Murali Pillai

On 12 March 2016, the PAP Member of Parliament for the Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency, David Ong, resigned citing a "personal indiscretion". When the PAP announced on 21 March 2016 that Pillai would be their representative for the 2016 Bukit Batok by-election, Pillai was appointed branch chairman of PAP's Bukit Batok branch. Pillai was formally nominated as a candidate on 27 April 2016, the only other nominated candidate being Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

On 7 May 2016, Pillai secured 61.21% of the votes to win the Bukit Batok by-election on Polling Day and was sworn into parliament on 9 May 2016.

He pledged that if he won, he would upgrade infrastructure around Blocks 140 to 149 of the SMC, which would cost $1.9 million. Pillai later clarified that this potential $1.9 million project is "part of" the $23.6 million masterplan announced by David Ong during the 2015 general election.

Pillai was notable as the lawyer for former MP of People's Action Party (PAP) Choo Wee Khiang, who was acquitted of corruption charges in 2014.

Then, Pillai served as the branch chairman of PAP's Paya Lebar branch from May 2012 to (March or April) 2016. He contested in the 2015 Singaporean general election in a team of five for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency. Although the PAP team was ahead by around 300 votes in Pillai's ward of Paya Lebar within Aljunied, overall team scored 49.05% of the votes in Aljunied loss to the team from the Worker's Party (WP), which scored 50.95%.

In his political career, he joined the People's Action Party (PAP) in 2001. He was the Branch Secretary to the late Dr Ong Chit Chung, MP for Bukit Batok division. Pillai was part of a team of five from the PAP who contested and narrowly lost to the Workers' Party in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency of the 2015 General Election. In 2016, Pillai was once again fielded in as a PAP candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election. Pillai won 61.2% of the votes, securing his position as Member of Parliament for the Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency.

A member of the People's Action Party (PAP) since 2001, Pillai served from 2007 to 2011 as the branch secretary at PAP's Bukit Batok branch.

Pillai was called to the bar in 1996. He was the head of commercial litigation at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP at the time of the by-election in 2016. He then stepped down from his post in an effort to better balance his work commitments and political responsibilities. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2020.

During his national service in Singapore, Pillai was a platoon commander in the 2nd Guards Battalion of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). In 1992, Pillai joined the Singapore Police Force (SPF) as an Assistant Superintendent of Police, primarily involved in investigations into white-collar crimes. He completed his NS obligations in 2017 as Deputy Superintendent (NS) upon reaching age of 50.

K. Muralidharan Pillai SC (Chinese: 穆仁理, Tamil: கே முரளிதரன் பிள்ளை, born 30 October 1967), better known as Murali Pillai (Standard ) or Ah Mu (Chinese: 阿穆), is a Singaporean lawyer and politician, as well as a former police officer. Pillai worked in the Singapore Police Force before his admission to practice law in 1996. He is currently a partner in Commercial Litigation practice at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP.

Pillai was born on 30 October 1967 in Singapore. His father, P.K. Pillai, was a unionist detained during Operation Coldstore in 1963. The elder Pillai died in 2007. Pillai married his educator wife, N. Gowri in 1996. The couple have twin sons and two daughters.