Submission of names for new NMPs open from Oct 8 till Nov 6

SINGAPORE – Members of the public can submit names of individuals for the role of Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Oct 8 till Nov 6, 4.30pm.

Introduced in 1990, the NMP scheme aims to ensure a wide representation of views in Parliament, and nominees should have performed distinguished public service, brought honour to Singapore or distinguished themselves in their respective fields.

In a statement on Oct 7, the Office of the Clerk of Parliament specified these fields to consist of arts and letters, sports, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service, or the labour movement.

There can be up to nine NMPs each term, which lasts 2½ years. A person is qualified for appointment as an NMP if he or she is Singaporean, aged 21 or older on the day of nomination, and on the current Registers of Electors. Among other requirements, he or she should also be able to take an active part in Parliament proceedings.

Names of candidates are to be submitted to an eight-member Special Select Committee chaired by Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng.

The other members of the committee are Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing; Education Minister Desmond Lee; Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah; Senior Minister of State for Defence and Sustainability and the Environment Zaqy Mohamad; Senior Minister of State for Education and Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary; Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Sim Ann; and Sengkang GRC MP Louis Chua.

Besides submissions from the public, seven functional groups – business and industry; the labour movement; the professions; social service organisations; the civic and people sector; tertiary education institutions; and media, arts and sports organisations – are also invited to submit names of suitable candidates.

Each has an appointed coordinator to seek the views of its constituent organisations.

After the submission period, the committee will inform elected MPs and seek their views on the individuals proposed, while also considering various criteria, with nominees undergoing interviews.

The committee will then discuss and decide who to nominate before submitting a list of candidates to the President for appointment as NMPs.

In 2023,

nine NMPs were selected from 30 nominations

, of whom 16 had applied on their own. The remaining 14 were submitted by the seven functional groups. It was the

lowest number of total nominations

since the ninth Parliament was dissolved in 2001

.

The nine, appointed on July 24, 2023, comprised lawyer and educator Chandradas Usha Ranee, Singapore Anglican Community Services board member Keith Chua Tiang Choon, business leader Mark Lee Kean Phi, Deutsche Bank vice-president Ong Hua Han, Singapore Business Federation council member Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant, lawyer

Raj Joshua Thomas

, Associate Professor Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, NTUC veteran Jean See Jinli, and consultant psychiatrist

S

yed Harun Taha Alhabsyi

.

Names must be submitted on forms downloaded from 

the Parliament website.

They must be submitted online in PDF format 

via FormSG.

Alternatively, one may submit the completed forms and supporting documents at the Office of the Clerk of Parliament at Parliament House.