Sha'ari bin Tadin (2 August 1932 – 13 December 2009) was the first Member of Parliament (MP) of Malay descent who was a university graduate and scholar.

Awarded the Federation Colombo Plan Scholarship, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Malay Studies from the University of Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur.

Sha'ari became Member of Parliament for Kampong Chai Chee in 1968 and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Culture.

He rejoined the Ministry of Education, Singapore and was a visiting fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS).

On obtaining his Senior Cambridge Certificate, he joined the Teachers' Training College (now National Institute of Education) and started his teaching career in 1957.

He was also part of the Singapore delegation to the Third Asian Teachers' Leadership Seminar Committee, Permanent Congress of Malay Language and Culture in 1966.

In the mid 1960s newly independent Singapore was facing problems such as high unemployment rate, shortage of public housing, and lack of land and natural resources.

The Government's implementation of a large-scale public housing programme caused many residents from largely rural areas to be relocated to various parts of the island.

As one of the first few Singaporean Malay scholars in the 1960s, Sha'ari was approached by Lee Kuan Yew to join the People's Action Party (PAP) and to contest in the republic's general elections.

In February 1968 Sha'ari retired temporarily from Government Service to enable him to stand as a PAP candidate for Kampong Chai Chee in the 1968 Singapore General Elections.

In 1969, he founded Majlis Pusat (Pertubuhan-Pertubuhan Budaya Melayu) or Central Council of Malay Cultural Organisations, and became its patron until 1987.