Constitution of the Republic of Singapore - Singapore Statutes Online

PART XIII

General Provisions

Minorities and special position of Malays

152.—(1) It shall be the responsibility of the Government constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore.

(2) The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.

Muslim religion

153. The Legislature shall by law make provision for regulating Muslim religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the President in matters relating to the Muslim religion.

Official languages and national language

153A.—(1) Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English shall be the 4 official languages in Singapore.

(2) The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in the Roman script:

Provided that —

(a)	no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using or from teaching or learning any other language; and
(b)	nothing in this Article shall prejudice the right of the Government to preserve and sustain the use and study of the language of any other community in Singapore.

Impartial treatment of Government employees

154. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all persons of whatever race in the same grade of the service of the Government shall, subject to the terms and conditions of their employment, be treated impartially.

Exemption

154A. The President, acting in his discretion, may by order published in the Gazette exempt any transaction or class of transactions, from the application of Article 144.

Authorised reprints of Constitution

155.—(1) The Attorney-General may, with the authority of the President, as soon as may be after 4th May 1979 cause to be printed and published a consolidated reprint of the Constitution of Singapore, as amended from time to time, amalgamated with such of the provisions of the Constitution of Malaysia as are applicable to Singapore, into a single, composite document^*.

^*See Reprint No. 1 of 1980 published on 31st March 1980.

(2) The President may, from time to time, authorise the Attorney-General to cause to be printed and published an up-to-date reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, incorporating therein all amendments in force at the date of such authorisation.

(3) Any reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, printed and published under clause (1) or (2), shall be deemed to be and shall be, without any question whatsoever in all courts of justice and for all purposes whatsoever, the authentic text of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore in force as from the date specified in that reprint until superseded by the next or subsequent reprint.

(4) In the preparation and compilation of any reprint under clause (1) or (2), the Attorney-General shall have, with the necessary modifications, the powers conferred upon the Law Revision Commissioners by section 4 of the Revised Edition of the Laws Act (Cap. 275).

(5) In the preparation and compilation of the consolidated reprint under clause (1), the Attorney-General shall have the power in his discretion —

(a)	to merge the existing provisions of both Constitutions, making thereto such modifications as may be necessary or expedient in consequence of the independence of Singapore upon separation from Malaysia;
(b)	to re-arrange the Parts, Articles and provisions of the Constitution of Singapore and of the Constitution of Malaysia in such connected sequence as he thinks fit, omitting inappropriate or inapplicable provisions, in the latter Constitution;
(c)	where provisions exist in both Constitutions on the same subject-matter, to include in the consolidated reprint the provisions of the Constitution of Singapore on such subject-matter and to omit the duplicated provisions appearing in the Constitution of Malaysia from the consolidated reprint; and
(d)	generally, to do all other things necessitated by, or consequential upon, the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Attorney-General by this Article or which may be necessary or expedient for the perfecting of the consolidated reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.

Date of coming into operation of Constitution

156. [Omitted]

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