Central Singapore

Central Singapore
  • Country: Singapore
  • City: Central Singapore
  • Population: 6,119,000
  • Area: 93 km2
Denise Phua

Mayor: Denise Phua

Ms Denise Phua is the President of the VWO, Autism Resource Centre (Singapore). She is also a Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency and Mayor of Central Singapore District. Ms Phua is best known for her advocacy for those who are at risk of being left behind in Singapore, and frequently speaks up for the disabled and Singaporeans with low-skills and low-income backgrounds. She is one of the key architects behind three 5-year Enabling Masterplans for the disabled in Singapore. An active volunteer, Ms Phua supervises two charities – Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and Autism Association (Singapore), as well as two special schools – the Pathlight School and Eden School. She is the co-founder of Pathlight School, and helped start The Purple Parade: an annual initiative to support inclusion and celebrate abilities; and The Purple Symphony: Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra. Prior to her current portfolio, Ms Phua acquired more than 20 years of local and overseas corporate management experiences in Hewlett-Packard, the Wuthelam Group, and founded the Centre for Effective Leadership (Asia). She is a winner of the 2005/6 “Great Women of Our Times (Education and Public Service Category)” awarded by Singapore Women’s Weekly. Ms Phua gave up her corporate career in 2005 to become a full-time special needs volunteer, before being approached to join politics in 2006. She currently chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education and is a member of the GPC for Social and Family Development.

Singapore, is the city, the capital of the Republic of Singapore. It occupies the southern part of the island of Singapore. Its strategic location on the strait between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, complemented by a deep-water port, makes it the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the largest commercial centers in the world. Once a distinct entity, the city so dominated the island that the Republic of Singapore essentially became a city-state. Variously known as the “Lion City” or the “Garden City,” Singapore is also known as “Instant Asia” for its parks and tree-lined streets, as it gives tourists a glimpse of the cultures brought here by immigrants from all over Asia. It has a predominantly Chinese population with significant Malay and Indian minorities.