Ahmad Ibrahim (Singaporean politician)

Not to be confused with Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim.

Ahmad Ibrahim
Ahmad in 1961
Minister for Health
In office
5 June 1959 – 24 September 1961
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byA. J. Braga
Succeeded byK. M. Byrne
Minister for Labour
In office
24 September 1961 – 21 August 1962
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byK. M. Byrne
Succeeded byOng Pang Boon
Personal details
Born(1927-05-17)17 May 1927
Penang, Straits Settlements (now Malaysia)
Died21 August 1962(1962-08-21) (aged 35)
Singapore
Resting placeBidadari Cemetery, Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
(from 1959)
Other political
affiliations		Independent
(until 1959)
In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Ibrahim is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Ahmad.

Ahmad bin Ibrahim (17 May 1927 – 21 August 1962) was a Singaporean politician who served as Minister of Health between 1959 and 1961, and Minister for Labour from 1961 until his death in 1962, in the First Cabinet of Singapore. An active unionist, Ahmad was first elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Sembawang as an independent candidate in the 1955 general election.[1]

Biography

Born in Penang, Ahmad attended Penang Free School.

Ahmad contested in Sembawang as an independent candidate during the 1955 general election and won.

A former First Branch Secretary of the All-Singapore Fire Brigade Employees Union and Vice-President of the Naval Base Labour Union, Ahmad was co-opted into the People's Action Party's Central Executive Committee in 1956. During the 1959 general election, he was re-elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly as a PAP candidate.

When the PAP government formed its first Cabinet that year, Ahmad served as Minister for Health. He was also appointed Assistant Secretary-General of the party's CEC. After a Cabinet reshuffle in September 1961, Ahmad was appointed Minister for Labour.

Ahmad died on 21 August 1962, at the age of 35, at Singapore General Hospital after a prolonged liver illness while holding the portfolio of Minister for Labour. He was accorded a state funeral and buried at Bidadari Cemetery.[2][3]

Legacy

Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim—a road in Boon Lay, Ahmad Ibrahim Primary School, Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School, and Masjid Ahmad Ibrahim in Yishun are named after him.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Ahmad bin Ibrahim". National Library Board. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. ^ "FUNERAL OF THE LATE MINISTER FOR LABOUR AHMAD BIN IBRAHIM - …". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "TRIBUTE TO THE LATE INCHE AHMAD BIN IBRAHIM BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. LEE KUAN YEW, BROADCAST OVER RADIO SINGAPORE AT 9.40 P.M. ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 1962" (PDF). www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Ahmad Ibrahim was an alumnus". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 6 January 2022.