Singapore's First Woman President Moves Diversity Needle
- 2017 election for largely ceremonial role reserved for Malays
- Change sparked social media debate it wasn’t democratic enough
Halimah Yacob
Photographer: Wallace Woon/EPAHalimah Yacob, 63, will become Singapore’s first female president when she is sworn in Thursday as the city’s eighth head of state. She was named president-elect as the only eligible candidate this week, after two others were disqualified in an election reserved for minority ethnic Malay candidates.
The process sparked criticism on social media that Singaporeans were deprived of the opportunity to choose their president and that it diminished Halimah’s achievement. The government changed the presidential election process for this year to ensure the largely ceremonial role isn’t dominated by the majority Chinese group, and so that minorities like ethnic Malays and Indians will get a chance to be represented in some elections that are reserved for their groups.