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152 Minorities and special position of Malays

...Minorities and special position of Malays It shall be the responsibility of the Government constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore. 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. ...

53 Use of languages in Parliament

...Use of languages in Parliament Until the Legislature otherwise provides, all debates and discussions in Parliament shall be conducted in Malay, English, Mandarin or Tamil. ...

153A Official languages and national language

...Official languages and national language Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English shall be the 4 official languages in Singapore. The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in the Roman script: Provided that — no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using or from teaching or learning any other language; and 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. ...

39A Group representation constituencies

...Group representation constituencies The Legislature may, in order to ensure the representation in Parliament of Members from the Malay, Indian and other minority communities, by law make provision for — any constituency to be declared by the President, having regard to the number of electors in that constituency, as a group representation constituency to enable any election in that constituency to be held on a basis of a group of not less than 3 but not more than 6 candidates; and the qualifications, in addition to those in Article 44, of persons who may be eligible for any election in group representation constituencies, including the requirements referred to in clause (2). Any law made under clause (1) shall provide for — the President to designate every group representation constituency — as a constituency where at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Malay community; or as a constituency where at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities; the establishment of — a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to the Malay community; and a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to the Indian or other minority communities, for the purpose of any election in group representation constituencies; all the candidates in every group to be either members of the same political party standing for election for that political party or independent candidates standing as a group; the minimum and maximum number of Members to be returned by all group representation constituencies at a general election; and the number of group representation constituencies to be designated under paragraph ( a )(i). No provision of any law made pursuant to this Article shall be invalid on the ground of inconsistency with Article 12 or be considered to be a differentiating measure under Article 78. In this Article — election means an election for the purpose of electing a Member of Parliament; group means a group of not less than 3 but not more than 6 candidates nominated for any election in any group representation constituency; person belonging to the Malay community means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community; person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community. ...

19B Reserved election for community that has not held office of President for 5 or more consecutive terms

..., whether a person belongs to the Chinese community, the Malay community or the Indian or other minority communities; prescribe the procedure by which a committee under paragraph ( a ) decides whether a person belongs to a community; provide for the dispensation of the requirement that a person must...
... — the Chinese community; the Malay community; or the Indian or other minority communities; person belonging to the Chinese community means any person who considers himself to be a member of the Chinese community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Chinese community by that community; person belonging to the Malay community means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community; person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community; term of office...

44 Qualifications for membership of Parliament

...Qualifications for membership of Parliament Members of Parliament shall be persons qualified for election or for appointment in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and elected in the manner provided by or under any law for the time being in force in Singapore or appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Fourth Schedule. A person shall be qualified to be elected or appointed as a Member of Parliament if — he is a citizen of Singapore; he is of the age of 21 years or above on the day of nomination; his name appears in a current register of electors; he is resident in Singapore at the date of his nomination for election and has been so resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years prior to that date; he is able, with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of Parliament, to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read and write at least one of the following languages, that is to say, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; and he is not disqualified from being a Member of Parliament under Article 45. Any question whether any person possesses the qualifications mentioned in clause (2)( e ) shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law for the time being in force in Singapore or, in so far as not so prescribed, as may be provided by order made by the President and published in the Gazette . ...

123 Citizenship by registration

...Citizenship by registration Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, any person resident in Singapore of or over the age of 21 years may, on application being made therefor in the prescribed form, be registered as a citizen of Singapore if he satisfies the Government that he — is of good character; has resided in Singapore throughout the 12 months immediately preceding the date of his application; has during the 12 years immediately preceding the date of his application resided in Singapore for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years: Provided that the Government may exempt any applicant from compliance with this paragraph — where such applicant has during the 6 years immediately preceding the date of his application resided in Singapore for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 5 years; or where in any special case the Government considers fit to confer citizenship upon such applicant; intends to reside permanently in Singapore; and has an elementary knowledge of one of the following languages, namely, Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil: Provided that the Government may exempt an applicant who has attained the age of 45 years or who is deaf or dumb from compliance with this paragraph. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, any woman who is married to a citizen of Singapore may, on making application therefor in the prescribed manner, be registered as a citizen of Singapore if she satisfies the Government — that she has resided continuously in Singapore for a period of not less than 2 years immediately preceding the date of the application; that she intends to reside permanently in Singapore; and that she is of good character. ...

Reserved election for community that has not held office of President for 5 or more consecutive terms

19B.—(1) An election for the office of President is reserved for a community if no person belonging to that community has held the office of President for any of the 5 most recent terms of office of the President.

[28/2016]

(2) A person is qualified to be elected as President —

(a)

in an election reserved for one community under clause (1), only if the person belongs to the community for which the election is reserved and satisfies the requirements in Article 19;

(b)

in an election reserved for 2 communities under clause (1) —

(i)	only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the greater number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election; or
(ii)	if no person qualifies under sub-paragraph (i), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the other community for which the election is reserved; and

(c)

in an election reserved for all 3 communities under clause (1) —

(i)	only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the greatest number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election;
(ii)	if no person qualifies under sub-paragraph (i), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the next greatest number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election; or
(iii)	if no person qualifies under sub‑paragraph (i) or (ii), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the remaining community. [28/2016]

(3) For the purposes of this Article, a person who exercises the functions of the President under Article 22N or 22O is not considered to have held the office of President.

[28/2016]

(4) The Legislature may, by law —

(a)	provide for the establishment of one or more committees to decide, for the purposes of this Article, whether a person belongs to the Chinese community, the Malay community or the Indian or other minority communities;
(b)	prescribe the procedure by which a committee under paragraph (a) decides whether a person belongs to a community;
(c)	provide for the dispensation of the requirement that a person must belong to a community in order to qualify to be elected as President if, in a reserved election, no person who qualifies to be elected as President under clause (2)(a), (b) or (c) (as the case may be) is nominated as a candidate for election as President; and
(d)	make such provisions the Legislature considers necessary or expedient to give effect to this Article. [28/2016]

(5) No provision of any law made pursuant to this Article is invalid on the ground of inconsistency with Article 12 or is considered to be a differentiating measure under Article 78.

[28/2016]

(6) In this Article —

“community” means —

(a)	the Chinese community;
(b)	the Malay community; or
(c)	the Indian or other minority communities;

“person belonging to the Chinese community” means any person who considers himself to be a member of the Chinese community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Chinese community by that community;

“person belonging to the Malay community” means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community;

“person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities” means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community;

“term of office” includes an uncompleted term of office.

[28/2016]

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