Singapore legislation
Section 2
Section 2
Interpretation
(1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
Definition
“appointed member”, in relation to a Town Council, means a person who has been appointed to be a member of the Town Council under section 8 or 9(8);
Definition
“Board” means the Housing and Development Board established under the Housing and Development Act 1959;
Definition
“chairperson”, in relation to a Town Council, means the chairperson of the Town Council and includes an acting chairperson of the Town Council;
Definition
“charges” means the conservancy and service charges levied by a Town Council under section 53;
Definition
“commercial property” means any building or premises vested in or belonging to the Board (or part of such building or premises) which is permitted under the Planning Act 1998 to be used wholly or partly as —
a market, food centre, confectionery, bakery, restaurant or bar, or an eating house;
an office or a place of business and for conducting administrative work; or
a shop or premises for the carrying on of any trade or business where the primary purpose is the sale of goods by retail or the provision of services;Examples A furniture shop, department store, supermarket, dispensary, medical clinic, dental clinic, beauty salon, ticket agency, travel agency, laundry shop, dry cleaner’s shop, pet shop, video games arcade, computer gaming centre, billiard saloon, bowling alley, bank or multimedia kiosk, or an automated teller machine.(d)a place —
for the care or education, or care and education, of children below 7 years of age; or
at which 5 or more school-going children who are 7 years of age or older but below 14 years of age are habitually received for the purposes of care and supervision before or after school hours;
premises —
for the reception, lodging and care of aged or disabled persons or persons suffering or convalescing from any sickness, injury or infirmity; or
for any type of examination of the human body or of any matter derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or for the assessment of the health of any person;Examples A hospice, convalescent home or nursing home, or a dialysis centre, cancer screening centre or medical health centre.(f)a kindergarten registered under section 23 of the Education Act 1957 or an institution providing education or instruction;Examples A tuition centre, language school, computer school, music school, dance school, speech and drama school, child development centre or play school, or an art school or acting school.(g)a sports club, community centre, community club, family service centre or residents’ committee centre, or premises for community-based activities, and includes an office of such a club, centre or committee; or
a police post, fire station or civil defence centre,but excludes any property specified or described by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, as not to be a commercial property for the purposes of this Act;
Definition
“common property”, in relation to any residential or commercial property in a housing estate of the Board, means so much of the land and all parts of any building of the Board as are not comprised in the flats in the building and, for any housing estate mentioned in section 77(4), in respect of which a handover notice issued under section 77 is in effect, and includes —
the columns, beams, supports, external walls, roofs and storage spaces, lobbies, corridors, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances and exits;
firefighting and protection system;
the central and appurtenant installations for services such as power, light, sanitation and water;
the escalators, lifts, water tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and all other apparatus and installations existing for common use;
the common facilities in the housing estate built for the use or enjoyment of the residents;
all recreational or community facilities, and gardens;
all directional signs and signboards;
the land appurtenant to the building and all other parts of the land intended for the use or enjoyment of the residents; and
such other property as may be prescribed,but does not include —
bus terminals and interchanges;
drains, sewers and lightings maintained by the Government;
swimming pools and other sports complexes;
public roads and parking places; and
such other property as may be prescribed;
Definition
“constituency” means an electoral division under the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 and includes a group representation constituency;
Definition
“elected member”, in relation to a Town Council, means a Member of Parliament for any constituency comprised within the Town for which the Town Council is established;
Definition
“finance manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council and is primarily responsible to the Town Council for —
the supervision and administration of the accounting systems of the Town Council, including —
keeping proper accounts and records of the Town Council’s transactions and affairs;
ensuring that all payments out of the Town Council’s moneys are correctly made and properly authorised; and
ensuring that adequate control is maintained over the receipt, custody, investment, safekeeping and expenditure of moneys and other assets of, or in the custody or control of, the Town Council;
the preparation and revision of estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Town Council under section 51;
ensuring that the financial statements of the Town Council comply with this Act; and
generally all financial matters relating to the Town Council;
Definition
“Financial Rules” means the rules made under section 57;
Definition
“flat” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether the stratum is on one or more levels or is partially or wholly below the surface of the ground, which is used or intended to be used as a complete and separate unit for the purpose of human habitation or business;
