The Presidential Council for Religious Harmony will start a new three-year term from Sept 15, with a new chairman and four newly appointed members.

Public Service Commission chairman Eddie Teo will chair the council. It is appointed by President Tony Tan Keng Yam and makes recommendations to him on restraining orders issued under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act. The new members are:

• Mr M. Rajaram (Hinduism), past president of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

• Bishop Emeritus Wee Boon Hup (Protestant Christianity), past president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore;

• Ms Juthika Ramanathan (layperson), chief executive of the Office of the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court;

• Professor Lily Kong (layperson), Provost at Singapore Management University.

Five members were reappointed:

• Venerable Seck Kwang Phing (Buddhism), president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation

• Archbishop William Goh (Roman Catholicism), Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Singapore

• Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram (Islam), Mufti of Singapore

• Mr Surjit Singh (Sikhism), past chairman of Sikh Advisory Board

• Associate Professor Lee Cheuk Yin (Taoism), academic adviser to Taoist Federation and Taoist Mission.

Fabian Koh