Kesavapany Krishnasamy
IHFS Excellence Award For Academia Achievements
Ambassador Krishnasamy Kesavapany was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1997 to 2002. He served as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland and was concurrently accredited as Ambassador to Italy (1991–1997) and Turkey. He was elected the first Chairman of the General Council of the WTO in 1995. He was also Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. From 2002 to 2012, he was the Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), NUS. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in NUS.
He was elected as the first Chairman of the General Council of the WTO when it was established in January 1995 and a member of the Singapore Mediation Centre’s International Panel of Mediators. He was the President for IRO from 2017 to 2018, and now continues to serve in the IRO Council.
Mr Kesavapany is also the author of the book “Estate to Embassy” which documents his life, challenges and experiences from his school days in Malaysia to his days in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. The book, co-authored by Anitha Devi Pillai was launched at PGP Hall.” on 5 April 2019,when the GOH was Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
Presently, he is Governor on the Board of the Singapore International Foundation. He was President of the Singapore Indian Association (SIA) and a Board Member of Hindu Endowments Board. He was also President of Rotary Club of Raffles City.
The proceeds from sales of the first 300 signed books were donated to the DAS Bursary Fund to financially support low-income families’ by providing their children access to appropriate educational services.
Ambassador Kesavapany played a key role in promoting awareness about dyslexia, bringing it to wide acceptance. He drew inspiration himself from the late former President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan, his lifetime mentor in social service.
He has made a tremendous contribution to Singapore’s diplomacy. In a fifty-year career he served in 7diplomatic postings viz Indonesia, Russia, (the then Soviet Union), United Kingdom, UNITED Nations in Geneva, Malaysia, Jordan, Italy and Turkey.
As Chairman of GATT, he chaired and helped conclude the 10 years old Uruguay Round Negotiations. This led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization in Geneva in 1996. He was elected as its inaugural Chairman of the General Council.
Accepting his proposal, the WTO held its first Ministerial Meeting in Singapore in 1997 (which was nearly disrupted by Michael Fay incident). After six years in Geneva, he was posted as High Commissioner to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
During this period (1997 to 2003), bilateral relations experienced severe turbulence, which had to be sensitively managed. On his return to Singapore, he was appointed Non- Resident Ambassador to Jordan.
For ten years of service rendered to the strengthening of bilateral relations, he was awarded the Order of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (First Class).
He was awarded Public Service (Gold) medal for diplomacy and BBM and PBM for Service to the Nation.
Amb Kesavapany is married to Padmini, a Special Needs Teacher. They two sons,Murali and Sashi and two grandchildren- Kishan and Jaynna. As a Rotarian and past President of Rotary club of raffles city he has done a lot of charity work.