Singapore reconstitutes Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has reconstituted the Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony, appointing Mr Choo Han Teck as chairperson and 11 community representatives to three-year terms. The appointments, made under the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act 2025, were published as No. 5360 in the Republic of Singapore Government Gazette on 15 September 2026.

The appointments take effect from 15 September 2026 and run for a period of three years. They were made in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 3(1) of the Schedule to the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act 2025 and Article 22(d) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, with the President concurring with the advice of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.

A statutory body under the new Act

The Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony is a high-profile national body established to advise on matters affecting racial and religious harmony in Singapore. Its reconstitution follows the enactment of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act 2025, which provides the statutory framework for the Council’s composition and functions.

The chairperson and members are drawn from across Singapore’s major religious and ethnic communities, reflecting the Council’s mandate to represent the country’s plural society. The appointments were notified for general information in the Gazette, with the official reference [Istana Cf 02/01/025; AG/LEGIS/SL/CONS/2025/21].

The new chairperson and members

Mr Choo Han Teck has been appointed chairperson of the Council for a three-year term. The following 11 persons have been appointed as members, each representing a distinct community:

• Venerable Seck Kwang Phing — Buddhist community
• Mr K Sengkuttuvan — Hindu community
• Mufti Dr Nazirudin bin Mohd Nasir — Muslim community
• Bishop Philip Lim Kian Leong — Protestant community
• Cardinal William Goh — Roman Catholic community
• Mr Sarbjit Singh s/o Tahil Singh — Sikh community
• Associate Professor Lee Cheuk Yin — Taoist community
• Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng — Chinese community
• Mr Ishak Bin Ismail — Malay community
• Mr Bala Reddy — Indian community
• Ms Sandra Theseira — Eurasian community

A renewed mandate for harmony

The reconstitution gives the Council a fresh three-year mandate to continue its advisory role on racial and religious harmony in Singapore. By drawing together leaders from the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Sikh and Taoist faiths alongside representatives of the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian communities, the Council is positioned to reflect the full breadth of Singapore’s multiracial and multireligious society.

For readers, the appointments signal continuity in Singapore’s institutional approach to safeguarding social cohesion, with the Council now operating under the new statutory framework of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act 2025.

Source: Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, No. 5360, 15 September 2026, Notices under other Acts (official reference: No. 5360, Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act 2025; [Istana Cf 02/01/025; AG/LEGIS/SL/CONS/2025/21]).