• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

MARUAH: Replace CDCs with elected non-partisan councils

by Terry Xu
13/10/2014
in Current Affairs
Reading Time: 3 mins read
2

maruah mayor paper
Local human rights non-government organisation (NGO) MARUAH, in its 4th position paper of their ongoing project “Defending the Legitimacy of Singapore Elections”, called for existing Community Development Councils (CDCs) to be replaced with councils led by citizen-elected non-partisan mayors, and for such councils to be funded by the government.
MARUAH member, Mr Kao Zi Jian presented the NGO’s position paper on how CDCs, unlike the Town Councils which deal with estate management, are appointed by the People’s Association (PA), an executive arm of the government. The non-electability of the CDC head, or Mayor, contravenes Article 25 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

“Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity…to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives”.

Such representatives are to be chosen through elections in which “real popular input [is] institutionally accommodated (Comment 79, UN Human Rights and Elections Handbook)”.
The NGO pointed out that restrictions to the provision of real choice thus constitute a violation of the peoples’ political rights. This because the Mayor is first elected through partisan political processes and then appointed to the position of Mayor by the ruling party.
The non-elected nature of the CDCs and Mayors means that Singaporeans are deprived of their right to have a say in how their CDC is run and do not have the full range of feedback, including the right to vote out non-performing representatives, on the services and programmes provided by their CDC.
As the programme agenda and terms of engagement are pre-defined by the CDC management, this can be alienating to Singaporeans who would like to get involved in grassroots activities without getting into partisan politics and work alongside a Mayor who has been elected and not selected through a political election.
This prove to be troublesome especially if the CDC is within an opposition ward.
For instance, the North East Community Development Council could have members of the Workers’ Party to be the Mayor or even serving as advisors. Instead, only members from the ruling party are present in the council.
Mr Kao noted that the performance of the CDCs in relation to their objectives – social cohesion and social assistance – has not been particularly effective, and that the programmes by the CDCs appear to be a considerable duplication of the efforts of other government bodies.
With the government has introducing the Social Service Offices to handle welfare programmes, the CDCs are even less relevant in this role.
MARUAH argue that with councils led by popularly-elected non-partisan mayors, accountability can be greatly improved. The citizens will have a better sense of political ownership, and such a system will foster greater political maturity.
MARUAH’s position paper on the Role of the Community Development Councils (CDCs) and Local Government in Singapore is available online.
Editor’s note: The PA received an adverse report for their financial reports for more than 10 years because its financial statements did not include the statements of its related organisations, such as community clubs and community centres. The Online Citizen has reported on this incident in an earlier article.
[youtube id=”AGFKX7DVtVA”]

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.
Tags: civil societyfeatured

Related Posts

Current Affairs

China cannot be absent: Xi Jinping, in new year message

01/01/2016
Current Affairs

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss launches Mountbatten Manifesto

31/08/2015
Current Affairs

AHPETC Chairman’s Review

31/08/2015
Current Affairs

Is the “controversial” AHPETC management fee really that controversial?

31/08/2015
Current Affairs

Workers’ Party releases video of candidates

31/08/2015
Commentaries

Is the PAP really listening, or just hearing us?

31/08/2015
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Grab SG appoints PAP MP Tin Peiling as director of public affairs and policy

Netizens question Tin Pei Ling’s conflict of interest as Grab’s director of Public Affairs and Member of Parliament

05/02/2023
Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?

Indian regulator reassures investors after Adani rout

05/02/2023
Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

05/02/2023
Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police

Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police

04/02/2023
【财政预算案2021】2020年预算赤字达649亿元 占国内生产总值13.9%

China’s mega-rich move their wealth, and partying, to Singapore

04/02/2023
2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

03/02/2023
India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled

India’s Adani denies rise due to Modi as shares fall again

03/02/2023
TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn

TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn

03/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
47

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
25

...

Excessively charging for an essential need, and calling it affordable because people still can pay for it?

by Terry Xu
31/01/2023
40

...

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

by The Online Citizen
02/02/2023
19

...

高庭驳回迪哥达索取警方录供的刑事动议

CEO of D1 Racing sues a woman to claim S$3 million for “emotional trauma” suffered from being friend-zoned

by Yee Loon
01/02/2023
7

...

October 2014
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep   Nov »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz