REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
ACTS SUPPLEMENT
Published by Authority

NO. 2]Friday, February 9 [2001

The following Act was passed by Parliament on 12th January 2001 and assented to by the President on 23rd January 2001:—
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 2001

(No. 2 of 2001)


I assent.

S R NATHAN,
President.
23rd January 2001.
Date of Commencement: 8th February 2001
An Act to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint).
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 Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 2001 and shall come into operation on such date as the President may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
Amendment of Article 37B
2.  Article 37B of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (referred to in this Act as the Constitution) is amended by deleting clause (3) and substituting the following clause:
(3)  A member of the Council shall be appointed for 6 years on his first appointment and shall cease to be such a member at the end of that term but without prejudice to his eligibility for re-appointment for such further terms of 4 years each.”.
Amendment of Article 142
3.  Article 142 of the Constitution is amended by renumbering the Article as clause (1) of that Article, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following clauses:
(2)  For the purposes of this Part, where any net investment income is received during a financial year in any current term of office of the Government —
(a)such amount of the net investment income of the financial year that is derived from the past reserves of the Government as is certified under clause (3); or
(b)if no certificate under clause (3) is made, 50% of the net investment income of the financial year that is derived from the past reserves of the Government,
shall accrete and be deemed to form part of the past reserves of the Government with effect from the date of the certificate relating to that financial year made under clause (3) or, if no such certificate is made or earlier made, from the date the accounts and statements referred to in Article 147(5) for that financial year are presented to the President.
(3)  The Minister responsible for finance shall, as soon as practicable after the end of FY 2000 and every subsequent financial year, certify to the President in a certificate relating to that financial year, the amount (not being less than 50%) of the net investment income of that financial year derived from the past reserves of the Government which is to accrete and be deemed to form part of the past reserves of the Government; and such certificate shall be final and conclusive evidence of the amount.
(4)  In this Article —
“FY 2000” means the financial year beginning on 1st April 2000 and ending on 31st March 2001;
“net investment income”, in relation to a financial year, means the balance of —
(a)the dividends, interest and other income received by the Government during the financial year from investing the reserves of the Government; and
(b)the interest received by the Government during the financial year from loans (whenever given) by the Government,
after deducting all expenses arising from or incidental to investing and managing those reserves (other than costs of purchasing or disposing of or converting investments) and any interest, sinking fund charges and borrowing charges, but excludes any such income or interest on loans received before the beginning of FY 2000;
“net investment income of a financial year that is derived from the past reserves” means the share of the net investment income of the financial year that is attributable to the past reserves;
“past reserves of the Government” means the reserves not accumulated by the Government during its current term of office, including accretions thereto deemed under this Article to be part of such reserves.”.
Amendment of Article 148F
4.  Article 148F of the Constitution is amended —
(a)by inserting, immediately after the words “be appointed” in clause (1), the words “or re-appointed, as the case may be,”; and
(b)by deleting clauses (5) and (6) and substituting the following clause:
(5)  Subject to clauses (7) and (8), the Auditor-General shall hold office for a term of 6 years and shall cease to hold that office at the end of that term, but without prejudice to his eligibility for re-appointment for further terms of 6 years each.”.
Saving and transitional
5.  The person holding the office of the Auditor-General immediately prior to the commencement of section 4 of this Act shall continue in office as if he had been appointed on the date of commencement of that section in accordance with the Constitution as amended by that section.