A Muslim Woman Has Been Sworn In As Singapore's First Female President

The current president of Singapore is Halima Yacob, a Muslim woman and a former speaker of parliament from Singapore's ethnic Malay minority. The decision by the authorities of Singapore to allow only eligible candidates from Singapore's ethnic Malay minority community put themselves forward for the job so as to encourage inclusiveness in the government of Singapore led to Ms Yacob's unopposed election as the president of Singapore since the other two contenders - Salleh Marican and Farid Khan did not meet all of the requirements for eligibility.

The fact that she was elected unopposed has drawn the ire of some members of the public and according to Al Jazeera, Ms Yacob addressed these concerns saying: "I am a president for everyone, regardless of race, language, religion or creed.

"Although there's no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same."