Halimah Yacob is the eighth President of Singapore, and the Republic’s first female head of state. Her present role is the latest in a series of firsts for the political pioneer; she was also the first Malay woman to be elected to Parliament when she won a seat in Jurong GRC in 2001, and the first woman to be Speaker of Parliament in 2013.

Yacob graduated from the then University of Singapore with an honours degree in law in 1978. She attained her Masters in law in 2001, and went on to forge a career in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as director of the Women’s Development Secretariat and its legal services, before becoming deputy secretary-general.

She was also adviser to the National Council of Social Services, and served as minister of state in the Ministry of Social and Family Development. Yacob has served on various boards including Mendaki Sense, the Tripartite Workgroup on Enhancing Employment Choices for Women and the Tripartite Alliance on Fair Employment Practices.

Yacob holds certain causes dear to her heart, including caring for the elderly and mentally ill, as well as training less skilled and older workers.