Ahmad bin Mohamed Ibrahim (15 May 1916 – 17 April 1999) was a

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an lawyer and law professor who served as the first

Attorney-General of Singapore The attorney-general of Singapore is the public prosecutor of the Republic of Singapore and legal adviser to the Government of Singapore. The attorney-general is the head of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), whose staff carries out the f ...

between 1965 and 1967.

Early life

Ahmad was educated at the Victoria Bridge School (now the

Victoria School Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. The school has a hostel. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme. This a ...

Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...

, and Raffles College (now the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

). In 1936, he received the Queen's Scholarship (now the

President's Scholar A President's Scholar is a recipient of the academic scholarship awarded by the Government of Singapore annually, to pursue undergraduate education at a university, usually abroad. The scholarship is considered to be the most prestigious public ...

ship) to study at St John's College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He graduated in 1939 with 1st Class Economics Tripos I and 1st Class Law Tripos II, and attained a Masters in Law in 1965. He was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of Singapore on 5 June 1965.

Career

In 1948, Ahmad stood as an independent candidate in the Municipal Commission Election in Singapore and won. He became Singapore's first State Advocate General in 1959, and the nation's first non-British Attorney-General in 1966. He moved to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in 1969. In 1972, he became the dean of the law faculty of the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

. There he established the first law faculty in Malaysia. He was also later made Professor of Malaysian Law, and in 1984

honoured Ahmad with the highest academic title it could confer - Professor Emeritus. In 1984, Ahmad was instrumental in setting up the Kulliyyah of Laws at

International Islamic University Malaysia The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is a public university in Malaysia. Headquartered in Gombak, Selangor, IIUM has six other campuses all over Malaysia: two medical-centric campuses and a Centre for Foundation Studies in Gam ...

(IIUM), and was made the Shaikh and the Dean of the Kulliyyah. In 2000, the Kulliyyah was named the "Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah" in honour of Ahmad as the founding father of the Kulliyyah. Ahmad was a key individual in the merger talks between Singapore and Malaysia in the early 1960s. He was also the legal advisor in the Singapore delegation to the Malaysia Talks in London in 1963, which discussed independence from Britain. Former Singaporean deputy prime minister

Goh Keng Swee Goh Keng Swee (born Robert Goh Keng Swee; 6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010) was a Singaporean statesman and economist who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1985. Goh is widely recognised as one of the fou ...

once described Ahmad as a man of "tremendous breadth and depth of intellect, whose ability as a legal draftsman is unsurpassed in this country".

Personal life

Ahmad was the brother of the actor Khalid Ibrahim, who used the stage name Cal Bellini.

Honours

* : Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(P.S.M.) (1987)

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20080218160308/http://www.agc.gov.sg/aboutus/history.htm * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Mohamed Ibrahim 1916 births 1999 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Malayan people of World War II Singaporean Muslims Singaporean emigrants to Malaysia Attorneys-general of Singapore Singaporean people of Malay descent Queen's Scholars (British Malaya and Singapore) Victoria School, Singapore alumni Raffles Institution alumni 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia