Other Presidential Councils

Learn more about the roles of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights and the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony.

Last updated on 15 September 2026

Presidential Council for Minority Rights

Role of the Council

1. Examine all legislation to ensure that they are not disadvantageous to any racial or religious community.

2. Consider matters affecting any racial or religious community referred by Parliament or the Government.

3. Advise the President on nominations to:

o Presidential Council for Religious Harmony

o Malay Community Committee

o Indian and Other Minorities Communities Committee

Appointing a Member of the Council

Members of the Council are appointed by the President on the advice of the Cabinet.

Currently, the Council comprises 19 Members:

Table caption

Chairman	The Hon Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon
Permanent Members	Mr Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs Mr S Dhanabalan Mr Abdullah Tarmugi
Other Members	Attorney-General Lucien Wong Mr Othman Haron Eusofe Mr Timothy James de Souza Prof Chan Heng Chee Mr Barry Desker Justice Philip Jeyaretnam His Eminence Cardinal William Goh Mr Surjit Singh s/o Wazir Singh Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng Mr Syed Hassan bin Syed Mohamed Bin Salim Al-Attas Mufti Dr Nazirudin bin Mohd Nasir Mr Mohamed Sa’at Abdul Rahman

The Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony (PCRRH) was set up under the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act.

Consider and report to the Minister on matters affecting the maintenance of racial or religious harmony in Singapore that are referred to the Council by the Minister;
Consider and report to Parliament on matters affecting the maintenance of racial or religious harmony in Singapore that are referred to the Council by Parliament; and
Consider and make recommendations to the President on restraining orders made under this Act or the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act 1990.

The Chairman and members are appointed by the President. The Council serves a three-year term.

The Council comprises at least 10 and not more than 20 other members.

The current Council comprises:

Justice (Ret.) Choo Han Teck, Retired Supreme Court judge

Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, President, Singapore Buddhist Federation – Representative of the Buddhist community
Mr K Sengkuttuvan, Chairman of the Hindu Advisory Board, President of the Inter-Religious Organisation – Representative of the Hindu community
Mufti Dr Nazirudin bin Mohd Nasir, Mufti of Singapore – Representative of the Muslim community
Bishop Philip Lim Kian Leong, President, National Council of Churches of Singapore – Representative of the Protestant community
His Eminence Cardinal William Goh, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Singapore – Representative of the Roman Catholic community
Mr Sarbjit Singh s/o Tahil Singh, President Defence Aerospace, ST Engineering – Representative of the Sikh community
A/Prof Lee Cheuk Yin, Academic Adviser, Taoist Federation and Taoist Mission – Representative of the Taoist community
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng, President, Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations – Representative of the Chinese community
Mr Ishak Bin Ismail, Singapore Non-Resident High Commissioner to Pakistan – Representative of the Malay community
Mr Bala Reddy, Former Deputy Chairman, Hindu Endowments Board – Representative of the Indian community
Ms Sandra Theseira, Former President, the Eurasian Association – Representative of the Eurasian community