Yusof bin Ishak, Singaporean journalist and politician, 1st President of Singapore (d. 1970)
Yusof bin Ishak (12 August 1910 – 23 November 1970) was a Singaporean politician who was the first president of Singapore, serving from 1965 to 1970.
Before becoming head-of-state, Yusof was a well-known journalist and co-founded Utusan Melayu. He started journalism after he graduated from Raffles Institution in 1929 and in 1932, he joined Warta Malaya, a well-known Malay newspaper company at that time. He left the company in 1938 and co-founded Utusan Melayu.Yusof held many appointments within the Singaporean government. He served on the Film Appeal Committee from 1948 to 1950 and was also a member of both the Nature Reserves Committee and Malayanisation Commission for a year. In July 1959, he was appointed Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Singapore. He was sworn on 3 December that year as Singapore's Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state) after the PAP won the first election held in Singapore after Singapore's self-governance. Yusof then became the first president of Singapore after the country gained independence on 9 August 1965.
Yusof served for three terms in office before he died on 23 November 1970 due to heart failure. His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.