Getting through the storms and bumpy road of life, young Halimah optimistically never believed that obstacles in life should be seen negatively. Little did she know, her mixture of intelligence, hard work, optimism, and persistence would lead her to the point she is at right now.
Madam Halimah Yacob has been declared the President-elect of Singapore in September 2017 and is Singapore’s first ever female President. As an inspiring figure, Halimah often shares the struggles she experienced during her childhood. Halimah was born on 23 August 1954, as the youngest of five, and lost her father when she was only eight. Since she was born into a low-income family, to begin with, the death of her father made her family went to a critical transition where her mother became the breadwinner and provider for the family.
Halimah’s mother worked at a Singaporean food stall which forced her to start working before dawn and went back home at 10 PM every day. As a loyal assistant to her mother, Halimah once nearly kicked out from her school, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School for skipping too many classes as she helped her mother. Years later, she earned her first law degree and Masters in Law from the National University of Singapore, the same university where she finally conferred the Doctor of Law.
Her career started in 1978 when she served various positions in the National Trades Union Congress for more than 30 years. Apart from that, her involvement in an international organization was proved when she was in charge as a Singapore representative for the International Labor Organization (ILO). She marked her political journey when she was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency in 2001, and ten years later she was given the portfolio of Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development and Sports.
Beside her inspiring background, Halimah was elected as the President without going through the actual election. The election is due to the decision made by the authorities claiming that the other candidates failed to fulfil the strict eligibility criteria.
The decision caused public anger at first even many Singaporeans’ posts on social media were accompanied with the #NotMyPresident hashtag. Following the announcement, Halimah clarified by saying “even though there was no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same”.