The fourth factor is the use of professional trustees to manage the instead of family members. Most of the large private family trusts had problems of mismanagement or breaches of trust and legal disputes. In many cases a professional trustee was then appointed, which had a similar effect to the Administration of Muslim Law Act: the management of the became impersonal and the Arab families lost the social status of being associated with them. Notable Arab Singaporeans This article contains a list of notable Arab Singaporeans, people with Arab ancestry born or naturalized in Singapore. Business Syed Abdul Rahman Alsagoff (, Saiyid ʿAbd ar-Raḥman as-Saqqāf): Businessman in the spice trade and philanthropist from Hadhramawt. He was a descendant of Muhammad, and his son Ahmad was the son-in-law of Hajjah Fatimah. Politics Dr Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar ( ) (born 1940): Former Minister for the Environment. Credited with cleaning up the Singapore River and other waterways. In 1972, he entered politics and successfully contested for a seat in Parliament, representing the constituency of Brickworks, and was to remain in Parliament until 1996. During his long and distinguished political career, he has held many senior government positions, first as Parliamentary Secretary for Education and then as Minister for Social Affairs, and finally as Minister for the Environment. In 1996, he retired from politics. He is currently the Chairman of IMC Technologies, a private educational institution, where he continues to make contributions to education in Singapore. Armed Forces Syed Mohamed Syed Ahmad Alsagoff ( ): Commander, Singapore Armed Forces. Born in Singapore, he had his education at the Victoria School. He later joined the Malayan Armed Forces, the predecessor of the Malaysian Armed Forces, rising to the rank of Major-General before his retirement in the 1970s. When Singapore was part of Malaysia from 1963–1965, he was the Commander of the Singapore Armed Forces, holding the rank of Brigadier-General. The Singapore Armed Forces then consisted of the 4th Malaysian Infantry Brigade which had two infantry regiments of about 1,000 soldiers each. Acknowledgements The contents for the headings "Hadhrami migration" "Identification with the Malays" and "Contribution to Singapore" were largely or in part based on the book Kilat Senja: Sejarah Sosial dan Budaya Kampung-Kampung di Singapura by Hadijah Rahmat. See also Arab diaspora Arab Indonesians Hadhrami people Jawi Peranakan Jawi script Tarim, Yemen Malay Singaporeans References External links Ba`alawi.com Ba'alawi.com | The Definitive Resource for