Abdullah Tarmugi


Abdullah bin Tarmugi is a former Singaporean politician. He was the Speaker of Parliament and a Member of Parliament for East Coast Group Representation Constituency from 1996 to 2011. He declined not to participate for the Singapore Presidential Elections in 2017.
Born to a Javanese father and a Chinese mother, Abdullah's father was a low salaried surveyor's assistant and his grandfather ran a provision shop.
Abdullah studied at Raffles Institution and obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Singapore, followed by a post-graduate diploma in urban studies from the University of London in 1972 under a Commonwealth Scholarship.
Abdullah has been an MP since 1984, starting out at Siglap constituency and later Bedok Group Representation Constituency from 1991 to 1996. After Bedok GRC and Eunos GRC was merged to form East Coast GRC in 1997, Abdullah still remained in the Siglap ward but under East Coast GRC. Abdullah was the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs from 1994 to 2000 and 2000 to 2002 respectively. Abdullah was also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 1989 to 1993 before becoming the Speaker of Parliament on 25 March 2002,.
Abdullah announced his retirement from politics on 24 March 2011, prior to the 2011 general elections. In January 2012, Abdullah was appointed to the Presidential Council for Minority Rights by Singapore President Tony Tan and a permanent member by President Halimah Yacob.