why was this thread moved here in the south asia section? singapore is not in south asia
i find it ludicrous y 1 would associate south asia with Singapore- it's like associating the USA with Africa just because 1 of its ex-President is black
And by the way. Halima Yacob isnt the 1st Malay president of Singapore; that honor goes to Yusof Ishak
Tun
Haji Yusof bin Ishak DUT (First Class),
SMN (
Jawi: يوسف بن إسحاق ;
/ˈjʊsɒf bɪn ˈɪs.hɑːk/ YUUSS-off bin ISS-hahk; 12 August 1910 – 23 November 1970) was a
Singaporean politician and the first
President of Singapore, serving from 1965 to 1970. Before becoming head-of-state, Yusof was a well-known
journalist and co-founded
Utusan Melayu, which is still in publication today. He started journalism after he graduated from
Raffles Institution in 1929 and in 1932, he joined Warta Malaya, a well-known Malay newspaper company at that time. He left the company in 1938 and co-founded
Utusan Melayu.
[1]
Yusof held many appointments within the Singaporean government, he served on the Film Appeal Committee from 1948 to 1950 and was also a member of both the Nature Reserves Committee and Malayanisation Commission for a year. In July 1959, he was appointed Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Singapore.
[2] He was sworn on 3 December 1959 as Singapore's
Yang di-Pertuan Negara (
head of state) after the
PAP won the first election held in Singapore after Singapore's self-governance.
[3] Yusof then became the first President of Singapore after the country gained independence on 9 August 1965.
His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.
and guess what? Singapore's second President is a Eurasian by race:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Sheares
Benjamin Henry Sheares DJMK DPMK KCMG MD MS FACS FRCOG (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a
Singaporean politician and professor. He served as the second
President of Singapore. Before his presidency, Sheares was a well known and distinguished obstetrician and gynaecologist. He graduated from
King Edward VII College of Medicine (now known as National University of Singapore) in 1929 with a medical degree and began his career at the
General Hospital (now Singapore General Hospital).
[2] During the
Japanese Occupation of Singapore, Sheares was the head of the O&G department at
Kandang Kerbau Hospital and was appointed acting professor of O&G after the war. He then went for further studies at
Royal Postgraduate Medical School in Britain in 1947 and became a full professor in 1950 at the hospital after his return.
Sheares retired in 1960 and was in private practice before being elected by
parliament as president after
President Yusof Ishak died on November 23, 1970.
[3] He served as president for three terms from January 2, 1971 until his death on May 12, 1981.
[4] The
Benjamin Sheares Bridge and Sheares Hall hostel at the National University of Singapore was named after him.
[5]
He is of Eurasian extraction.
1 should take note that these people were not democratically-elected- they were chosen by the Parliament;
"Eligibility for the presidency is determined by the national constitution. Before 1993, the president was chosen by the Parliament of Singapore. As a result of constitutional amendments passed in 1991, the presidency became a popularly elected office with certain custodial powers, particularly over government expenditure and key appointments to public offices. The first president elected by popular vote was Ong Teng Cheong, who served from 1993 to 1999. In 2016, further amendments were passed providing for "reserved elections" for a particular community, if that community has not provided a president in the past five presidential terms.[1][2]"
Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Indians, Malays, Eurasians have all been Singapore's President. and all these are despite the Chinese being:
This is proof our government makes it a point that all minority people gets to helm this ceremonial position as a symbolic showcasing of our multicutural and multi-religious tolerance.
"The President of the Republic of Singapore is the country's head of state. Singapore has a parliamentary system of government in which the president is the nominal chief executive. However, the presidency is mostly ceremonial and de facto executive authority is exercised by the Prime Minister of Singapore as head of government. The current president is Halimah Yacob (Singapore's first female president), who was elected unopposed at the 2017 presidential election."
The man who controls the Government is the Prime Minister and so far, there have only been 3 PMs in the whole of Singapore's history since 1965.
<=== Chinese/Agnostic
<===Chinese/Atheist
<===Chinese/Agnostic
