Yaacob Ibrahim

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.