Hindu Endowments (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 39/1992

Read the first time on 16th November 1992.

An Act to amend the Hindu Endowments Act (Chapter 364 of the 1985 Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Hindu Endowments (Amendment) Act 1992 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 5

2. Section 5 of the Hindu Endowments Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:

“(1) The Board shall consist of —

(a)	a Chairman;
(b)	a Vice-Chairman;
(c)	a Finance member; and
(d)	not less than 8 and not more than 12 other members,

all of whom shall be appointed by the Minister.”; and

(b)

by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsection:

“(3) The members of the Board shall be eligible for reappointment except that a Finance member shall not be appointed for more than two consecutive terms as a Finance member but may, at the end of the second consecutive term, be appointed in any capacity in the Board except as a Finance member.”.

Amendment of section 11

3. Section 11 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the word “Chairman” in subsection (1), the words “and in his absence the Vice-Chairman”;

(b)

by deleting the words “In his absence” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “In the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman,”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection:

“(4) The proceedings of the Board shall be secret and no member or employee thereof shall disclose or divulge to any person, other than the Minister or any person authorised by the Minister or any member of the Board, any fact or matter which has been disclosed or arisen at any meeting unless he is authorised by the Board in writing or he is ordered by a court to do so.”.

Amendment of section 12

4. Section 12 (1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “4 members” and substituting the words “7 members”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 14

5. Section 14 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Duties and powers of Secretary and Finance member

14.—(1) Subject to such directions as may be given to him by the Chairman, the Secretary of the Board shall have charge of all correspondence and documents of the Board, including all title deeds, and shall in all other respects carry out such duties as may be imposed upon him by this Act or allotted to him by direction of the Board.

(2) The Finance member shall have charge of all books of account of the Board and shall be responsible for the proper collection of, accounting for and disposal of all funds of the Board.”.

New sections 15A and 15B

6. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 15, the following sections:

“Appointment of committees

15A.—(1) The Board may from time to time appoint committees, other than a committee of management referred to in section 18, consisting of one or more persons (whether members of the Board or not) for the purpose of advancing its objectives.

(2) The Board may define and vary the terms of reference of such committees and alter and discharge such committees.

(3) Subject to this Act and to the control of the Board, a committee appointed under this section may regulate its own procedure.

Power to acquire, develop, etc., property

15B.—(1) The Board may —

(a)	enter into contracts and may acquire, purchase, take, hold and enjoy any property movable and immovable;
(b)	solely or in partnership, erect any building on or develop any immovable property vested in, belonging to or acquired by the Board; and
(c)	convey, assign, surrender and yield up, charge, mortgage, demise, reassign, lease, sub-lease or licence, transfer or otherwise dispose of, or deal with, any movable or immovable property vested in, belonging to or acquired by the Board upon such terms as the Board thinks fit.

(2) A property vested in the Board may be developed, disposed of or otherwise dealt with by the Board in the manner provided under subsection (1)(b) and (c) notwithstanding section 17 or a trust or condition (express or implied) prohibiting or restricting such development, disposal of or other dealing with the property.”.

Amendment of section 18

7. Section 18 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “4 other persons” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “7 other persons”;

(b)

by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsection:

“(3) Every such committee shall meet at least once a month and the quorum at all meetings of the committee shall be 4 members present.”; and

(c)

by deleting the words “, but no member, other than a member of the Board, shall be appointed for more than two consecutive terms” in subsection (4).

Amendment of section 19

8. Section 19 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (c)(ii); and

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (d) and substituting the words “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:

“(e)	promote or undertake publicity in any form.”.

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