Mariam binte Jaafar ( Jawi: مريم بنت جعفر; born 8 February 1977) is a Singaporean politician. 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), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Woodlands division of

Sembawang GRC The Sembawang Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the North Region, Singapore, northern area of Singapore. The GRC has five divisions: Sembawang Central, Naval Base, Woodlands, Ad ...

since 2020.

Early life and education

Mariam grew up in a 1-room HDB flat with her parents and siblings. Her father was a

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

teacher while her mother was a nurse. She attended

Raffles Girls' Primary School This is a list of primary schools in Singapore. Children typically start their primary education in the year they turn seven. Primary education lasts six years, and is compulsory for all Singapore citizens. Primary schools in Singapore are eithe ...

for three years before transferring to Bukit View Primary School. When she was 13 years old, Mariam received the MENDAKI Scholarship from then-Deputy Prime Minister

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

. Mariam attended Raffles Girls' School and

Raffles Junior College The Raffles Junior College (RJC) was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1982, following a separation from the pre-university section of Raffles Institution (RI). Raffles Junior College ...

before graduating from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 2000 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

electronics engineering Electronic engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering that emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current flow ...

. She subsequently went on to complete a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 2006.

Career

Following her graduation from Harvard Business School, she worked at

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

. She is currently a Managing Director and Partner at the BCG office in Singapore and is a core member of the firm's Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Financial Institutions practices. In 2016, Mariam was chosen to be a member of the Committee on the Future Economy, chaired by Finance Minister

Heng Swee Keat Heng Swee Keat (; born 15 April 1961) is a Singaporean former politician and former police officer who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 2019 until 2025. He was the Parliament of Singapore, Member of Parliament (MP) who rep ...

. Mariam serves on the board of directors at the

Government Technology Agency The Government Technology Agency (GovTech) is a statutory board of the Government of Singapore, under the Prime Minister's Office. It was restructured from Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) in 2016, and officially legislated ...

and at the

Sentosa Development Corporation Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. Purpose Islands The S ...

. She is also on the board of governors at her alma mater, Raffles Girls' School.

Political career

In the 2020 election, Mariam was nominated as a candidate of the ruling

(PAP) for

. On 10 July, she was elected to the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, defeating the opposition candidates from the National Solidarity Party (NSP). Mariam is appointed as Vice-Chairperson of Sembawang Town Council (SBTC) since 2020.

Personal life

Mariam is married to Heng Teck Thai.

References

External links

Mariam Jaafar
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 ...

*
Mariam Jaafar
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

{{Navboxes, title=Member of multiple Parliaments of Singapore, list= {{14th Parliament of Singapore {{15th Parliament of Singapore 1977 births Living people Singaporean politicians of Malay descent Stanford University alumni Harvard Business School alumni People's Action Party politicians Singaporean women in politics Raffles Girls' Secondary School alumni Raffles Junior College alumni Members of the Parliament of Singapore