Murali Pillai
K. Muralidharan Pillai, more commonly known as Murali Pillai, is a prominent Singaporean politician and lawyer. He was born 30 October 1967 and is a ruling People's Action Party (PAP) member. He has been serving as Minister of State for Transport and Minister of State for Law since 1 July 2024. Pillai has been an MP for Bukit Batok since May 2016 and as an advisor to the Bukit Batok Grassroots Organisation.
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| Murali Pillai முரளி பிள்ளை | |
|---|---|
| Party Affiliation | PAP 
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| Current Role | • Minister of State for Law and Transport • Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok |
| Past Roles | • Partner at Rajah&Tann • |
| Others | • platoon commander of the Singapore Army' • Assistant Superindendent of Police' |
| round | |
| Education | • National University of Singapore (LLB,LLM,MBA)University of California (MBA) • • • |
| Personal Details | |
| Age | 57 |
| Others | Pending |
For the full list of positions, refer to https://www.parliament.gov.sg/mps/list-of-current-mps/mp/details/murali-pillai
Before entering politics, Pillai had a distinguished career in law. He began working in the Singapore Police Force before becoming a lawyer in 1996. He later became a partner in the Commercial Litigation practice at Rajah & Tann law firm. Pillai's political journey began in 2001 when he joined the PAP as branch secretary to Ong Chit Chung, the then-MP for Bukit Batok. Although he narrowly lost in the 2015 general election as part of a PAP team contesting Aljunied GRC, he made a victorious comeback to politics in 2016. Pillai won the Bukit Batok by-election with 61.2% of the vote, securing his position as the area’s MP.
Early Life and Education
Pillai was born in Singapore to P.K. Pillai, a trade unionist who was detained during Operation Coldstore in 1963 and passed away in 2007. Pillai attended Newton Boys School (now Monk's Hill Primary School), Monk's Hill Secondary School, and Hwa Chong Junior College. He studied law at the National University of Singapore, earning a Bachelor of Laws with honors. In addition to that, he holds a Master of Laws degree, an MBA from NUS, and another MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. During his university years, Pillai was active in sports and student leadership, notably serving as President of Raffles Hall.
Police and Legal Career
Pillai completed his National Service in the Singapore Army as a platoon commander in the 2nd Guards Battalion. He later joined the Singapore Police Force in 1992 as an Assistant Superintendent, focusing on white-collar crime investigations. In 1996, he was called to the Singapore Bar. Pillai made headlines in 2014 for defending Choo Wee Khiang, a former PAP MP, against corruption charges. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2020.[1]
2016 Bukit Batok By-Election
Pillai entered the political spotlight when David Ong, the PAP MP for Bukit Batok, resigned in 2016. Pillai was appointed chairman of the PAP's Bukit Batok branch in March 2016 and nominated as the candidate for the by-election in April. During his campaign, he promised to fix infrastructure and focus on issues like job creation, social mobility, and support for older people. His efforts resulted in a convincing victory in the election with 61.21% of the votes, defeating Chee Soon Juan from the Singapore Democratic Party. Pillai was officially sworn into Parliament on 9 May 2016.
Debate on reserve's transparency
Several MPs from the opposition Workers' Party (WP) disagreed with Pillai's opinion about Singapore's reserve transparency. Associate Professor Jamus Lim, WP MP for Sengkang GRC questioned whether the government would formulate public policies based solely on available data. While Jamus Lim's colleague Pritam Singh slammed Pillai for not disclosing the full value of Singapore’s reserves.[2]
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