People’s Association (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 41/1992

Read the first time on 16th November 1992.

An Act to amend the People’s Association Act (Chapter 227 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 People’s Association (Amendment) Act 1992 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 6

2. Section 6 of the People’s Association Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “every annual” in subsection (1)(b) and substituting the word “a”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:

“(3) Members of the Board elected under subsection (1)(b) shall hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of their election and shall be eligible for re-election:

Provided that the term of office of such a member of the Board shall cease upon the revocation of his appointment as a member of the Association under section 7(1), or if his appointment as a member of the Association has expired and has not been renewed under section 7(2).”.

Amendment of section 8

3. Section 8 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “an annual general meeting before the close of each year” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “a general meeting once in every 3 years”; and

(b)

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

“(3) The Board shall, before the holding of a general meeting of the Association, cause a notice to be sent to all members of the Association giving them at least 7 days’ notice of the holding of the general meeting, and specifying the date, time and place of the meeting and the business to be transacted thereat, and such notice shall be deemed to have been received by a member if sent by ordinary post or despatched by messenger to the address of the member as stated in the records of the Association.”.

Amendment of section 10

4. Section 10 (2) of the principal Act is amended by deleting paragraph (f) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(f)	manage or run community centres, clubs, institutes and such other bodies as the Board thinks fit;”.

Repeal and re-enactment of sections 12, 13 and 14

5. Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the principal Act are repealed and the following sections substituted therefor:

“Annual report

12. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, submit to the Board a report of the activities of the Association during that financial year.

Bank accounts and application of funds

13.—(1) The Board may deposit all moneys belonging to the Association in such account or accounts which it may open with —

(a)	any bank or banks licensed under the Banking Act (Cap. 19); or
(b)	any finance company or companies licensed under the Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108).

(2) The account or accounts in which the moneys belonging to the Association are to be deposited may be opened in the name of —

(a)	the Association; or
(b)	the management committee or any other approved constituent committee of any community centre, club, institute or other body managed or run by the Board.

(3) Every bank account kept under this section shall be operated upon as far as practicable by cheque signed by —

(a)

in the case of a bank account opened in the name of the Association, two members of the Board who may from time to time be authorised in that behalf by the Board; or

(b)

in the case of a bank account opened in the name of the management committee or any other approved constituent committee of a community centre, club, institute or other body managed or run by the Board, two members of the management committee or approved constituent committee of the community centre, club, institute or other body who may from time to time be authorised in that behalf by the Board.

(4) The Board may, from time to time, invest any of the funds of the Association not immediately required for carrying out the objects of the Association in such securities which trustees may by any written law for the time being in force be authorised to invest trust moneys in.

Accounts and audit

14.—(1) The financial year of the Association shall begin on 1st April of each year and end on 31st March of the succeeding year.

(2) The Board shall cause proper accounts and records of the transactions and affairs of the Association to be kept and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Association, and over the expenditure incurred by the Association.

(3) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit to the auditor of the Association, financial statements in respect of that financial year.

(4) The accounts of the Association shall be audited by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed annually by the Board in consultation with the Auditor-General.

(5) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (4) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 50).

(6) The remuneration of the auditor of the Association shall be paid out of the funds of the Association.

(7) The auditor or any person authorised by him shall be entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Association.

(8) The auditor shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Association;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Association whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
(c)	whether the receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Association during the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and
(d)	such other matters arising from the audit as he considers should be reported.

(9) The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Deputy Chairman, and shall also submit such periodical and special reports to the Deputy Chairman as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Deputy Chairman may require.

(10) The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

(11) Any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with any requirement of the auditor under subsection (10) or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

(12) As soon as the accounts of the Association the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a copy of the audited financial statements signed by the Secretary-Treasurer of the Board, together with a copy of the auditor’s report, shall be submitted to the Deputy Chairman.

(13) Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Association, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General when they are submitted to the Deputy Chairman.”.

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