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Halimah Yacob

Halimah Yacob (born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician[1] and lawyer. She became the 8th President of Singapore in September 2017.[2] Before becoming president, she was the Speaker of Parliament from 2013 until 2017.

Her Excellency

Halimah Yacob
President Halimah Yacob in 2019.jpg
8th President of Singapore
In office
14 September 2017 – 14 September 2023
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byTony Tan Keng Yam
Succeeded byTharman Shanmugaratnam
Speaker of Parliament
In office
14 January 2013 – 7 August 2017
DeputyCharles Chong
Lim Biow Chuan
Preceded byMichael Palmer
Succeeded byTan Chuan-Jin
Personal details
Born (1954-08-23) 23 August 1954 (age 70)
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party (2001–2017)
Independent (2017–present)
Spouse(s)Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee
Children5
EducationNational University of Singapore (LLB, LLM)

Halimah was a former member of the People's Action Party (PAP), She was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bukit Batok East ward of Jurong GRC between 2001 and 2015, and the Marsiling division of Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC between 2015 and 2017.[1][2]

Early life and education

Halimah was born on 23 August 1954 at her family house in Singapore.[3] She is an Indian Muslim. Her father is also an Indian Muslim.[4] She is of Malay descent.[5] Her father was a guard. He died of a heart attack when she was eight. Yacob and her four siblings grew up with their mother.[5][6][7] Her family was poor. She helped her mother sell nasi padang- a type of food- outside the Singapore Polytechnic (now Bestway Building).[8][9]

Halimah went to Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Tanjong Katong Girls' School.[9] After this, she went to the National University of Singapore and got a Bachelor of Laws in 1978. In 1981, she went to the Singapore Bar. In 2001, she completed a Master of Laws at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She got an honorary Doctor of Laws by NUS on 7 July 2016.[10]

Career

Halimah began her career working as a legal officer at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). After, she became the director of its legal services department in 1992. She later became a director of the Singapore Institute of Labour Studies (now Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute) in 1999.[11]

Political career

Pre-Presidency

Halimah was a former member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP) and she made her political debut in the 2001 general election. She was part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Jurong GRC which the team won.

Halimah was the ninth Speaker of Parliament,[12] from January 2013 to August 2017. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Jurong Group Representation Constituency between 2001 and 2015, and Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency between 2015 and 2017.

On 7 August 2017, she resigned from her positions as Speaker and MP, and from her membership in the PAP, to become a candidate for the 2017 Singapore presidential election.[13]

Presidency

In the 2017 presidential election, Halimah was the only candidate, so she won the election.[14] Due to the win, she became president.

Personal life

Halimah is married to Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee,[15][16] a Malay of Arab descent.[17] They have five children together.[18] Mohammed graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. It was also where he first met Halimah.[19][20]

Honours

Foreign honours

Awards

In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award in 2001,[22] the Her World Woman of the Year Award in 2003,[23] and the AWARE Heroine Award 2011.[24]

She was also added into the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations' Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.[25]

Halimah Yacob Media

  • President Halimah Yacob at the inauguration of the South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul, 10 May 2022

  • Darjah Utama Temasek ribbon (from 1996)

