Halimah Yacob

Halimah binte Yacob (born 23 August 1954) is a Malay politician from Singapore. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), she is currently the ninth Speaker of Parliament, having assumed office on 14 January 2013. She is the first woman to hold this post in the Republic's history. She is the third consecutive Speaker belonging to a minority race, after Abdullah Tarmugi and Michael Palmer. She also served as Minister of State at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports from 2011 to 2013. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Jurong Group Representation Constituency since 2001.

Education
Halimah Yacob was educated at Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Tanjong Katong Girls' School, before going on to the University of Singapore where she completed an LLB (Hons) degree in 1978. She was called to the Singapore Bar in 1981. In 2001, she completed an LLM degree at the National University of Singapore.

Political career
Halimah entered politics in 2001 when she was elected as an MP for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Following the 2011 general election, Halimah was made a Minister of State at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Halimah has also served as the Chair of the Jurong Town Council.

Halimah has been actively involved in the Malay community. For example, she contributes to the Malay Knowledge-Based Economy Advisory Committee, which was formed to better integrate the Malay community into the knowledge-based economy. In recognition of her contributions, she was conferred the Berita Harian/McDonalds Achiever of the Year Award in 2001 and the "Her World Woman of the Year Award" in 2003.

Speaker of Parliament
On 8 January 2013, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong nominated Halimah Yacob to succeed former Speaker Michael Palmer. She was fully supported by all the MPs of the ruling People's Action Party. She was elected Speaker of Parliament on 14 January 2013.

Trade union involvement
Halimah has served at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as the Deputy Secretary General, Director of the Legal Services Department and Director of the Women's Development Secretariat. She has also served as the Executive Secretary of the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries.

Halimah has also served on the governing body of the Geneva-based International Labour Organization. She was elected as the Workers' Vice-Chairperson of the Standards Committee of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and 2005. In 2003 and 2004, she was the Workers' Spokesperson for the ILC Committee on Human Resources Development and Training.

Personal life
Halimah is married and has five children.