Mr Abidin was a Member of Parliament (from 1997 2011) and served as the Senior Minister of the State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Singapore, a position he held since 2006. Prior to serving in government service, Mr Zainul had an illustrious career in journalism which included the positions of Editor of Berita Harian, The Singapore Business, The Sunday Times and Associate Editor of The Straits Times. Mr Zainul currently serves as the Ambassador to Kuwait (Non Resident) and was formerly the Foreign Minister's Special Envoy to the Middle East. Mr Zainul also used to serve as a Corporate Adviser to Singapore's Temasek International Pte Ltd,and is now a member of the Temasek Foundation Cares Board of Directors. He is a member of the Nanyang Technological University Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of Mediacorp. Mr Zainul served numerous government agencies, councils and civic organizations including Executive Secretary of the Singapore Port Workers' Union, a member of the Board of Directors of the Port of Singapore Authority, President of the Singapore Islamic Religious Council, Chairman of the Malay Heritage Foundation, Chief Executive Officer of the Council for the Development of the Malay/Muslim Community (MENDAKI), the Council for Security Co operation in the Asia Pacific, the National University of Singapore Council as well as being the Patron of the Singapore Rugby Union and Adviser to the Hockey Federation.