  • Order of King Abdulaziz, 1st Class (Saudi Arabia) Ribbon

  • Планка ордена Республики Казахстан «Достык» 1 степени

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Mdm Halimah Yacob", Singapore Parliament, archived from the original on 16 November 2016, retrieved 21 May 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 U-Wen, Lee. "Halimah Yacob declared president-elect after walkover victory". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  3. ↑ hermesauto (2017-09-11). "Halimah Yacob set to be Singapore's first female president: A timeline of her career". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  4. ↑ Long, Susan (25 January 2013). "New Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob tells Susan Long how she went from selling pushcart nasi padang and almost getting expelled from school to one of the highest offices in the land.". The Straits Times. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/issue/straitstimes20130125-1. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rajan, Uma (June 28, 2016). "To Singapore with Love...". In Pillai, Gopinath & Kesavapany, Krishnasamy (eds.). 50 Years of Indian Community in Singapore. World Scientific Publishing Co. p. 107. ISBN 978-9-813-14058-5. Notable female politicians include Dhanam Avadai, PAP Member for Moulmein (1965–1968), lawyer Indranee Rajah, the current Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Education, and Indian-origin politician Halimah Yacob, former Minister and current Speaker of Parliament.
  6. ↑ Cheam, Jessica (January 10, 2013). "A strong advocate for workers, women and minorities". The Straits Times (Singapore). http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20130108-394132.html. Retrieved July 21, 2017. "Her Indian-Muslim father was a watchman who died when she was eight years old.". 
  7. ↑ Tham, Yuen-C (July 17, 2017). "More consultation needed before my decision to run for president: Halimah Yacob". The Straits Times (Singapore). http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/more-consultation-needed-before-my-decision-halimah. Retrieved July 21, 2017. "She added that her father, who died when she was eight years old, was born in Singapore, and she was brought up by her Malay mother.". 
  8. ↑ Chang, Clarence (25 October 2006). "'I feared for my life'". New Paper (Factiva). 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mokhtar, Faris (18 August 2017). "Mom's the inspiration for former Speaker". Today (newspaper). http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/moms-inspiration-former-speaker. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  10. ↑ Lim, Yan Liang (7 July 2016). Halimah Yacob conferred honorary Doctor of Laws degree by NUS. Straits Times. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/halimah-yacob-conferred-honorary-doctor-of-laws-degree-by-nus. Retrieved 7 July 2016. 
  11. ↑ Rasheed, Zainul Abidin bin; Saat, Norshahril (2016). Majulah!: 50 Years of Malay/Muslim Community in Singapore. World Scientific. ISBN 9789814759885. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  12. ↑ Halimah Yacob Became First Woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament. 16 January 2013. http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/halimah-yacob-became-first-woman-speaker-of-the-singapore-parliament-1358244405-1. Retrieved 16 January 2013. 
  13. ↑ "PM Lee accepts Halimah Yacob's resignation from the PAP". Channel NewsAsia. 7 August 2017. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pm-lee-accepts-halimah-yacob-resignation-from-the-pap-9099312. Retrieved 7 August 2017. 
  14. ↑ "Who is Halimah Yacob, Singapore's first lady/Female President?" (in en-US). ipo gmp. https://ipowala.in/ipo-grey-market-premium-gmp/. Retrieved 2020-04-04. [dead link]
  15. ↑ Tham, Yuen-C (17 July 2017). More consultation needed before my decision to run for president: Halimah Yacob. Straits Times. http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/more-consultation-needed-before-my-decision-halimah. Retrieved 29 July 2017. 
  16. ↑ Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh (29 August 2017). "Halimah Yacob unveils presidential election campaign slogan and team" (in en). The Straits Times. http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/halimah-yacob-unveils-presidential-election-campaign-slogan-and-team. Retrieved 29 August 2017. 
  17. ↑ "Getting to know Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, husband of Madam Halimah Yacob". Thoughts of Real Singaporeans. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  18. ↑ Zhang, Laura (8 August 2017). "Our First Gentleman to be, Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee". www.theindependent.sg (The Independent). http://www.theindependent.sg/our-first-gentleman-to-be-mohamed-abdullah-alhabshee/. Retrieved 17 August 2017. 
  19. ↑ "Our First Gentleman to be, Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee". The Independent Singapore News. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  20. ↑ "StackPath". theindependent.sg. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  21. ↑ President Halimah conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour.
  22. ↑ "Cultural Ambassador is Berita Harian Achiever of the Year 2009". Singapore Press Holdings. 29 July 2009. http://www.sph.com.sg/media_releases/836. Retrieved 21 May 2011. 
  23. ↑ "Her World Woman of the Year celebrates 20 years". Her World. 25 March 2011. http://womanoftheyear.herworldplus.com/2003-halimah-yacob. Retrieved 21 May 2011. 
  24. ↑ "Recipients of AWARE Awards 2011". Association of Women for Action and Research. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  25. ↑ "Halimah Yacob, trade unionist and first woman Speaker of Parliament". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Singapore Council of Women's Organisations. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
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