Essential (Tenants Registration) Regulations

Emergency (Essential Powers) Act

(CHAPTER 90, Section 2)

Rg 5

G.N. No. S 45/1965

REVISED EDITION 1990

(25th March 1992)

[18th February 1965]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Essential (Tenants Registration) Regulations.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“identity card” means an identity card issued to a person required to be registered under the National Registration Act [Cap. 201];

“tenant” means the person who is in possession of or occupies any premises and, where premises are divided into parts and let out to, or occupied by different families or individuals, the owner of such premises if he himself resides or occupies any part of the premises or the person who sub-lets a part or parts of the premises to another person or allows another person to occupy any part or parts of the premises, and includes a person nominated under regulation 5(2);

“Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for internal security.

Application of Regulations to areas

3. The provisions of these Regulations shall apply only to such area or areas as the Minister may by order specify.

Localities and appointment of headman, etc., for such localities

4.—(1) In relation to any areas to which these Regulations apply, the Minister or any person authorised in writing by him shall, subject to any directions given by the Minister, divide such areas into localities and shall appoint a person residing in such locality to be a headman of, or to perform tenant registration duties in, that locality.

(2) A headman of, and a person appointed to perform registration duties in, a locality shall have the powers and perform the duties vested and conferred on them by these Regulations.

Duty of headman, etc., to keep a list of tenants

5.—(1) Every headman and every person appointed under regulation 4 shall, as soon as possible after his appointment, prepare and keep a list of the tenants of all premises in his locality and shall make in such list such alterations as may be necessary from time to time and the list shall be in a form approved by the Minister.

(2) Where any doubt or difficulty arises as to who is the tenant of any premises, the headman or person appointed shall nominate any person residing in such premises to be the tenant and that person shall be the tenant of those premises for the purposes of these Regulations.

Officers

6.—(1) The Minister, or any person authorised by him in that behalf, may appoint such persons as he thinks fit to be officers to direct the performance of the duties of headman and the persons appointed under regulation 4, and may designate the ranks to be held by those officers.

(2) Any officer appointed under paragraph (1) shall have the power to give directions as to the time, place and manner of the performance of the duties of any officer of inferior rank or of any headman or person appointed under regulation 4.

Penalty for failure to perform duties

7.—(1) Any officer appointed under regulation 6 or any headman or person appointed under regulation 4 who, without reasonable excuse, the proof whereof shall lie on him, refuses or neglects to serve shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.

(2) A person who —

(a)	being an officer, fails to comply with any direction given by his superior officer;
(b)	being a headman, fails to comply with any direction given by an officer; or
(c)	being a person appointed to perform tenant registration duties under regulation 4, fails to comply with any direction given by any of the persons mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b),

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding $500 or to both.

(3) The Minister, or any person authorised by him in that behalf, may dismiss any officer or any headman or person specified under regulation 4.

Duty of tenant to keep record of persons residing in premises

8.—(1) Every tenant of premises situated in an area to which these Regulations apply shall keep a record in a form to be approved by the Minister of every person (irrespective of age) residing in such premises; and the tenant shall, as and when the circumstances require, make in the register such alterations or additions as may be necessary.

(2) Such record shall be kept in Malay or English or in the language of the tenant and in a form to be supplied by the headman or persons appointed under regulation 4:

Provided that where a tenant cannot write he shall furnish the particulars required to be recorded to the headman of the locality and shall notify any changes in the particulars to the headman within 24 hours of the change.

(3) For the purpose of this regulation any person who is present in any premises between midnight and 6 a.m. shall be deemed to have taken up residence in such premises and any person who is absent from such premises for a night shall be deemed to have ceased to reside in those premises.

Duty of tenant to report to headman

9. The Minister, or any person authorised by him in that behalf, may require that —

(a)

any tenant of premises in an area to which these Regulations apply shall, as soon as possible and in any case not later than 6 hours after he has knowledge of the residence of or quitting of residence by any person, make a report thereof to the headman of the locality or to a person appointed under regulation 4 in respect of that locality and it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that a tenant had that knowledge not later than 8 a.m. immediately following such residence or quitting of residence; and

(b)

when such tenant is about to absent himself from the locality in which he resides for a period exceeding 24 hours, he shall report the fact to the headman of the locality or to the person appointed under regulation 4 in respect of that locality, and shall nominate another person to be, during his absence, the tenant for the purposes of these Regulations.

Penalty

10. A tenant who fails to comply with regulation 8 or 9 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.

Powers of headman, etc.

11.—(1) A headman or person appointed under regulation 4 shall within his locality and any officer appointed under regulation 6 and any other person authorised by the Minister in that behalf shall within any locality mentioned in regulation 4 have the power to do any or all of the following things:

(a)	to enter, at any time, any premises and to inspect such premises for the purpose of ascertaining the number of residents in such premises; or
(b)	to examine the records required to be kept by the tenant of any such premises, to ask for the production of such documents in the possession of persons residing in the premises and for such information from such persons as may be necessary for the purpose of these Regulations or for ascertaining whether the provisions of these Regulations are being or have been complied with.

(2) Any of the persons authorised under paragraph (1) to exercise the powers conferred by sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of that paragraph shall have power to arrest in any premises any person whose presence in such premises is unlawful; and for the purpose of this paragraph any person found in any premises and in respect of whom a record as required by these Regulations has not been kept shall be deemed to be present in those premises unlawfully.

(3) Any of the persons authorised under paragraph (1) may, in making any arrest, require any private person to give him such assistance as may be necessary and that private person shall comply with any such requirement.

(4) The person making the arrest shall without unnecessary delay take the person so arrested to the nearest police officer or in the absence of a police officer take the person to the nearest police station, and a police officer shall re-arrest every person so arrested.

(5) Any tenant who —

(a)	wilfully delays or obstructs any person authorised under paragraph (1) in the exercise of any power conferred on him under these Regulations; or
(b)	refuses or neglects to answer any question or to furnish any information or produce any document when required to do so under paragraph (1) or gives any information which is false in any material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding $500

(6) Any private person who refuses or fails to comply with any requirement under paragraph (3) made by an officer authorised under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.

Exemption

12. The Minister may from time to time exempt any person from the operation of all or any of the provisions of these Regulations.

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