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8 New NMPs Will Be Appointed, With 1 NMP to Serve a Second Term

2023-07-18 , 8:13 pm

In spite of a string of strange sagas occurring in Singapore Politics, it may be time for us to take a break from the information overload.

Instead, let’s take a look at some new faces that might appear in parliament sessions in the near future (after all, a few old faces would be gone).

While it may not be an Avengers-level assembly, there are some interesting characters lined-up for our newly appointed Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs).

What are NMPs and What Purpose Do They Serve?

Currently, a majority of 79 seats in parliament belong to members of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and another 11 seats belong to those from other political parties such as the Workers’ Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

Of course that might change very, very soon.

For those who do not know, there are another nine seats in parliament specially reserved for nominated MPs who do not belong to the aforementioned parties.

These members of parliament are chosen according to the NMP scheme introduced in 1990 in order to ensure a wide representation of community views in parliament.

Proposal forms from members of the public, and other groups including business and industry, the professions and social service organisations, that contain the names of candidates are considered against a list of criteria set by a special committee of MPs.

In fact, even people like XiaXue has considered to be an NMP.

The committee was chaired by former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and its members include:

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing
Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong
Leader of the House Indranee Rajah
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang
MP Leon Perera

I don’t know about you, but strangely, this committee might be a tad cursed lah, for three of them were in the news repeatedly in the last few weeks.

The persons to be nominated must have rendered distinguished public service, or have brought honour to Singapore, or have distinguished themselves in the field of arts and letters, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service or the labour movement.

Here is the List of This Term’s 9 NMPs, Their Contributions to Singapore and What They’re Up To

Out of the proposal 30 forms, 9 candidates were selected to be this term’s new NMPs.

Mr Raj Joshua Thomas is the lawyer and president of the Security Association Singapore.

He is known for advising two Singapore-listed companies on a sensitive employment matter involving employees’ wearing of the Muslim headscarf as well as assisting in investigations related to corruption in Singapore.

Thomas is the only NMP in the list to have served a previous term. Like all members of parliament, one term extends to two-and-a half-years.

Ms Chandradas Usha Ranee is the co-founder of Plural Art magazine.

Plural Art magazine is an online magazine with a focus on Southeast Asian modern and contemporary visual art.

It is the only Southeast Asian art platform which marries art historical perspectives with entertaining content on art-related food, fashion and travel.

Mr Chua Tiang Choon Keith is the executive chairman of food-and-beverage firm ABR Holdings.

ABR Holdings is most known for being the owner of Singapore’s outlets of beloved ice cream restaurant chain – Swensen’s.

Chua is also the founding member and chairman of Asian Philanthropic Ventures and a judge for the Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) Young Social Entrepreneurs (YSE) programme.

Mr Mark Lee Kean Phi, CEO of apparel company Sing Lun Holdings.

Unrelated to the actor Mark Lee, Mr Lee is also the deputy honorary treasurer of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) Council, as well as chair of the SBF’s Jobs and Skills Advisory Committee and vice-chair of its Young Business Leaders Network.

Mr Ong Hua Han is the assistant vice president of investment banking company Deutsche Bank AG.

Mr Ong, who is a wheelchair user with brittle bone disease, has helped to champion causes related to persons with disabilities in Singapore. He is actively involved in dbEnable, a diversity initiative focused on promoting inclusive hiring for persons with disabilities in Deutsche Bank and is also a committee member of the Our Accessible City@CBD (Raffles Place) to improve accessibility in the Central Business District infrastructure.

Mr Parekh Nimil Rajnikant is the CEO of acquisition firm Pegasus Asia.

Mr Rajnikant is also the chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a council member of the Singapore Business Federation.

As a member of the advisory committee of James Cook University (Singapore), he has initiated programmes that focus on helping to increase financial literacy in Singapore.

Associate Professor Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim is the head of the public safety and security programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

She is also the vice-president of the Singapore Muslim Women’s Association and a member of the Committee on Fostering and the Security Consultants Accreditation Programme.

As an adviser to the Youth Court, she has reviewed the pre-sentence reports for youth and also contributed to the discussion on children in need of care and protection. For her role, she was awarded the Ministry of Social and Family Development Star Service Award in 2018.

Ms See Jinli is the director of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Freelancers and Self-employed Unit at NTUC’s Administration Research Unit.

She is also the executive secretary to the National Instructors and Coaches Association; the Visual, Audio, Creative Content Professionals Association (Singapore); and the National Delivery Champions Association.

The associations she was involved in provided immediate and longer-term help and support to the different groups of self-employed persons during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her efforts were recognised with the Public Service Medal (Covid-19).

Dr Syed Harun Taha Alhabsyi is a consultant psychiatrist and medical director of The Starfish Clinic of Psychiatry & Mental Wellness.

He is the president of Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud, the honorary secretary of the Singapore Psychiatric Association and a member of the Muslim Healthcare Professionals Association.

He was also a recipient of the Commendation Medal (Covid-19) for his contribution in supporting the joint task force at the Ministry of Manpower in identifying socio-religious needs of migrant workers and their state of mental health in a protracted period of lockdown.

8 New NMPs Will Be Appointed, With 1 NMP to Serve a Second Term

What are NMPs and What Purpose Do They Serve?

Here is the List of This Term’s 9 NMPs, Their Contributions to Singapore and What They’re Up To

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