Other than appearing and waving to the crowd at National Day Parades, do you know what are the duties of an elected president, and what role do they play in Singapore?
First and foremost, the duty of the president is broken down into 3 categories:
- Constitutional
- Ceremonial
- Community
A long long time ago, the president was appointed by the Parliament one. It was until 1991, a constitutional amendment was made and from then on, to become a president, the person must be an elected one, who wins through voting.
In addition to this amendment, the role and responsibility of the president also expanded. The president is in charge of safeguarding Singapore’s reserves, and the protection of the integrity of the Public Service.
8 things about Tharman Shanmugaratnam, your potential President of Singapore!
The President also has the power to veto or say no to the Government’s proposals in the following areas:
- All fiscal matters touching on Singapore’s reserves
- All matters relating to key appointments in the public service and Fifth Schedule entities
- Restraining Orders under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act
- Continued detention under the Internal Security Act
- Refusal of investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau
As the Head of State, the President is also the figure representing Singapore at ceremonies domestically and internationally.
You can think of it like the C位 or the face of an idol group. So ah, ideally and it is better to be someone who got the brain and the “seh” to represent Singapore lah. If not will xia suay mah!
Domestically, the President opens each Session of Parliament and delivers an address laying out the key priorities of the Government.
The President also officiates at swearing-in ceremonies of key appointment holders such as the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court.
The President is also in charge of giving out awards, such as the National Day Awards, on the advice of the Cabinet.
Internationally, the president is responsible for making friends and promoting good relationships with other countries by hosting visiting dignitaries and making state visits overseas. All these relationship-building and 哈拉哈拉 (chit chat) will benefit Singapore in areas such as trade and investments, defence, education, research and development, and arts and culture.
And finally, as a symbol of unity, the President is also actively involved in the community, supporting various causes including volunteerism, social entrepreneurship, sports, culture and the arts.
In case you didn’t know, that was how President Halimah became the Milo Auntie.
President Halimah launched Milo Gao Kosong, Singaporeans buay song
She was there, in her capacity as a President, to encourage Singaporeans to cut down on their sugar intake because a increasingly more and more Singaporeans kena diabetes, because Milo Gao Kosong was a product launched to tackle this problem. Then like that also kena. Jin cham.
So ah everybody, don’t just think the role of the President is just to come out and wave at people during National Day ok? There are a lot of other things that they do but you don’t see it!
