MP Pillai is a second term Member of Parliament serving in Bukit Batok Single Member. He has been involved in grassroots politics since 2000. Murali served as the branch secretary of the PAP Bukit Batok Branch under the late Dr Ong Chit Chung, then MP for Bukit Batok from 1988 to2008. He also served as the PAP Paya Lebar Branch Chairman from 2012 to 2016 before he was elected through a by-election in 2016 as the MP for Bukit Batok SMC. He serves in various government appointed positions such as Adviser, Tamil Language Council, Chairman Indian Programmes Advisory Committee, Adviser to the Board of Trustees of Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and many more.
Murali is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (FSIArb) and Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants Financial Forensic Professional (ISCA FFP). Prior to practising law, he served as a senior police officer with the Singapore Police Force.
Murali graduated with LL.B. (Hons) from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992. He holds an LLM from the same university. He has a double MBA degree from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and NUS.