Mr. Bir Bahadur U Shwe Sing, MP
Chairman, Bandarban University Trust
(Honorable Minister, Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh)
Bir Bahadur U Shwe Sing, MP was born in an ordinary family in Bandarban Zila Sadar on January 10, 1960. His father was late Lalmohan Bahadur and mother Ma Cho Yoi – a housewife.
Mr. Bir Bahadur U Shwe Sing was enrolled in primary education in the year of 1965. He passed the SSC examination from Bandarban Government High School in 1976. For higher secondary he took admission in Chittagong Government College and later passed the HSC from Bandarban Government College. He successfully completed his Honors and Masters from Rajshahi University in political science.
Mr. Bir Bahadur got involved with the politics of Bangladesh Chatra League (The Student Wing of Bangladesh Awami League) while studying in college. He was elected Office Secretary of Bandarban Chatra League unit and Presidium Member of the central committee of Bangladesh Awami Jubo League in his student life. He became General Secretary of Bandarban district unit Awami League in 1992 and later served as a Vice-President of the same unit. Mr. Sing also discharged responsibilities as the District Scout Commissioner.
Mr. Bir Bahadur U Shwe Sing was elected as the Organizing Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League’s central committee in 2002 and became a Whip in Parliament on behalf of the Awami League’s Parliamentary Party. While serving as the Organizing Secretary, he worked relentlessly to strengthen the party’s abilities in greater Chittagong divisional unit. He is lifetime member of Bandarban Press Club and the District Red Crescent unit. He was elected as a member of the Bandarban Hill District Local Government Council in 1989. He was also a key member of the Liaison Committee formed to sign the historic Peace Accord on December 2, 1997. During that time, he also acted as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry. Mr. Bir Bahadur served as the Chairman of CHT Development Board, Rangamati twice – first time in 1998 in the rank of a deputy minister and later in 2008 as a state minister. His engagement with the Board helped him to direct and monitor the huge development activities in the CHT’s health, communication, agriculture and infrastructure.
Mr. Bir Bahadur was a member of the Parliamentary Committee and the Standing Committee on CHT Affairs Ministry in Ninth Parliament. He was one of the Panel Speakers of the Parliament and served as its Acting Speaker on July 22, 2013. He also chaired the Bangladesh-China Parliamentary Friendship Committee. Currently, he is the Vice-President of Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous issues.
In his student life, Mr. Bir Bahadur was engaged with sports and cultural activities. Later he served as the Senior Vice-President of Bangladesh Football Federation during 1998-2001 and became the Chairman of Bangladesh Football Referee Committee, and organized football tournaments at regional and national levels successfully. He was the head of Bangladesh Football Team during the FIFA World Cup qualifying round in Malaysia in 1997. Moreover, he served as the chief of Bangladesh team’s Olympic mission in 2000 in Australia. Mr. Bir Bahadur accompanied Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her France tour to receive the UNESCO Peace Award, while inaugurating the London-New York flight of Biman Bangladesh and at the United Nations General Assembly in the USA. Mr. Bir Bahadur visited China in 2006 as a member of the Awami League team on invitation of Communist Party of China. He also travelled to Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Cambodia to attend state-level functions.
Mr. Bir Bahadur is accorded with national award for his contribution in tree plantation. He is awarded “Dhoritri Bangladesh” for peace and development. Besides, he is special awarded by the South Asian Cultural Forum for his contribution to the culture. He is also acclaimed as an educationist. He has been serving as a Senate member of Chittagong University since 2010.
He was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time in 1991 and five consecutive times – in 1996, 2001, 2008, 2014 and latest during December 30, 2018 national election from Bandarban constituency (parliamentary seat 300). For his previous contribution into politics, Mr. Bir Bahadur was made the State Minister for Ministry of CHT Affairs on January 12, 2014 and become Cabinet Minister of the same Ministry on January 07, 2019 of the government formed under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mr. Bir Bahadur got married to May Hla Prue in 1992. They are the proud parents of two sons and a daughter. Elder son U Shing Hay (Robin) is studying Bar-at-Law; younger son Thowai Shwe Wang (Romeo) is an Undergraduate student while the only daughter Mya Mya Khing (Venus) is a college student at Feni Girl's Cadet School and College.