Claim: Singapore has elected Halimah Yacob as its new president.
Fact: Singapore has not elected Halimah Yacob as its new president. Yacob was the city-state’s eighth president and held the position from 2017 to 2023. The Republic’s incumbent president is Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
On 1 January 2025, Threads user @riazkhanbadani posted (archive) a video showing the inauguration ceremony of Singapore’s former President Halimah Yacob alongside the following caption:
“غریب چوکیدار کی بیٹی اور بچپن میں برتن دھونے والی حلیمہ یعقوب سنگاپور کی صدر بن گئی ہے۔ اور پاکستان کے مقدر میں …………..
[Halimah Yacob, the daughter of a poor watchman and a dishwasher as a child, has become the president of Singapore. And in Pakistan’s destiny …………..]”
Fact or Fiction?
Halimah Yacob was the city-state’s eighth president and held the position from 2017 to 2023. The first woman to become the president, Yacob was “the only candidate” because the Singaporean authorities “decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria”.
The Republic’s incumbent president is Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whose win was announced on 1 September 2023 and who was sworn in less than two weeks later on 14 September.
Yacob has not been recently elected as Singapore’s new president.
It is, however, true that she comes from humble origins as her father was a watchman who died when she was eight years old. Yacob and her siblings were raised by a single mother, who had to set up a food stall where she “had to juggle schoolwork with wiping tables and washing dishes”, according to TODAY, The Singapore Women’s Weekly, The Straits Times, and ABC News.
The accompanying video in the claim is from the swearing-in ceremony of Yacob held on 14 September 2017. It is available on the YouTube channel of the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The visuals can also be corroborated by pictures and videos available on the Singaporean PMO’s website, as well as Yacob’s Facebook page.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the post by @riazkhanbadani gained over 2.5k likes, nearly 120 comments, more than 220 reposts, and upwards of 1,000 shares. It was also uploaded here on Threads.
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. A post with a longer caption can be found here.
On Instagram, the claim was published here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Halimah Yacob was Singapore’s eighth president from 2017 to 2023; she has not been recently elected. The Republic’s incumbent president is Tharman Shanmugaratnam. The accompanying video is from Yacob’s swearing-in ceremony on 14 September 2017.
Background image in cover photo: Albert Vincent Wu
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