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On Mar. 16, the Special Select Committee on nominations for appointment as Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) of the 14th Parliament invited the general public and functional groups to submit names of persons for consideration for appointment as NMPs.

Nominations were closed at 4:30 pm on Wednesday (Apr. 19).

Selection process of NMPs

As of the closing date and the time, a total of 30 proposal forms were received, said the Office of the Clerk of Parliament on Apr. 21.

The Special Select Committee of eight MPs, chaired by Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin, will consider the applications.

The committee comprises Ministers Chan Chun Sing, Gan Kim Yong, Indranee Rajah, Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of State Gan Siow Huang, and Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera.

They will interview shortlisted candidates, agree on the final nominees and recommend them to the President, who appoints the NMPs.

The constitutional provision for the appointment of up to nine NMPs was introduced in 1990 to ensure a wide representation of views in Parliament.

Nine NMPs

NMPs serve a term of two and a half years.

The nine, appointed on Jan 21, 2021, comprise former national swimmer Mark Chay, conservation scientist Koh Lian Pin, economics professor Hoon Hian Teck, National Trades Union Congress vice-president Abdul Samad Abdul Wahab, security industry association head Raj Joshua Thomas, Sistic chairman Janet Ang, GuocoLand’s current chief executive Cheng Hsing Yao, dental surgeon and National Youth Council member Shahira Abdullah, and Singapore Medical Association president Tan Yia Swam.

Their term will end in July.

Seven functional groups – business and industry; the professions; the labour movement; social service organisations; civic and people sector; tertiary education institutions; and media, arts and sports organisations – were invited to submit names of suitable candidates.

Parliament has received 61 applications for NMP positions in 2020.

46 had applied on their own, while the remaining 15 were submitted by the seven functional groups.

Top image via Parliament of Singapore/FB.