Yaacob Ibrahim

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim MP
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim
Minister for Communications and Information
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Himself (As Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts)
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
In office 21 May 2011 – 1 November 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lui Tuck Yew
Succeeded by	Himself (As Minister of Communications and Information)
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
In office 12 August 2004 – 20 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lim Swee Say
Succeeded by	Vivian Balakrishnan
Personal details
Born	(1955-10-03) 3 October 1955 Singapore
Political party	People's Action Party
Alma mater	University of Singapore, Stanford University
Profession	Engineer Lecturer, professor

This is a Malay name; the name Ibrahim is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Yaacob.

Yaacob bin Ibrahim, MP (born 3 October 1955) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is the country's Minister for Communications and Information, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs and Minister in charge of Cyber Security. A Member of Parliament (MP) since 1997, he was the Minister for Community Development and Sports from 2003 to 2004, as the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources from 2004 to 2011, and as the Minister for the Information, Communications and the Arts from 21 May 2011 to 1 November 2012.

Personal life

Dr 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 two children. His children are Singapore citizens and attend Singapore schools.

Education and early career

Yaacob studied at Tanjong Katong Technical Secondary School, which turned coeducational during his time there. 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 Group Representation Constituency (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.

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 for the Environment and Water Resources in 2004.

In May 2011, in a cabinet rearrangement, he became Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts. He continues to serve as the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs. Yaacob is on the PAP Central Executive Committee as Vice-Chairman. 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 has been re-appointed to serve in this capacity following the September 2015 General Election.

External links

• Profile of Yaacob Ibrahim at cabinet.gov.sg

Political offices
Preceded by Abdullah Tarmugi	Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs 12 May 2003 – present Acting: 25 March 2002 – 11 May 2003	Incumbent
	Minister for Community Development and Sports 12 May 2003 – 11 August 2004 Acting: 25 March 2002 – 11 May 2003	Succeeded by Vivian Balakrishnan
Preceded by Lim Swee Say as Minister for the Environment	Minister for the Environment 12 August 2004 – 29 May 2006	Succeeded by Vivian Balakrishnan as Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
	Minister for the Environment and Water Resources 30 May 2006 – 20 May 2011
Preceded by Lui Tuck Yew as Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts	Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts 21 May 2011 – 31 October 2012	Incumbent
	Minister for Communications and Information 1 November 2012 – present
Government offices
New office	Mayor of Central Singapore district 1 April 2001 – 23 November 2001	Succeeded by Heng Chee How