Glossary

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A

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B

Barisan Sosialis

Political party that is no longer active but not dissolved. Merged with Workers' Party.

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M

MEWR

the old Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. Refer to MSE for name change.

MHA

Stands for Ministry of Home Affairs, consists of MHA Headquarters and 10 Departments, and is known collectively as the Home Team. Responsible for national security, public security, civil defence, border control and immigration of Singapore.

Has 7 departments:
- Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB)
- Home Team Academy (HTA)
- Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA)
- Internal Security Department (ISD)
- Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)
- Singapore Police Force (SPF)
- Singapore Prison Service (SPS)

Has 3 Statutory Boards
- Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA)
- Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX)
- Yellow Ribbon Singapore

Has 4 Committees/Councils
- Presidential Council for Religious Harmony
- National Crime Prevention Council
- National Council Against Drug Abuse
- National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council

Registry of Societies (ROS) also comes under MHA.

MSE

Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment. Used to be ENV (set up in September 1972) which was renamed Sep 2004 to Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources ( MEWR). MEWR renamed MSE on 27 July 2020.

Has 3 Statutory Boards
- NEA
- PUB
- SFA

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N

NTUC

Stands for National Trades Union Congress. First established on 6 September 1961 as union for workers. After dissolution of STUC, split

SATU (Barisan Sosialis)
NTUC (PAP)

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O

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P

POFMA

Abbreviation of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 which came into force on 2 Oct 2019. Managed by the POFMA Office, under the Infocomm Media Development Authority IMDA, which is a statutory board under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).

The POFMA Office
- issues Directions/Notices upon the instruction of Ministers
- monitors and enforces compliance with the Directions/Notices
- administers monitors and enforces compliance with the Codes of Practice

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Q

test

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R

Registry of Societies

A unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the ROS administers the Societies Act and Regulations which oversees the registration of any society and ensures societies which have "unlawful purposes, pose a threat to safety and security", or whose activities are contrary to the national interests. Also governs proper accounting/audits and fund-raising activities. All political parties must register with them.

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S

STUC

Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), established on 13 June 1951. Precursor to the SATU & NTUC.

Speaker of Parliament

Presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore and second in the presidential line of succession.

Duties involve:
- presides over the sittings of Parliament
- enforces rules for the orderly conduct of parliamentary business
- enforces the rules of debate
- decide who has the right to speak, put the question for Parliament to debate on and vote
- unlike other countries which practice strictly non-partisan Speaker, SG Speaker can remain partisan
- cannot debate, but as MP, can vote

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