July 17, 2023, 07:13 PM
Eight new persons will be appointed Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), with lawyer Raj Joshua Thomas returning for a second term.
These nine NMPs will be appointed by President Halimah Yacob on Jul. 24, 2023, and they will take their oaths at the next Parliament sitting in August 2023.
The NMPs were announced on Jul. 17, 2023, by the Office of the Clerk of Parliament and were chosen by the Special Select Committee.
The nine NMPs are:
- Chandradas Usha Ranee, co-founder of Plural Art Mag
- Chua Tiang Choon Keith, executive chairman of ABR Holdings Limited
- Mark Lee Kean Phi, CEO of Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd
- Ong Hua Han, assistant vice president of Deutsche Bank AG
- Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant, CEO of Pegasus Asia
- Raj Joshua Thomas, partner of Wee Swee Teow LLC
- Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, head of the public safety and security programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences
- See Jinli, director of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Freelancers and Self-employed unit
- Syed Harun Taha Alhabsyi, consultant psychiatrist from Starfish Psychiatry Pte Ltd
Thomas will be serving his second term as an NMP.
Special Select Committee led by former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin
The members of the Special Select Committee were nominated by the Committee of Selection, with the former Speaker of Parliament, Tan Chuan-Jin, as ex-officio Chairman.
The other members include:
- Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing
- Minister for Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong
- Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan
- Leader of the House, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance, and Second Minister for National Development, Indranee Rajah
- Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman
- Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Gan Siow Huang
- Worker's Party MP, Leon Perera
The Special Select Committee is tasked to nominate persons for appointment by the President as NMPs.
The Committee chose from 30 proposals where 14 names were submitted by the functional groups and 16 individual applications.
Tan said that many exceptional candidates came forward to put their names. After careful deliberation, the Committee determined the nine nominees had fulfilled all Constitutional criteria and were eligible for appointment.
"They also have notable achievements in their respective domains and a strong understanding of the issues they are passionate about. We are assured that they will enrich Parliamentary debates by bringing to the House a diversity of independent perspectives, views and insights," said Tan.
Leader of the House Indranee said they are pleased to welcome the new cohort of NMPs who have made "significant contributions to society and excelled in their respective domains".
"We look forward to their participation which will add to the spectrum of views and experiences shared in the House", she said.
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