Attendance at Meetings of Presidential Council for Minority Rights from 2012 to 2016

3 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Prime Minister what is the average number of absences for each member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights over the 31 meetings held from 2012 to 2016.

Mr Lee Hsien Loong: The composition of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights is not fixed and varies according to the terms of the Members. The number of Council meetings also varies from year to year depending on the number of legislations which it scrutinises.

As Council proceedings are conducted in private, it is not appropriate to disclose details of its meetings. All meetings of the Council have been conducted with sufficient quorum and decisions are made by the collective judgement of the Council as a whole. The work of the Council is also reported to the President and its report presented to Parliament annually.

The value and effectiveness of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights are not measured by the duration of its meetings or by the number of Members attending. The Council continues to exercise the duties entrusted to it by the Constitution responsibly and conscientiously.