No, this is not a photo of a Japanese woman who converted to Islam, it is actually a Taiwan-born academic

This article is more than one year old.
Published on May 10, 2019 at 06:30
1 min read
By AFP Singapore

A photo has been shared on Facebook alongside a claim that it shows a convert to Islam from Japan. The claim is misleading; the photo actually shows a Taiwanese-born, Singapore-based academic.

The Facebook post was published here on April 8 by a page with more than 14,000 followers.

The caption states: “#convert to Islam from Japan. Islam is the highest and nothing is higher than it. Islam is the Religion of Peace and Love.”

Below is a screenshot of the post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

A reverse image search on Google found that the image actually shows Professor Jackie Y. Ying.

This article published by online magazine Asian Scientist on January 19, 2017, shows the same photo of Professor Ying.

Below is a screenshot of the article:

The article states Professor Ying is “executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN)”.

The IBN is based in Singapore. This is its address listed on the Singaporean government website.

According to this online press release published by the Singapore government’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research on December 24, 2015, Professor Ying was “born in Taiwan, raised in Singapore and New York.”

In this report published by Singapore based news site Asia One on April 9, 2013, it states Professor Ying converted to Islam in her “early 30s”.

This report published by Singapore based newspaper The Straits Times on December 13, 2017, also states Professor Ying “converted to Islam in her 30s”.

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