Little Sisters of the Poor
Ordinance 1957
2020 REVISED EDITION
This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021
An Ordinance to incorporate the Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya.
[1 November 1957]
Whereas the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor was constituted at Rennes in France in the year 1839:
And whereas the said Little Sisters of the Poor have established a Home in the Colony of Singapore for the maintenance, treatment and nursing of the poor, the aged, the sick and the infirm and for the purpose of the propagation of Christianity:
And whereas the said Little Sisters of the Poor have for some time and are now conducting their work at Number 999 Thomson Road in the Colony of Singapore and in Penang in the Federation of Malaya and intend to extend their work both in the said Colony and in the Federation of Malaya:
And whereas the said Little Sisters of the Poor have invested and will invest money in the purchase of property both movable and immovable within the said Colony and the Federation of Malaya:
And whereas the said Little Sisters of the Poor and any Home, church, convent or other building now or hereinafter to be acquired for the purposes of the said Little Sisters of the Poor will be managed by the Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya the present Reverend Mother Superior being the Reverend Mother Hedwige:
And whereas for the better carrying on of the work of the said Little Sisters of the Poor it is expedient that the said Reverend Mother Hedwige and her successors, being the Reverend Mother Superior of the said Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya, should be incorporated:
It is hereby enacted by the Governor of the Colony of Singapore with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly thereof as follows:
Short title
1.  This Ordinance may be cited as the Little Sisters of the Poor Ordinance 1957.
Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor to be a body corporate
2.—(1)  The said Reverend Mother Hedwige and her successors for the time being in office of the Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya, duly authorised and appointed as hereinafter provided, shall be a body corporate, hereinafter in this Ordinance called the “Corporation” and shall hereafter for the purposes of this Ordinance have the name of the “Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya”, and by that name have perpetual succession and shall and may have and use a corporate seal.
(2)  The said seal may from time to time be broken, changed, altered and made anew as the Corporation thinks fit.
(3)  The Corporation may acquire, purchase, take, hold and enjoy movable and immovable property of every description, and may sell, convey, assign, surrender and yield up, mortgage, demise, re‑assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of any movable and immovable property vested in the Corporation upon such terms as the Corporation shall think fit.
Use of corporate seal
3.—(1)  All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Corporation shall be sealed with the seal of the Corporation in the presence of the Reverend Mother Superior for the time being or her attorney, duly authorised by power of attorney deposited under section 48 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886, and shall also be signed by the said Reverend Mother Superior for the time being, or her attorney so authorised as aforesaid.
(2)  Such signing shall be and be taken as sufficient evidence that the said seal was duly and properly affixed and that the same is the lawful seal of the Corporation.
Notification of appointment of Reverend Mother Superior
4.  A notification in the Gazette of the appointment of any person to exercise the office of Reverend Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Malaya shall be conclusive evidence that such person was duly authorised to exercise the said office.
Saving of Government and other rights
5.  Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect the rights of the Government, all bodies politic and corporate, and all others except such as are expressly mentioned in this Ordinance, and those claiming by, from or under them.
[7/97]