Public submissions for NMP nominations to open from Tuesday

SINGAPORE - Members of the public are invited to submit names of individuals they deem suitable for the role of Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Tuesday April 15.

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PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE

NOMINATED MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT INVITATION FOR SUBMISSION OF NAMES

The general public is invited to submit names of persons to the Special Select Committee of Parliament for nomination by the Committee for appointment by the President as Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs).

The persons to be nominated by the Committee shall be persons who have rendered distinguished public service, or who have brought honour to the Republic, or who have distinguished themselves in the field of arts and letters, sports, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service or the labour movement.

Only names of persons who qualify for appointment as nominated Members of Parliament should be submitted to the Committee for consideration.

Under Article 44(2) of the Constitution, a person is qualified for appointment as a Nominated Member of Parliament if -

(a) he is a citizen of Singapore;

(b) he is of the age of 21 years or above on the day of nomination;

(c) his name appears in a current register of electors;

(d) he is resident in Singapore at the date of his nomination and has been so resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years prior to that date;

(e) he is able, with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of Parliament, to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read and write at least one of the following languages, that is to say, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; and

(f) he is not disqualified from being a Member of Parliament under Article 45 of the Constitution.

Mdm Speaker will meet representatives of seven Functional Groups, namely (a) business and industry; (b) the professions; (c) labour movement; (d) social service organisations; (e) civic and people sector; (f) tertiary education institutions; and (g) media, arts and sports organisations, to inform them of the procedure in submitting nominations to the Special Select Committee.

A Coordinator has been appointed by Mdm Speaker for each Functional Group to seek the views of their constituent organisations and to submit names of suitable candidates to the Special Select Committee for consideration.

The Coordinators of the seven Functional Groups are:

Business and Industry: Mr Tony Chew Leong-Chee
Chairman
Singapore Business Federation
10 Hoe Chiang Road,
#22-01 Keppel Tower
Singapore 089315

Labour: Ms Diana Chia Siew Fui
President
National Trades Union Congress
NTUC Centre, One Marina Boulevard
Singapore 018989

Professions: Dr Lim Shih Hui
Master
Academy of Medicine Singapore
81 Kim Keat Road
#12-00, NKF Centre
Singapore 328836

Social Service Organisations: Mr Sim Gim Guan
Chief Executive Officer
National Council of Social Service
170 Ghim Moh Road
#01-02, NCSS Centre
Singapore 279621

Civic and People Sector: Mr Ang Hak Seng
Chief Executive Director
People's Association
9 King George's Avenue Singapore 208581

Tertiary Education Institutions: Prof Tan Chorh Chuan President
National University of Singapore
University Hall
Lee Kong Chian Wing, Level 6
21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd
Singapore 119077

Media, Arts and Sports Organisations: Prof Chan Heng Chee
Chairperson
National Arts Council
90 Goodman Road
Goodman Arts Centre
Blk A #01-01 Singapore 439053

Any organisations wishing to nominate members for consideration should submit their nominations to the abovementioned Coordinators.

In proposing names for consideration as NMPs, the attention of the organisations and members of the public is drawn to the provision of the Constitution which states:

"The persons to be nominated shall be persons who have rendered distinguished public service, or who have brought honour to the Republic, or who have distinguished themselves in the field of arts, letters, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service or the labour movement."

Submission of names must be made using the forms available from the Parliament website (www.parliament.gov.sg) or the Office of the Clerk of Parliament at Parliament House, 1 Parliament Place, Singapore 178880. The closing date for submission of names is 20May 2014 at 4.30 pm.