Halimah Yacob - Mother gave her the courage to live

 Halima's father was a watchman in a government office. His salary was very low. A family with five siblings had a difficult time. Amidst these problems, another major problem broke out on the family. Halima's father suddenly deteriorated and passed away. Halima was just eight years old then.


Halimah Yacob




A family of sorrows broke on the family. The mother had never left the house. The ration of the house was over. The family had reached a state of starvation. There was no help from Papa's office. Can't understand how the house would go? Meanwhile, he got the order to vacate the government quarters. Despite the pleas, deferment was not granted. Finally the house had to be evacuated. Close people also refused to help. But a relative took refuge. Just spent a few days like this. Mother was wandering for livelihood, knocked many doors, but could not find any work.


Halima was very young, but understood the problems of her mother very much. She wanted to help mother, but how? The way was not thinking. Then someone advised mother to open a roadside shop. Mother started selling rice and meat on the cart. Initially he did not have a license to shop. There was a fear of getting caught by the police all the time. Mother used to get up early in the morning, send the children to school and then came out with a handgun to sell rice and meat. Halima says- Mother was a woman with very strong intentions. Honesty was the most important thing for him. Regardless of poverty, he taught us brothers and sisters to follow the path of honesty.


Life started coming back on track. Halima would wake up early in the morning and help her mother in household chores. After this, the mother used to go out to the market with a hand cart and Haleema went to her school. She would go straight to the mother's shop when school was discharged. There she served rice and meat in a plate to the customers. They used to give them water and also make shoes. If the mother had advised to rest, Halima would have been unheard of. She knew that it was not easy to run a food cart. Mother will not be able to do all the work together. Sometimes she used to get so tired that she would fall asleep without eating at night. Often there was no time for homework. Halima says- I used to fall asleep in class. There was also scolding for not doing homework. But this does not mean that I did not feel like studying. I was very young then. There was a lot of fatigue due to studies and work. Whatever the circumstances, I did not miss school.


The situation made Halima grow up ahead of time. In school, he was identified as a serious girl, who laughed very little, kept studying quietly in class. He did not like playing with children. After a few days, the situation improved and the mother got a license to shop. The shop started running well. The number of customers also increased. The mother kept a servant in the shop and asked the daughter to focus on studies. Halima joined Singapore University after studying higher secondary from Chinese Girls School. In 1978, he earned a law degree. He got his master's degree in 2001. After this I got a chance to work in the National Trade Union Congress. Being the legal officer of the union, he worked very strongly on staffing issues. Soon she became famous all over Singapore. People came to know him as a fearless and honest lawyer who used to present the favor of the employees without fear of the government. In 1992, she became the director of the union's legal department.


Meanwhile, contact with politicians increased. Then he realized that it is necessary to enter politics to bring change in the country. It was with this intention that he started a political innings in 2001. She was elected MP in the same year. In the new government, he got the responsibility of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, which he did well. A year later, he was given the work of the Ministry of Social and Family Development. During her tenure, she fought a long struggle to provide medical facilities to women. He opened tuition centers in place to teach poor children. Popularity increased and responsibility also increased. In January 2013, she was appointed the first woman speaker of the country. As a speaker, he took care that every MP should have a chance to speak and address the issues raised by him. Last week another success came to his account. She was elected the first female President of Singapore. Halima says- Mother was very happy with my success. He died in 2015. Hopefully! She could see me at this stage. His ideals will always be with me.

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