Vivian Balakrishnan

Early life and education

Vivian Balakrishnan was born on 25 January 1961 in Singapore to G.D. Balakrishnan and Helen Ong Yong Sang. His father was an Indian Tamil, and his mother was Hokkien Chinese, with ancestry from Fuqing, Fujian.

He was educated at Anglo-Chinese School and National Junior College before he was conferred the President's Scholarship in 1980 to study medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. He served two terms as the president of the NUS Student Union, and later the chairman of the union council.

Balakrishnan chose a postgraduate specialisation in ophthalmology and became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1991.

Medical career

Balakrishnan had worked at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London between 1993 and 1995 as a specialist senior registrar, where he subspecialised in paediatric ophthalmology.

When Balakrishnan returned to Singapore, he became a consultant ophthalmologist at the Singapore National Eye Centre and National University Hospital, and an associate professor of ophthalmology at the National University of Singapore in 1998.

In 1999, he became the medical director of the Singapore National Eye Centre, and later the chief executive officer of the Singapore General Hospital in 2000. Balakrishnan was also the commanding officer of the 2nd Combat Support Hospital of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) between 1999 and 2002.

In the 1990s, he hosted the series Health Matters on Singapore television.

Political career

Balakrishnan made his political debut in the 2001 general election as part of the five-member PAP team contesting in Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC and won by an uncontested walkover. He was subsequently appointed Minister of State for National Development, and Chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee in 2002. He was later appointed Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry in 2004.

In 2004, Balakrishnan was appointed acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. He was made a full member of the Cabinet in 2005.

During the 2006 general election, Balakrishnan was part of a five-member PAP team led by Lim Swee Say, contesting in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and won with a walkover.

During a Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on 9 March 2007 regarding the estimates of expenditure for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, Lily Neo asked Balakrishnan whether the ministry would consider raising the Public Assistance rates for the purpose of ensuring recipients are able to have three meals a day, to which Balakrishnan replied with "How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?" In 2011, Balakrishnan raised the public assistance scheme from $260 in 2007 to $400 for a single-person household.

During the 2011 general election, Balakrishnan led a four-member PAP team which includes Liang Eng Hwa, Christopher de Souza and Sim Ann contesting in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and won 60.1% of the vote. This was the first time Holland–Bukit Timah GRC were being contested since its formation in 2001.

During the political campaign for the 2011 general election, Balakrishnan said that the candidates from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) did not have any plans for the constituency, and their selection of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC was an opportunistic act. He suggested that they were trying to suppress a certain YouTube video featuring a member of their team and that it raised questions about their agenda and motivation. It was later discovered that the video included Vincent Wijeysingha at a forum discussing issues surrounding gay rights and section 377A of the Penal Code in Singapore. The PAP team issued a statement asking the SDP team whether they were pursuing a "gay agenda". The SDP denied it, saying that they were not pursuing the gay agenda and the issue was put to rest. The PAP drew criticism from internet users in Singapore for their election strategy.

At the same election, the SDP candidates raised the issue of government spending for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, which Balakrishnan had overseen as Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, saying that the budget exceeded the initial estimates of S$104 million by over three times. Balakrishnan acknowledged that they had got the initial estimates wrong as it was the first time that an event of that scale was organised in Singapore. He asserted that the increased budget did not affect other programmes of the ministry, and that 70% of the spending for the event went into paying local firms for their services. He declared that his team had spent less than the finalised budget amount and did not waste money.

On 21 May 2011, Balakrishnan was appointed Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, taking over from Yaacob Ibrahim. After the 2015 general election, Balakrishnan was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In response to a parliamentary question on 5 January 2021 regarding the use of data from the contact tracing app developed during the COVID-19 pandemic known as TraceTogether, the Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan replied that under the Criminal Procedure Code, the Police can access TraceTogether data for the purpose of criminal investigations, despite Balakrishnan's assurance to the public 8 months earlier in June 2020 that TraceTogether data will only be used for contact tracing purposes. Balakrishnan later said in Parliament "I take full responsibility for this mistake. And I deeply regret the consternation and anxiety caused".

In September 2021, during a debate in Parliament about the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, a hot mic picked up Balakrishnan referring to Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai of the Progress Singapore Party as "illiterate" and questioning how Leong got into Raffles Institution (RI) in a conversation with fellow PAP MPs on the front bench. Balakrishnan was subsequently called by Leong to apologise.

In 2023, Balakrishnan and K. Shanmugam were investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) for their rentals of state-owned bungalows at Ridout Road. The CPIB reported that they did not find any criminal wrongdoing or improper conduct.

On 12 March 2025, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, Shanmugam was confronted by two women from Monday of Palestine Solidarity group at his Meet-The-People session to address the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. The confrontation was recorded on video and lasted seven minutes. On 13 March, Calvin Cheng, in a Facebook post, offered to send the activist group to Gaza, provided they do not return to Singapore and also told their Facebook followers to leave Singapore for Gaza. It was later discovered that Balakrishnan and Senior Minister of State for National Development and Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How had liked the post by Cheng. Tan claimed that he had accidentally liked the post after Monday of Palestine Solidarity had questioned him about Cheng's post and had since “unliked” the Facebook post. Balakrishnan claimed he did not like the post and had since gotten Meta, the owner and operator of Facebook, to investigate unauthorised activity on his Facebook account. As of January 2026, no further statements have been made about this.

Personal life

He is married to Joy Chia Oon Su. They have a daughter and three sons.

