Paul Tambyah


Paul Anantharajah Tambyah MBBS, is a Singaporean doctor and professor of infectious diseases, a politician, and a writer. He has been Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party under Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan since September 2017.

Early life and education

Born in Singapore to Dr John Tambyah and Leaena Chelliah in 1965, Tambyah graduated from the National University of Singapore with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery to become a doctor in 1988. He was trained in Infectious disease at the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 1999.

Career

Medical career

Tambyah became an associate Professor of Medicine in 2001 and eventually became a full professor in 2013.
Tambyah subsequently became a president of the Asia-Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection and led the Singapore Society of Infectious Diseases from 2011 to 2015.
He became the assistant Dean at the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Medicine in 2015.
In June 2020, he became a president-elect of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, set to become the first Singaporean to hold the position and is expected to start his term in 2022.

Political career

Tambyah started getting involved with the Singapore Democratic Party in 2010 and spoke as a guest speaker at the SDP rallies during the 2011 Singaporean general election. He became a member of the SDP's Healthcare Advisory Panel in 2013. In 2015, he became a political candidate as part of the SDP team and contested the Holland–Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency in the 2015 Singaporean general election.
On 26 September 2017, he was elected as Chairman by the CEC members during the Singapore Democratic Party 18th Ordinary Party Conference, replacing Wong Souk Yee.
On 30 June 2020, Tambyah was fielded as a SDP candidate for the Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency during the 2020 Singaporean general election.

Personal life

Tambyah was married to Dr Siok Kuan, a senior lecturer of marketing at NUS Business School.