Vivian Balakrishnan Politician

Vivian Balakrishnan(born 25 January 1961), FRCS, is the Singapore Minister for Environment and Water Resources and a member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP). He is also the Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative. He has previously held appointments in the Singapore Cabinet as the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and as the Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Trade and Industry. In 2002, Balakrishnan was appointed a Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development, and the Chairman of the Remaking Singapore Committee. He was also the Chairman of the Young PAP from 2004 to 2008. He is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency.Balakrishnan studied medicine at the National University of Singapore on a President's Scholarship. He later pursued postgraduate education in ophthalmology and was admitted as a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was appointed as an associate professor at the National University of Singapore and became the medical director of Singapore National Eye Centre. He was also the chief executive of Singapore General Hospital. Prior to the commencement of his political career, he served as the commanding officer of second Combat Support Hospital of the Singapore Armed Forces.His team was elected uncontested during his first and second candidacy for the Parliament at Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC respectively. In the 2011 general election, Balakrishnan's team, including Liang Eng Hwa, Christopher de Souza and Sim Ann, defeated the opposing team from Singapore Democratic Party with 60.1% of the votes.He is married to Joy Balakrishnan, and they have a daughter and three sons.