Kirpa Ram Vij
Kirpa Ram Vij is a retired Singapore civil servant, former head of the Singapore Armed Forces and shipping company executive.
Vij was born in Hazara District in then British India and now Pakistan in 1935 and moved to Singapore after 1947. He graduated from the Raffles Institution in 1956. He later joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps as Lieutenant in 1960.
Before becoming Director of General Staff, Vij served in civil service and was Director of the Singapore Command and Staff College. He became Brigadier and was head of the SAF from 1970 to 1974.
After leaving the SAF Vij became Deputy Secretary to Ministry of National Development from 1974 to 1975, then as Ambassador of Singapore to Egypt from 1975 to 1979 and Head of Training at Civil Service Institute until 1981. Leaving the civil service, he became General Manager in Neptune Orient Lines in 1981.
