Saktiandi Supaat
Saktiandi bin Supaat (Jawi: سقتيند سوڤات; born 29 October 1973) is a Singaporean politician from the governing People's Action Party (PAP). He has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toa Payoh East division of Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2015.
 | |
| Saktiandi bin Supaat سقتيند سوڤات | |
|---|---|
| Party Affiliation | PAP 
|
| Current Role | • MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC • |
| Past Roles | • Pending • |
| Others | • Pending • Pending |
| Background | |
| Education | • Pending • • • |
| Personal Details | |
| Age | 51 |
| Others | Pending |
For the full list of positions, refer to PARL link.
Early Life and Education
Saktiandi received his early education at Henry Park Primary School, Raffles Institution, and Catholic Junior College. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree. He obtained a Master of Social Sciences in applied economics from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Saktiandi also completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Cambridge under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Postgraduate Scholarship.
Professional career
Prior to entering politics, Saktiandi is a well-known economist. He is the Executive Vice President and Head of the Foreign Exchange (FX) Research team in Global Markets and global Banking at Maybank.[1]
Before transitioning to the private sector in 2010, Saktiandi worked as a lead economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), specifically in the Economic Policy Department. During his over 10 years at MAS, he specialized in areas such as Singapore's financial strategy, macroeconometric modeling, foreign exchange markets, and the country's exchange rate policy.
Before joining Maybank, Saktiandi moved to the United Overseas Bank Group (UOB) in 2011 as Vice President and Senior Treasury Economist in Global Markets, Treasury-Economic Research.
Political career
Saktiandi entered politics in 2015 when the PAP announced his candidacy for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC following the stepping down of several incumbent members, including Wong Kan Seng, Hri Kumar, and Zainudin Nordin. In the 2015 general election, Saktiandi was part of a five-member PAP team. The PAP team secured 73.59% of the valid votes, successfully electing Saktiandi to Parliament. In the 2020 general election, Saktiandi and his PAP team were re-elected with 67.26% of the valid votes.
In the 14th Parliament, Saktiandi was elected as chairman of the Transport Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) and served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee. He is also the chair of the Middle East and Central Asia inter-parliamentary relations group.
In addition, he serves on the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) board of directors and the Council of Advisors to the Education Services Union. He is also a director at Yayasan MENDAKI and the vice-chair of the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC).
From 2010 to 2013, he served as the president of Young AMP and as a board director of AMP (2011-2013), later becoming the vice-chairman of AMP. The AMP stands for Association of Muslim Professionals, a non-profit organisation serving the Muslim community in Singapore.
Criticism over bias in "The Singapore-Palestine Film Festival"
Saktiandi's inquiry regarding the supervision on the Singapore Palestine Film Festival—held from 12 January to 21 January 2024 at The Projector at Cineleisure triggered criticism from Singaporeans, accusing the MP of being biased.
Saktiandi filed three questions to the Minister of Home Affairs regarding the Singapore Palestine Film Festival as mentioned below:
- What regulatory supervision is being exercised over the Singapore-Palestine Film Festival?
- What are the permissible limits for holding events that touch on the presently hostile conflict?
- How is the balance struck between allowing Singaporeans to gain an increased understanding of the situation and preserving the racial religious harmony enjoyed in Singapore?
Members of the public argued that the MP did not ask any questions at all when the Israel Film Festival was held in October 2023 when the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted.[2]
Personal life
Saktiandi is married and has three children. He is fluent in English, Bahasa Melayu, and Bahasa Indonesia.
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