New Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform (beta)
Your one-stop-shop for information about national parliaments

Singapore

-

Parliament

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Presidential-Parliamentary
Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Unicameral
IPU membership Current membership status
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Parliament
Chamber name
Parliament
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1967-01
IPU Geopolitical Group/s IPU Geopolitical Groups: African Group, Arab Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eurasia Group, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Twelve Plus Group.
Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title The Speaker may for example be known as the Presiding Officer, President, Chairman/Chairperson, etc.
Speaker of Parliament
Speaker
Chuan-Jin Tan (Male)
Year of birth
1969
Term
11.09.2017

Secretary General

Official title This post is most commonly called Secretary General or Clerk. It may also be called Secretary, Head/Chief of the Secretariat, Director General, etc.
Clerk
Secretary general
Ng Sheau Jiuan (Female)

Members

Statutory number of members Statutory number of members, as defined in the constitution or other fundamental law.
101
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members Directly elected by citizens.
89
Appointed members Appointed, for example, by the Head of State.
9
Other members For example, ex-officio members of parliament, such as Cabinet members, members of the royal family, Attorney General, Speaker if appointed from outside parliament.
3
Note on the statutory number of members
- Appointed members: up to nine members may be nominated by the President for a term of two and a half years. - Other: up to nine non-constituency members may be appointed from among unsuccessful opposition candidates who obtained the highest percentage of votes in a general election.
Current number of members Number of members who currently hold seats in parliament. May be lower or higher than the statutory number of members.
100
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
23
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
23% See historical data for this field.
Statutory number of members per country As defined in the constitution or other fundamental laws. Combines the number of parliamentarians in both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
101
Population (in thousands) Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects.
5,535
Inhabitants per parliamentarian Calculated by dividing the population by the statutory number of parliamentarians.
54,802 See historical data for this field.

Age

Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
29
Youngest member
Tin Pei Ling (Female)
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
90
Oldest member
Lee Kuan Yew (Male)
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 0 20 15 20 28 8 1 0 0
Total <= 45: 35 Total >= 46: 57
Male 0 0 12 14 14 23 6 1 0 0 70
Female 0 0 8 1 6 5 2 0 0 0 22
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0%0%0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger21.74%13.04%8.7%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger38.04%28.26%9.78%
Members for whom data is available
92

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups Reserved seats are a means to ensure the parliamentary representation of certain groups in society.
Yes
Number of reserved seats, by group
Notes
No reserved seats for minorities however Group Representation Constituencies exist whereby at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore. GRCs are multi-member constituencies.
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
No
Legal source Legal text that stipulates the quota, such as the Constitution or electoral law.
Cf. Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218, 2008 Rev. Ed.) and the Constitution.
Electoral quota for youth Quotas to promote the representation of youth in parliament.
No

Links to additional information