Yang-Di-Pertuan Agung (head-of- state) Yusof Ishak giving a speech

Yusof Ishak was born in Perak, Malaysia on 12 August 1910. Before becoming Singapore’s first president, he was a journalist and one of the founders of the Malay newspaper, ‘Utusan Melayu’. He served as head-of-state from 1959 to 1965, when Singapore achieved self-rule. After Singapore gained independence on 9 August 1965, he was appointed as Singapore’s first president, a position he served until his death in November 1970. He is buried at the Kranji State Cemetery.

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