Indian-origin diplomat Gopinath Pillai, 78,  has been conferred with the prestigious ‘Outstanding Service Award‘ for his services to the city-state by the National University of Singapore (NUS). Presently he is serving as Ambassador-at-Large of Singapore and special envoy to Andhra Pradesh. Pillai has contributed significantly to Singapore through his distinguished service as a diplomat for more than 25 years.

Gopinath Pillai

1. Gopinath Pillai was born in Singapore to Villayil Raman Gopala Pillai, a journalist who ran a daily, Kerala Bandhu, known to be the only Malayalam language daily published outside India.
2. He was graduated from University of Malaya and holds degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA).
3. He started his career as a journalist with Reuters.
4. Later he joined Bangkok Bank as Economic Research Officer and worked for five years.
5. Pillai has penned two books. ie The History of Banking in Thailand and The Political Economy of South Asian Diaspora: Patterns of Socio-Economic Influence.
6. In 1990, he was appointed as the non resident Ambassador to Iran, a post he held till 2008. Later, he also worked as the Singapore High Commissioner to Pakistan.
7. Pillai is an incumbent Ambassador-at-Large for the Government of Singapore.
8. The Government of India included him in the Republic Day honours list in 2012 for the civilian honour of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.