Presidential Council for Minority Rights
The Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR) is a non-elected government body in Singapore established in 1970, the main function of which is to scrutinize most of the bills passed by Parliament to ensure that they do not discriminate against any racial or religious community. If the Council feels that any provision in a bill amounts to a differentiating measure, it will report its findings to Parliament and refer the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. The council also examines subsidiary legislation and statutes in force on 9 January 1970. One member of the PCMR is nominated by the chairman to the Presidential Elections Committee, which is empowered to ensure that candidates for the office of President have the qualifications required by the Constitution. The President also appoints and dismisses the chairman and members of the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony ("PCRH"), established by the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, on the advice of the PCMR, and the PCMR is responsible for determining whether PCRH members who are not representatives of major religions in Singapore have distinguished themselves in public service or community relations in Singapore.
Parliament House, Singapore, photographed in December 2008. The Presidential Council for Minority Rights meets in this building to scrutinize certain types of legislation for provisions discriminating against racial or religious communities in Singapore
Copies of the PCMR's annual reports
One of the longest serving members of the PCMR, former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew was a permanent member of the Council at the time of his death on 23 March 2015
Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 12 June 2011. The PM may certify that, for certain reasons, a bill does not need to be referred to the PCMR.
The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the president of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who are appointed. Following the 2020 general election, 93 MPs and two NCMPs from three political parties were elected to the 14th Parliament. Throughout the sitting of Parliament, nine NMPs are usually appointed by the president on a biennial basis.
Parliament of Singapore
Sir Stamford Raffles, who is widely regarded as the founder of modern Singapore
Major-General Sir Harry St. George Ord served from 1867 to 1873 as the first governor of the Straits Settlements following its transformation into a Crown colony.
Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, photographed in 2002