Yaacob Ibrahim

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Yaacob Ibrahim
يعقوب إبراهيم
Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore - 20060722.jpg
Yaacob in 2006
Minister for Communications and Information
(Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts : 21 May 2011–1 November 2012)
In office
21 May 2011 – 30 April 2018
PresidentS. R. Nathan
Tony Tan
Halimah Yacob
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byLui Tuck Yew
Succeeded byS. Iswaran
Minister in charge of Cyber Security
In office
1 November 2015 – 30 April 2018
PresidentTony Tan
Halimah Yacob
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byPost Established
Succeeded byS. Iswaran
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
In office
12 August 2004 – 20 May 2011
PresidentS. R. Nathan
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byLim Swee Say(Minister for the Environment)
Succeeded byVivian Balakrishnan
Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs
In office
25 March 2002 – 30 April 2018
PresidentS. R. Nathan
Tony Tan
Halimah Yacob
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded byAbdullah Tarmugi
Succeeded byMasagos Zulkifli
Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
In office
12 May 2003 – 11 August 2004
Acting:25 March 2002-11 May 2003
PresidentS. R. Nathan
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded byAbdullah Tarmugi
Succeeded byVivian Balakrishnan
Personal details
Born (1955-10-03) 3 October 1955 (age 66)[1]
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party (1997)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Singapore
Stanford University
ProfessionEngineer
Lecturer, professor
In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Ibrahim is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Yaacob.

Yaacob bin Ibrahim (Jawi: يعقوب بن إبراهيم; born 3 October 1955)[1] is a retired Singaporean politician.[2][3] A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was a Member of Parliament representing the Kolam Ayer ward of Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) from 1997 to 2020, and had held several positions in the Cabinet from 2002 to 2018, including Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (2002–2018), Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (2002–2004), Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (2004–2011), Minister for Communications and Information (2011–2018), and (2015–2018).[4]

Education and early career[]

Yaacob studied at Tanjong Katong Technical Secondary School, which turned coeducational during his time there.[5] He graduated from the University of Singapore with an honours degree in civil engineering in 1980 and in 1989 obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from Stanford University. He was a postdoc at Cornell University. He returned to Singapore in 1990 and joined the National University of Singapore faculty in 1991. He received his department's teaching excellence award in 1994. He is currently on leave of absence from the university as an associate professor.

Political career[]

A Member of Parliament since 1997, he represented the Jalan Besar GRC (1997–2011) and the Moulmein–Kallang GRC since the 2011 general election. Within both GRCs, he has been responsible for the Kolam Ayer ward. In April 2001 he became the first Mayor of Central District of Singapore until November 2001.[6]

Yaacob was Parliamentary Secretary and Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He became a Minister of State for at the Ministry of Community Development and Sports in November 2001. In March 2002, Yaacob became the Acting Minister for Community Development and Sports and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs and made a full member of the Cabinet in May 2003.

He became the Minister of Environment and Water Resources in 2004.[6] In 2009, after the Bukit Timah canal burst its banks after a downpour, resulting in parts of Bukit Timah being submerged, Yaacob remarked it was a freak event that "occurs once in 50 years".[7]

In May 2011, in a cabinet rearrangement, Yaacob became Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts. He continued to serve as the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs. Yaacob is on the PAP Central Executive Committee as Vice-Chairman.[6] In April 2015, Dr Yaacob was appointed the Minister in charge of Cyber Security and oversees the Cyber Security Agency (Singapore), an agency formed under the Prime Minister's Office. He had been re-appointed to serve in this capacity following the September 2015 General Election.

Yaacob stepped down from the cabinet on 30 April 2018.[8]

After the 13th parliament was dissolved on 23 June 2020, Yaacob retired from politics, ending his political career after 23 years of service.[2][3]

Personal life[]

Yaacob has been active in community service since his school days and has been involved in the Association of Muslim Professionals, Jamiyah, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura and the Nature Society (Singapore). Initially a volunteer tutor, became the Chairman of the Council for the Development of Singapore Malay/Muslim Community (Yayasan Mendaki) in March 2002.

He is married with a son and a daughter.[9] Questions about his son's citizenship and if he would serve national service were raised when a leaked US diplomatic cable from WikiLeaks stated the minister's two children as US citizens.[10] In response, he clarified that his children have dual American and Singaporean citizenship until the age of 18 because of the status of his wife as an American citizen. He confirms his son will serve national service.[11]

Yaacob's eldest brother Ismail Ibrahim was the first Malay recipient of the President's Scholarship.[12] His sister Zuraidah Ibrahim was a former Straits Times journalist now with South China Morning Post.[13][14] His younger brother Latiff Ibrahim is a lawyer.[15]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Connect Asia Pacific 2013".
  2. ^ a b "Yaacob Ibrahim". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b hermes (24 June 2020). "Yaacob Ibrahim bids farewell to politics after 23 years as MP". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Member's Profile". parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Proxy Arena - Singapore Education History" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b c "Dr YAACOB Ibrahim". cabinet.gov.sg. May 2019. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Deluge a 'once in 50 years' event". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  8. ^ "In retrospect: 3 veteran ministers stepping down to make way for younger leaders". Archived from the original on 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Dr YAACOB Ibrahim". parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Dr Yaacob Ibrahim's son will serve NS". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Yaacob Ibrahim clarifies childrens' citizenship". Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Desire for Malay president cuts across community: Yaacob". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. ^ ceritalah. "GE13: Real challenge for MSM - Letters | The Star Online". Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  14. ^ "What next after SCMP's top-level changes?". EJ Insight. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  15. ^ hermesauto (8 October 2016). "Lawyer honoured at Muis Awards for contributions to community". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs
12 May 2003 – 1 May 2018
Acting: 25 March 2002 – 11 May 2003 		Succeeded by
Minister for Community Development and Sports
12 May 2003 – 11 August 2004
Acting: 25 March 2002 – 11 May 2003 		Succeeded by
Vivian Balakrishnan
as Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
Preceded byas Minister for the Environment Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
12 August 2004 – 20 May 2011 		Succeeded by
Vivian Balakrishnan
Preceded byas Minister for
Information, Communications and the Arts 		Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
21 May 2011 – 31 October 2012 		Succeeded byas Minister for Communications and Information
Minister for Communications and Information
1 November 2012 – 1 May 2018
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by
Zulkifli Mohamed
 Member of Parliament for
Jalan Besar GRC (Kolam Ayer)
1997 – 2011 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for
Moulmein–Kallang GRC (Kolam Ayer)
2011 – 2015 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for
Jalan Besar GRC (Kolam Ayer)
2015 – 2020 		Succeeded by
Government offices
New office Mayor of Central Singapore district
1 April 2001 – 23 November 2001 		Succeeded by
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