Singapore legislation
Section 2
Section 2
General interpretation
(1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
Definition
“anonymous donation” means a donation which the recipient is (whether because the donation is offered anonymously or by reason of deception or concealment) unable to ascertain the identity of the person giving the donation;
Definition
“bequest” includes any form of testamentary disposition;
Definition
“candidate” means a person who is nominated as a candidate at an election or at a presidential election, and includes any person (whether or not a member of any political association) who, on or after the date of the issue of a writ for the election or presidential election (as the case may be) is declared, by the person or others, as seeking nomination as a candidate at that election or (as the case may be) presidential election;
Definition
“donation report” means a report required to be prepared under section 12, 18, 19 or 21;
Definition
“election” has the meaning given by the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954;
Definition
“election agent”, in relation to a candidate, means the person named as the candidate’s election agent under section 62(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 or section 43(1) of the Presidential Elections Act 1991;
Definition
“gift” includes bequest;
Definition
“market value”, in relation to any property, means the price that that property might reasonably be expected to fetch on a sale in the open market;
Definition
“nomination day” means the day of nomination at an election or presidential election, as the case may be;
Definition
“organisation” includes any body corporate (other than a body established by written law) and any combination of persons or other unincorporated association;
Definition
“permissible donor” means —
an individual who is a citizen of Singapore and is not below 21 years of age;
a Singapore-controlled company that carries on business wholly or mainly in Singapore; or
in relation to a candidate, any political party the candidate is standing for at an election;
Definition
“political association” means —
a political party or an organisation that has as one of its objects or activities the promotion or procuring of the election to Parliament or to the office of President of a candidate or candidates endorsed by the organisation; or
an organisation (not being a branch of any organisation) whose objects or activities relate wholly or mainly to politics in Singapore and that is declared by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, to be a political association for the purposes of this Act;
Definition
“presidential election” means an election under the Presidential Elections Act 1991;
Definition
“principal election agent” has the meaning given by the Presidential Elections Act 1991;
Definition
“property” includes any description of property, and references to the provision of property accordingly include the supply of goods;
Definition
“recordable donation”, in relation to any donation report, means a donation required by this Act to be recorded in that report;
Definition
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Political Donations appointed under section 7, and includes any Assistant Registrar appointed under that section;
Definition
“reporting period” means any period for which a donation report is required to be prepared under this Act;
Definition
“responsible officers”, in relation to a political association, means —
in the case of a political association that is a body corporate, the persons for the time being holding the offices of chairperson, managing director and company secretary, respectively, of the association, or any positions analogous to any of those offices; or
in the case of a political association that is an unincorporated association, the persons for the time being holding the offices of president, secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the committee of the association, or any positions analogous to any of those offices,and includes any person carrying out the duties of any office referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) if the office is vacant;
Definition
“Singapore-controlled company” means a company incorporated in Singapore, the majority of whose directors and members are citizens of Singapore or, in the case of any member being another company, where that other company is incorporated in Singapore and the majority of whose directors and members are citizens of Singapore, and where that other company has a member who is a company that in turn has a member who is a company and so on, where each of those member companies are companies incorporated in Singapore and the majority of whose directors and members are citizens of Singapore;
Definition
“writ” means a writ of election issued under section 24 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 or, in the case of a presidential election, under section 6 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991.
(2)
Where a company has for the time being only 2 directors or 2 members, then, despite the definition of “Singapore‑controlled company” in subsection (1), the company is still regarded as a Singapore‑controlled company for the purposes of this Act if —
one of the directors is a citizen of Singapore; or
one of the members is a citizen of Singapore or a Singapore‑controlled company.
(3)
For the purposes of this Act —
any money or other property that is transferred to a candidate, election agent or political association for a consideration that is less than the value of the money or (as the case may be) the market value of the property is regarded as constituting a gift to the candidate, election agent or political association, as the case may be;
anything given or transferred to any branch of a political association or to any officer, member or agent of a political association in that capacity (and not for his or her political activities or his or her own use or benefit) is to be regarded as given or transferred to the political association, and references to donations received by a political association accordingly include references to donations so given or transferred; and
any reference in this Act to the giving or transfer of anything to —
a candidate or his or her election agent; or
a political association,includes a reference to its being so given or transferred either directly or indirectly through any third person.
(4)
For the purposes of this Act, any document or sum that is required by any provision of this Act to be sent to the Registrar is regarded as sent only when it is actually received by the Registrar.
(5)
For the purposes of this Act, any donation received by a candidate, election agent or political association by way of a donation by a trustee, in that capacity, is regarded as a donation received by the candidate, election agent or association (as the case may be) from a person who is not a permissible donor.
(6)
In this Act, “for the purposes of the candidate’s election” means with a view to, or otherwise in connection with, promoting or procuring the candidate’s election at the election or presidential election (as the case may be) including prejudicing the electoral prospects of another candidate at that election or presidential election.