Global Ambassador

In conversation with Tina Thakrar, professor of public policy, author and former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani chalks out his many years in public service and academia in Singapore.

It’s not often that we come across people who’ve successfully juggled two careers in one lifetime. But Singapore-based professor and former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani has steadfastly balanced three demanding careers - a diplomat, an academician and a writer – while also making a significant impact in public and foreign affairs, global public policy and education.

From his early years until today, Kishore Mahbubani has gone from being a young salesman in a Sindhi store in Singapore to becoming a student of Philosophy in the National University of Singapore, from holding a position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore to becoming the founding dean of a global school of public policy, and from reading Russian novels as a young boy to being an acclaimed author of books on global affairs. It’s a journey like no other!

Kishore grew up in a family with limited means. His father was orphaned in Singapore at the age of 13, and spent a large portion of his teenage years unsupervised and impoverished. During World War II, he returned to his home in India, where his marriage was arranged to a young woman from a Kirpalani family. After their first daughter was born in Hyderabad, the family went back to Singapore during the partition of India, where Kishore and his two other sisters were born.

“I often say that I had the good fortune of being born poor. It made me resilient, and adept at dealing with adversities. My three sisters and I had a tough childhood; when you grow up without money or stability, it’s hard to have ambition,” reveals Kishore with refreshing honesty in the first few minutes of our conversation. We knew then that this would be no ordinary story.