Tue, Sep 06, 2011
AsiaOne.com
SINGAPORE - Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, the Minister for
Information, Communication and the Arts, has refuted online
speculation that his son will not serve National Service
(NS).
Dr Yaacob's 16-year-old son carries dual citizenship
in Singapore and the United States. He was issued US citizenship as
his mother is an American citizen by birth.
The issue of his son's citizenship was made public when a leaked
US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks identified the
minister's two children as US citizens.
It then made its way into online forums where some netizens
speculated that Dr Yaacob's son will not serve NS. Other
netizens called for Dr Yaacob to clarify the matter.
Dr Yaacob's press secretary confirmed yesterday that the
minister's son will serve NS just as his father did.
What the cable said:
"Yaacob Ibrahim has been Minister of Environment and Water
Resources since 2004, following two years as Minister of Community
Development and Sports. In 2002, he was appointed
Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs.
"He was first elected to parliament in 1997 and was quickly
promoted to the sub-cabinet position of Parliamentary Secretary at
the Ministry of Communications in 1998.
"In December 2004, he was selected Vice Chairman of the People's
Action Party's policy-making Central Executive Committee.
"Since his college days, Yaacob has been very involved in
Singapore's Muslim organizations. He was a youth member of the
Muslim Missionary Society (Jamiyah) and is a long-time volunteer at
MENDAKI (the leading Malay/Muslim education self-help group linked
to the government).
"He was also actively involved with the Islamic Religious
Council of Singapore (MUIS), serving on its council from 1992-1996.
As Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, he has encouraged
community organizations to specialize and avoid duplication of
services. He has also been given a role in Singapore's outreach
effort to the Middle East.
"In 2004, he led two business delegations to the United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, and Egypt. While in Egypt, he met with
Singaporeans studying at Al-Azhar University, as part of the
government's efforts to ensure that its citizens studying in the
Middle East keep Islamic teachings in a Singapore context.
"Several contacts have asserted that, since his hajj in February
2004, Yaacob has become less of an integrationist. These contacts
said he has come to believe that there were two distinct spheres in
Singaporean society: public and private.
"While he envisioned that Singaporeans of all races would
continue to interact in the public sphere in areas of common
interest, they could choose to limit their private interactions to
people of the same race and religion.
"Dr. Yaacob was born in Singapore on October 3, 1955, the fourth
of nine children of a minor civil servant.
"All of his siblings have excelled as professionals. His eldest
brother was the first Malay chosen as a Presidential scholar and a
younger sister is political editor for the Straits Times.
"He graduated from the University of Singapore with a Civil
Engineering degree in 1980. He obtained a scholarship to do his
Ph.D. at Stanford University.
"He graduated in 1989 and worked subsequently as a Post-Doctoral
Fellow at Cornell University. His wife is an American citizen who
grew up in Puerto Rico.
"Yaacob told emboff that he has a more open-minded
interpretation of the Koran and said his wife converted to Islam to
satisfy the conservative standards of Singapore. They have two
children, both American citizens, and they travel to the U.S.
frequently to visit his wife's family."
