Viswaroopan ("Viswa") Sadasivan (born 1959 in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

) was a

Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a non-partisan member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president to contribute independent and diverse perspectives to parliamentary debates. They are not affiliated to any pol ...

(NMP) in the

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 ...

from 2009 to 2011.

Biography

Viswa had his secondary school education at

Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...

, before going on to do a degree 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 ...

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 ...

. After graduating, he worked for the

Singapore Broadcasting Corporation Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

(SBC, later renamed

MediaCorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

), where he was the presenter and producer of a number of current affairs

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

programmes including ''Feedback'', ''Talking Point'' and ''Today in Parliament'', before becoming the Senior Controller of the Current Affairs Division. He received an SBC scholarship to study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

, where he completed a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree. He subsequently worked as senior manager for corporate planning and business development at

Singapore Press Holdings Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) was one of Singapore's two state media companies, which published ''The Straits Times'', numerous other newspapers and operated radio, television and digital media. In 2021, the media division was spun ...

, before joining the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

television company UTV International as its

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO). In 1997, Viswa co-founded the Right Angle Group (subsequently renamed Strategic Moves Pte Ltd), a television production, communications training and strategic consultancy organisation based in Singapore. He is currently the organisation's CEO. He received a 'Spirit of Enterprise Award' in 2003 in recognition of his entrepreneurial achievements. Viswa has been extensively involved in public service. He has served as the Chairman of the Political Development Feedback Group of Singapore's Feedback Unit, and as Vice-President and Secretary of the

Singapore Indian Development Association The Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) is a charity for the Indian Singaporeans, Singaporean Indian community. Set up to focus on educational and socio-economic matters, its mission is to “build a well-educated, resilient and con ...

(SINDA) Executive Committee. He has also served on the

Media Development Authority The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was founded on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasti ...

's Board, the Singapore 21 Committee, Economic Review Committee, Remaking Singapore Committee, and the National Youth Achievement Award Council.

Nominated Member of Parliament

Viswa was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament in July 2009. The following month, he used his maiden speech in Parliament to table a motion calling for the House to reaffirm its commitment to the principles enshrined in the

Singapore National Pledge The National Pledge is an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Singapore. It is commonly recited by Singaporeans in unison at public events, especially in schools, in the Singapore Armed Forces and during the National Day Parade. Origin Th ...

(which refers to Singaporeans as "one united people, regardless of race, language or religion"), and questioned whether the government was sending out mixed signals by emphasising racial categorisations, for example by promoting ethnic-based self-help groups. His speech attracted considerable media attention and drew responses from a number of Members of Parliament from Singapore's 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), including

Minister Mentor Minister Mentor was a position in the Cabinet of Singapore created in 2004 as part of a transition in political leadership. The only person to hold the post, between 2004 and 2011, was Lee Kuan Yew. Background On 12 August 2004, when Lee Hsien ...

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 ...

. Lee stated that he wanted to "bring the House back to earth" on the issue of racial equality in Singapore, and rebut Viswa's "false and flawed" arguments. He stated that the National Pledge was an not an "ideology" but an "aspiration", which may take "decades, if not centuries" to be realised. It was the first time since 2007 that Lee had chosen to speak during a debate in Parliament. In the end, Viwsa's motion was adopted by the House with two amendments – one from Lee highlighting the principles of the Pledge as aspirations, and one from PAP MP

Zainudin Nordin Zainudin bin Nordin ( Jawi: زاينودين نوردين; born 3 July 1963) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Mayor of Central Singapore District. A former member of the governing People's Action Party, he was the Member of Pa ...

noting Singapore's progress towards nation building.

Sexual harassment allegations

On 4 February 2021, Singaporean comedian Sharul Channa shared on Facebook that an "inappropriate and offensive" innuendo was made during an interview for an online series ''Inconvenient Questions'' by Viswa, who was the interviewer. Viswa apologised on the same day after Sharul had reached out to his producer about the sexual innuendo after the show. Thereafter, doctoral researcher Kiran Kandade shared screenshots of WhatsApp conversation between her and Viswa in 2016, of which he had asked her for a kiss. Despite Kandade trying to steer the conversation back to work related matters, Viswa persisted. On 20 February 2021, the

Association of Women for Action and Research The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is a not-for-profit organisation that advocates for gender equality and provides critical support services for women in Singapore. It is a registered charity with Institute of Public Charac ...

(AWARE) commented that Sharul had experienced what is a workplace sexual harassment. On the same day,

reported that it had terminated all projects with Viswa, as a result of the allegations made. Viswa gave his apologies to the two women involved.

References

External links

Profile at Parliament of Singapore website

Profile at Strategic Moves website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadasivan, Viswa Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament Harvard Kennedy School alumni National University of Singapore alumni Raffles Institution alumni 1959 births Living people Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean politicians of Indian descent Singaporean Tamil politicians