***
Amusing bits from the FAQ of the Registry Of Societies:
Should all Committee Members be Singaporeans?
For the categories of societies listed below, the majority of the Committee Members must be Singapore Citizens. In addition, the President, Secretary, Treasurer and their deputies shall be Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents. Foreign Diplomats shall not serve as Committee Members.
a) Religious societies
b) Societies which identify themselves publicly as or whose membership is confined exclusively to members of a single race
c) Any society whose object, purpose or activity, whether primary or otherwise, is to represent; promote any cause or interest of; or discuss any issue relating to a class of persons defined by reference to their gender or sexual orientation
d) Any society whose object, purpose or activity, whether primary or otherwise, is to represent persons who advocate; promote; or discuss any issue relating to any civil or political right (including human rights, environmental rights and animal rights)
e) Any society whose object, purpose or activity, whether primary or otherwise, is to promote or discuss the use or status of any language.
Given the allergy to any discussion of Race, Language or Religion, a, b and e are not surprising. After all, you need the society's committee members to be within the power of the law (which is why Foreign Diplomats, with Diplomatic Immunity, cannot be in the committee).
What IS surprising is the fear of militant feminists or homosexuals (presumably miffed that the Constitution prohibits discrimination against citizens only on the grounds of "religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law").
And, of course, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and PETA.
A clear threat to Public Law and Order
What are the guidelines for Names of a society?
Please provide a letter of support from the relevant authorities if you are using any of the following words as part of the name of the proposed society.
"Academy"
"Asean"
"College" (with exception of an alumni)
"Council"
"Government"
"Institute" (with exception of an alumni)
"Lion City"
"Merlion"
"Ministry"
"National"
"Raffles"
"Republic"
"Registry"
"State"
"Stamford Raffles"
"Temasek"
I've no idea who one might go to for permission to use the words:
- Temasek (Temasek Holdings?!)
- Raffles (RI? Raffles Hospital?)
- Merlion (the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board?)
The inclusion of "Ministry" is also strange - Christian groups must experience some annoyance with this.
What are the guidelines for Place of Business of a society?
Please note that the following addresses are prohibited from use as the society's place of business:
(a) HDB flat
Is this to prevent peasants from getting ahead of themselves?
What are the guidelines for drawing up a Constitution of a society?
Statement of Faith(compulsory for Christian religious groups): Spells out the religious beliefs of the society.
The prohibition clauses listed from 13.1 to 13.7 in ROS' Guide Constitution are compulsory [Ed: the current version was offline but an older one I found forbade "The introduction of... bad characters into the premises"]
Maybe this is to prevent another Marxist Conspiracy. Which presumably was more dangerous than the Jemaah Islamiah.
The schedule specifying societies that do not qualify for automatic registration includes:
Any society whose object, purpose or activity, whether primary or otherwise, is to promote, discuss any issue relating to, or to provide training in any form of pugilistic or martial arts.
To exclude Falungong? Or maybe they're scared of another Boxer Rebellion.
The discussion of "any matter relating to the governance of the Singapore society" is also seen as separate from what a "political association" does.