References

Notes

References

1. "Dr Vivian Balakrishnan".
2. "Dr Vivian BALAKRISHNAN".
3. "2001 PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS".
4. Balakrishnan, Vivian. (2016-03-24). "In memoriam GD Balakrishnan (1930-2016) & Helen Ong Yong Sang (1928-1998)".
5. "Coming to India is like coming home".
6. (22 June 2011). "About Vivian Balakrishnan – Vivian Balakrishnan". Vivian.balakrishnan.sg.
7. (2014-10-20). "Dr Vivian BALAKRISHNAN".
8. (3 January 2011). "Singapore Elections Department". Elections.gov.sg.
9. [http://www.pmo.gov.sg/cabinet/dr-vivian-balakrishnan Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan profile] {{Webarchive. link. (28 March 2015 . cabinet.gov.sg, April 2018.)
10. (2006). "2006 Parliamentary Election Results". Singapore Elections Department.
11. (2011). "Walkovers 2006". General Elections.
12. (9 March 2007). "ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 2007 TO 31ST MARCH, 2007". Singapore Parliament.
13. (10 August 2015). "50 memorable lines that can only be Made in S'pore". Mothership.
14. (10 January 2018). "What's Really Behind A Minister's Real Happiness?". The Independent News & Media Pte Ltd.
15. (8 March 2011). "More cash allowance for families on the Public Assistance scheme". XIN MSN News.
16. (8 May 2011). "PAP wins Holland–Bukit Timah GRC". [[The Straits Times]].
17. Derrick Paulo. (7 May 2011). "Drama over video, YOG and economic policies". [[Today (Singapore newspaper).
18. Judith Tan. (23 April 2011). "'Strange bedfellows' in SDP team". [[The Straits Times]].
19. Julia NG. (25 April 2011). "GE: Reform Party former vice-chairman Alec Tok joins SDP". [[CNA (TV network).
20. Faris Mokhtar. (24 April 2011). "SDP, PAP clash over mystery video". [[Yahoo! News]].
21. Hoe Yeen Nie. (25 April 2011). "GE: PAP questions Wijeysingha's political agenda in light of video". [[CNA (TV network).
22. Rachel Chan. (26 April 2011). "PAP seeks SDP's position on video". [[AsiaOne.
23. Hoe Yeen Nie. (26 April 2011). "GE: SDP says it is not pursuing gay agenda". [[CNA (TV network).
24. (27 April 2011). "GE: SDP team raises objection against PAP's Sim Ann". [[CNA (TV network).
25. Julia Ng. (27 April 2011). "GE: "Gay video" saga put to rest". [[CNA (TV network).
26. (12 May 2011). "Low expectations". [[The Economist]].
27. Chitra Rajaram. (4 May 2011). "GE: Balakrishnan on YOG, teammates counter SDP's proposals". [[CNA (TV network).
28. Ong Hwee Hwee. (5 May 2011). "MCYS minister defends YOG budget". [[The Straits Times]].
29. Ewen Boey. (5 May 2011). "MCYS minister: We miscalculated on YOG budget". [[Yahoo! News]].
30. "The Singapore Cabinet Office: Cabinet Appointments". Cabinet.gov.sg.
31. superadmin. (2014-10-20). "Dr Vivian BALAKRISHNAN".
32. (5 January 2021). "Police can use TraceTogether data for criminal investigations". SPH Media Limited.
33. (5 January 2021). "I didn't think of Criminal Procedure Code when speaking earlier about TraceTogether: Vivian Balakrishnan". Yahoo News Singapore.
34. (2 February 2021). "Vivian Balakrishnan takes 'full responsibility' over TraceTogether saga". Yahoo News Singapore.
35. (15 September 2021). "Vivian Balakrishnan apologises to Leong Mun Wai after 'He's illiterate' comment picked up by Parliament live mic". Mothership.
36. (15 September 2021). "Vivian Balakrishnan apologises to Leong Mun Wai for 'private comments' made during Parliament session". Mediacorp Pte Ltd.
37. (28 June 2023). "Ridout Road bungalow rentals: CPIB finds no corruption or wrongdoing by Shanmugam, Vivian". The Straits Times.
38. Goh, Yan Han. (4 July 2023). "Shanmugam, Vivian have done nothing wrong and retain my full confidence: PM Lee on Ridout Road saga". The Straits Times.
39. (2025-03-13). "Meet-the-People Session is not a protest venue, says Shanmugam after 2 women cause commotion". The Straits Times.
40. "Minister Shanmugam Declines to Press Charges After Sisters Disrupt Meet-The-People Session_the_public_and".
41. Sun, David. (2025-04-03). "Masagos says he disagrees with ex-NMP Calvin Cheng's views on the Israel-Palestine conflict". [[The Straits Times]].
42. Lim, Kimberly. (2025-04-10). "'Hot potato': Singapore's criticism of ex-NMP seen as bid to cool tensions".
43. Hamzah, Aqil. (2025-04-02). "Vivian says he did not 'like' FB post offering to relocate S'poreans to Gaza; Meta investigating". [[The Straits Times]].
44. . (2005-04-02). ["From right, Ms Joy Chia (wife of Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry Vivian Balakrishnan), Mrs S Jayakumar (wife of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law), Mrs Goh Chok Tong (wife of Senior Minister) and Ms Jane Ittogi (wife of Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam) in conversation during the Indian Community Dinner held at Ritz Carlton Hotel"](https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/b887551d-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad).
45. Azrol Azmi. (2014-08-15). "Their Majesties receive foreign guests".
46. Chew, Hui Min. (2016-01-01). "Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is now a grandpa, possibly the youngest in Cabinet". The Straits Times.