Gopinath (October 2013). The Political Economy of South Asian Diaspora: Patterns of Socio-Economic Influence. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137285966.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Savant Bio". Savant. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "Arabian Business". Arabian Business. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Milken Institute". Milken Institute. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "Eastcom". Eastcom. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "Bloomberg". Bloomberg. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "ISAS". ISAS. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "ISAS Home". ISAS. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "AMKH". AMKH. 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
Further reading
- Pillai, Gopinath (October 2013). The Political Economy of South Asian Diaspora: Patterns of Socio-Economic Influence. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137285966.
External links
- "Civil Investiture Ceremony – Padma Shri". Video. YouTube. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- "Interview on India Info Line". India Info. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- "SADC 2013 (Day 1) : Welcome Address by Ambassador Gopinath Pillai". YouTube video. ISAS Conferences. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- "An Interview with Ambassador Gopinath Pillai". YouTube video. Diaspora 2013 Channel. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2014.