Definition
“general manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council having the general control and management of the administration of the Town Council, and includes any individual, by whatever name called, who exercises such general control and management;
Definition
“group representation constituency” means any electoral division declared to be a group representation constituency under the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954;
Definition
“housing estate” means any housing estate built on any land vested in or held in trust for the Board;
Definition
“inspector” means an inspector of Town Councils appointed under section 62;
Definition
“key officer”, for a Town Council, means any of the following individuals, whether or not an employee of the Town Council:
the secretary to the Town Council;
the general manager of the Town Council, if there is one;
a finance manager of the Town Council (however designated);
an individual who is appointed a deputy to any officer in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) (however designated);
a chairperson of any committee of a Town Council where formed under section 45 for any of the following matters:
internal audit;
finance;
procurement of goods or services;
publicity and public relations;
estate management;
Definition
“lease” includes an agreement for a lease or tenancy and “leased” is to be construed accordingly;
Definition
“managing agent”, for a Town Council, means a person (whether or not the person carries on any other business) who is engaged or appointed, for monetary or other reward, to exercise any power or perform any function or duty of the Town Council under this Act, such as (but not limited to) all of the following:
managing common property within the Town of the Town Council;
controlling the use of common property by residents of the housing estates within the Town or other persons;
maintaining and repairing common property or engaging appropriately qualified tradespersons to do so;
arranging building inspections and reports;
keeping and maintaining documents and records relating to any function, duty or power of the Town Council;
undertaking the financial management of the Town Council’s funds and books of account;
paying disbursements and expenses incurred in connection with the person’s management of the Town Council;
arranging for insurance for the Town Council;
paying accounts in relation to the Town Council, such as accounts for water and electricity charges,but excludes the following individuals when performing any activity that is a function, duty or power of the Town Council under this Act:
a member of, the secretary to or other employee of the Town Council;
an employee or similar officer of a managing agent of the Town Council;
Definition
“member” means an elected member or an appointed member;
Definition
“owner”, in relation to any property sold by the Board, includes a person who has purchased a leasehold interest in the property and a purchaser under an agreement for a lease;
Definition
“residential property” means any building or other premises vested in or belonging to the Board or any part of the building or premises which is permitted to be used pursuant to the Planning Act 1998 or any other written law wholly for the purpose of human habitation;
Definition
“secretary” means any individual appointed by a Town Council under section 22 to be the secretary to the Town Council;
Definition
“single Member constituency” means a constituency that is not a group representation constituency;
Definition
“statutory authority” means a body or an office that is established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function, but does not include the Board or any Town Council;
Definition
“surplus”, for any fund established under section 47, means an excess of the assets over liabilities of the fund at the end of a financial year;
Definition
“Town” means any area declared to be a Town under section 3;
Definition
“Town Council”, in relation to a Town, means the Town Council established under section 4 for that Town;
Definition
“Town Council Fund” means the Town Council Fund constituted under section 47;
Definition
“vice-chairperson”, in relation to a Town Council, means a vice‑chairperson of the Town Council.
(2)
This Act does not apply to any property of the Board that the Minister may by order specify.
(3)
Any order made under subsection (2) may provide for this Act not to apply either indefinitely or for a specified period and may contain such incidental, consequential or supplementary provisions as may appear to the Minister to be necessary or proper.
(4)
In this Act, a reference to the date on which any election results for a constituency are declared is a reference to the date the results of an election in that constituency are published in the Gazette under section 51 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954.
(5)
In this Act, a person is in a position to exercise a significant influence over or with respect to the management or operation of the business of the managing agent or auditor of a Town Council if the person —
holds (whether in the person’s own right or on behalf of any other person) the position of director, partner or other executive position (however designated) in the business of the managing agent or auditor;
is entitled to exercise, by voting or otherwise and whether exercisable alone or in association with others, and whether in the person’s own right or on behalf of any other person, any power to participate in any directorial, managerial or executive decision in the business of the managing agent or auditor; or
is a substantial shareholder (within the meaning of section 81 of the Companies Act 1967) of the managing agent or auditor, which is a company.