Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan (, zh, s=米金喜, poj=Bí Kim-hí; born 1954) is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998.

Early life and education

Kausikan's father, P. S. Raman, was a late

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

-born Indian immigrant who moved to Singapore after the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

. After serving as a diplomat, the wealthy P. S. Raman married Lim Eng Neo, a

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

, with whom he had three children. P. S. Raman named his son Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan: Bilahari is the name of a

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

; Kausikan is a form of the Vedic surname Kaushik; Setlur is a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

sub-caste; and Papanasam is the name of P. S. Raman's home village in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Kim Hee () is the Chinese name that Kausikan's mother gave him. Kausikan graduated from the University of Singapore (now the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

), majoring in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He subsequently received a scholarship from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to pursue a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, with the aim of becoming an academic. During this time, he would secretly submit articles to ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' under the pseudonym "Bee Kim Hee". Half way into his dissertation, he decided to drop out from the course and return to Singapore, where he joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

(MFA). He ultimately graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from Columbia University.

Career

Kausikan joined the civil service in 1981 as a foreign service officer, and was assigned to the Administrative Service in 1983. Kausikan's father, P.S. Raman, gained Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

's attention after he advised against editing out the video of Lee tearing while announcing Singapore's expulsion from the Malaysian Federation in 1965. Thereafter, he was appointed to various diplomatic positions, including Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia during '' Konfrontasi'', and subsequently as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the Soviet Union. After recovering from a heart attack during his tenure in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, P.S. Raman was reassigned as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and served in that capacity for a year and a half. Kausikan was appointed as Singapore's Ambassador to Russia in 1994, with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Finland. Kausikan served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998, with concurrent accreditation as Singapore's High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico. In 1998, Kausikan was appointed as Deputy Secretary (Foreign Affairs) at the

. He was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary in 2001, and was promoted to

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

on 1 September 2010. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the

and is a Senior Fellow at the SMU School of Social Sciences.

Honours

Pingat Pentadbiran Awam The Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (English: Public Administration Medal) is a Singaporean decoration instituted in 1963 and has three grades: * Emas (Gold) * Perak (Silver) * Gangsa (Bronze) The medal may be awarded to any of the following persons ...

(Emas) (Public Administration Medal (Gold)) * Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal) * Order of Bernardo O'Higgins (Gran Cruz) by the

President of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military di ...

, December 2002 * Oman Civil Merit Order (Second Class), by the Sultan of Oman

Qaboos bin Said al Said Qaboos bin Said Al Said (, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Said dynasty, he was the longest-serving leader in ...

, February 2013

Works

*"Singapore: Israel in Southeast Asia?" in Beating the Odds Together: 50 Years of Singapore-Israel Ties. Ed. Mattia Tomba. Singapore: World Scientific Book, 2019 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kausikan, Bilahari 1954 births Living people Singaporean diplomats Permanent secretaries of Singapore Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Chinese descent Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Ambassadors of Singapore to Russia Ambassadors of Singapore to Indonesia Ambassadors of Singapore to Finland Ambassadors of Singapore to Mexico High commissioners of Singapore to Canada High commissioners of Singapore to Australia Permanent representatives of Singapore to the United Nations