http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/02/05SINGAPORE312.html
Yaacob Ibrahim - Minister of Environment and Water Resources
--------------------------------------------- ---------------
¶11. (U) 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.
¶12. (C) 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.
¶13. (U) 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.
Yaacob Ibrahim - Minister of Environment and Water Resources
--------------------------------------------- ---------------
¶11. (U) 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.
¶12. (C) 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.
¶13. (U) 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.
.
