Halimah Yacob: 8th President of Singapore

She became the 8th President of Singapore in September 2017. Before becoming president, she was the Speaker of Parliament from 2013 until 2017.

Her Excellency Halimah Yacob
8th President of Singapore
In office 14 September 2017 – 14 September 2023
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Tony Tan Keng Yam
Succeeded by	Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Speaker of Parliament
In office 14 January 2013 – 7 August 2017
Deputy	Charles Chong Lim Biow Chuan
Preceded by	Michael Palmer
Succeeded by	Tan Chuan-Jin
Personal details
Born	(1954-08-23) 23 August 1954 (age 69) Singapore
Political party	People's Action Party (2001–2017) Independent (2017–present)
Spouse(s)	Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee
Children	5
Education	National 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.

Halimah was born on 23 August 1954 at her family house in Singapore. She is an Indian Muslim. Her father is also an Indian Muslim. She is of Malay descent. 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. Her family was poor. She helped her mother sell nasi padang- a type of food- outside the Singapore Polytechnic (now Bestway Building).

Halimah went to Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Tanjong Katong Girls' School. 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.

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.

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, 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.

Presidency

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

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

Foreign honours

•   Saudi Arabia:
  • Collar of the Order of King Abdulaziz (6 November 2019).

Awards

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

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