Madam Halimah Yacob yesterday pledged to be a president for all Singaporeans, after she was elected unopposed in the first election reserved for Malay candidates.
She will be sworn in as Singapore's eighth president at the Istana today, and create history by becoming the country's first woman president and only the second Malay to hold the office after founding president Yusof Ishak.
The former Speaker of Parliament was the only candidate who qualified to stand for election, after the Presidential Elections Committee ruled out businessmen Salleh Marican and Farid Khan for failing to meet constitutional criteria.
Returning Officer Ng Wai Choong declared her President-elect in a walkover around noon - drawing loud cheers from about 700 supporters at the People's Association Headquarters in Jalan Besar.
The move to raise the qualifying criteria for candidates and reserve this year's election, coupled with the absence of a contest, had drawn fierce criticism from some quarters.
Madam Halimah, 63, acknowledged doubts about the reserved election in her speech yesterday.
"Although this is a reserved election, I am not a 'reserved' president," she said. "I am a president for everyone, regardless of race, language, religion or creed."
She later told reporters: "Election or no election, my promise is to really serve everyone. I will serve with great vigour, with a lot of hard work, with the same passion and commitment that I have served... for the last four decades."
The nation's eighth head of state came from humble beginnings, helping her mother sell nasi padang from a pushcart.
After joining the National Trades Union Congress as a legal officer in 1978, she rose through the ranks to become its deputy secretary-general, gaining a reputation as a tireless champion of workers' rights.
She became an MP in 2001, was appointed Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth in 2011, and elected Speaker in 2013.
More than 500 unionists were at the nomination centre to support her yesterday, many decked out in orange - the colour she chose for her campaign to represent unity.
Madam Halimah said her election as a Malay president "shows very positively" how Singaporeans practise multiracialism - that everyone has a chance to become president.
Her becoming the nation's first female president sends a serious message about gender diversity, she added. "Every woman can aspire to the highest office of the land, if you have the courage, the determination and the will to work hard."
Flanked by her husband, retired businessman Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, 63, and proposer, Singapore Business Federation chairman Teo Siong Seng, she thanked her supporters and all Singaporeans for their good wishes.
Madam Halimah - who said yesterday that she would continue living in her Housing Board flat in Yishun - urged Singaporeans to stand together to confront the challenges facing the nation.
"I ask that you focus on the similarities we have, and not on our differences," she said, stressing that the country has to stay united.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said she will bring to the presidency her experience of working with Singaporeans from all walks of life, and championing workers and disadvantaged groups.
He called her yesterday to congratulate her. In a Facebook post, he wrote: "The president is the apex of our political system and the symbol of our multiracial, multi- religious nation. I am confident that Madam Halimah will fulfil her role with distinction."
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