Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares was elected to be the second President of the Republic of Singapore right
after Encik Yusof bin Ishak stepped down.
Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares was born in Singapore on 12th August 1907. He is the son of a former
Public Works Department Technical Supervisor. He rose to become the Professor of Obstestrics and
Gynaecology at the University of Malaya in Singapore. He is also a holder of five degrees and one of the
most respected man in his field of work.
Dr Sheares received the early part of his education at Methodist Girls' School, and the later parts at
St Andrew School and Raffles Institution. After that he joined King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1923.
He was awarded the degree of L.M.S in March 1929. After being an Assistant Medical Officer at the Singapore
General Hospital (known as the Sepoy Lines then), he began his own career in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
in April 1931.
During World War 2, he was appointed the Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kandang Kerbau
Hospital (known commonly as 'KK' Hospital in our time now) and also the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital
for the local patient's section. After the war was over, he became the first-Singapore born doctor to be appointed
acting Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the King Edward VII College of Medicine.
In May 1947, he proceeded to London for
postgraduate study, and in January 1948, was the first Singapore obstetrician
to qualify as member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
of England. In March 1948, while studying for the degree of
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, he was recalled to
Singapore to act as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In June 1984, he
was also appointed Honorary Consultant at the British Military Hospital.
He retired in June 1960 and went into private practice. He became the Honorary Consultant at the Kandang
Kerbau Hospital and continued to remain in close contact with the teaching of both undergraduate and
postgraduate students.
