Dinesh Vasu Dash (born 1974 or 1975) is a Singaporean politician, former civil servant and brigadier-general. A member of the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

(PAP), he has been serving as Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Minister of State for Manpower and Mayor of South East District since 2025.

Early life

Dinesh is a third-generation Singaporean with ancestral roots in

Varkala Varkala is a major coastal municipality and a northern suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. In legends and myths related to Kerala, texts like the Keralolpathi, Kerala Mahatmyam describe the Varkala reg ...

, Kerala. His paternal grandfather ran a small business servicing the British naval base in

Sembawang Sembawang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to t ...

in the 1960s, while his maternal family lived in Malaysia before settling in Singapore. Dinesh grew up in a one-room flat at the police quarters in Pearl's Hill. He lived with his parents, brother and grandmother. They later moved to a three-room

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...

flat along Telok Blangah Rise. Dinesh's father, a former police officer, had served as the personal security officer to former President

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, was a Singaporean politician and union leader who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resign ...

and as an alternate officer to former 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 ...

. Dinesh graduated from the

Anglo-Chinese Junior College Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) is a junior college in Singapore that offers a two-year pre-university programme leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Established in 1977, Anglo-Chinese Junior College is the ju ...

in 1992, and went on to study electrical engineering at 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 ...

. He attended the

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

in Wellington, Tamil Nadu for a year between 2006 and 2007.

Career

A member of the

(PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the

Bedok Bedok ( ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah, Singapore, Tanah Merah along the south-eastern coast of the East Region, Singapore, East R ...

division of

East Coast GRC The East Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern area of Singapore. It consists of locations such as East Coast Park, Bedok, Changi (in part), Simei, Siglap, Joo Chia ...

since 2025. Prior to entering politics, he served as the chief executive of the Agency for Integrated Care, Senior Director in the

Ministry of Health (Singapore) The Ministry of Health (MOH; ; zh, 卫生部; ) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for managing the public healthcare system in Singapore. Statutory boards * Health Promotion Board * Health Sciences Authority * Singap ...

. He oversaw national vaccination operations during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the rollout of Healthier SG, a preventive health programme. He served as a Brigadier General commanding

2nd People's Defence Force The 2nd People's Defence Force (2 PDF) is a division of the Singapore Army responsible for maintaining peace within Singapore and carrying out mainly combined arms, counterterrorism, force protection, homeland defense, homeland security, internal ...

in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

. During his time in the military, he was deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in 2009 for eight months. He was the ground commander during the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in 2018. He also served as the lead coffin bearer, the only Indian, in the state funeral of former Prime Minister

in 2015. He served as a member of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD). He was also an EXCO member of SINDA and a Board member of the Hindu Advisory Board.

Personal life

Dinesh is married to Rathiga Velaithan, a former cancer researcher in the public sector, and they have three children. He is a fan of heavy metal music and rock music, and plays golf.  He speaks fluent

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

References

External links

Official profile

Dinesh Vasu Dash
on

Parliament of Singapore The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the President of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dash, Dinesh Vasu Living people People's Action Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Singapore Singaporean civil servants Singaporean military leaders Anglo-Chinese Junior College alumni National University of Singapore alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni