The Nominated Member of Parliament Scheme

by Anthea Ong

Although more than 30 years have passed since the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) scheme was introduced in 1990, it remains controversial and poorly understood today.

Have NMPs raised views that elected MPs — on both sides of the House — could or did not? Have they kept voters away from the Opposition, or been a bulwark of loving critics in the midst of a parliamentary supermajority?

In this first book devoted to the NMP scheme, former NMP Anthea Ong brings together 19 colleagues past and present to discuss their experiences in office, from the Population White Paper to the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, and what being appointed has meant to them personally.

In exploring the workings and impact of the NMP scheme, the contributors hope this book will invite Singaporeans to consider how their NMPs should and must represent them, aside from their elected representatives. And in doing so, ask: What sort of Parliament does Singapore, as an evolving society, deserve?

388 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Chui Qing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to the style of the book, it really did feel like speaking to 19 different NMPs! I enjoyed reading the different essays (some more than others) including those by people who I didn’t even know were NMPs (like the author of a SingLit text I studied in school). Ultimately, the NMP scheme is a flawed way to fix a flawed system, but I would say I have a stronger stance on the system now after reading the book, and it’ll probably do well to inform yours to.


Side note: the Appendix is quite a treasure trove!

[Horatio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about NMPs and what they do in Parliament. Anthea Ong did a good job in collecting the essays from various NMPs, making sure to include NMPs from all the different sittings of Parliament since the scheme had been introduced. I also appreciated that her forewords provided important context for the reader, to ensure that they knew what the motions were for.

It also read like a checklist of everything that NMPs had done, which makes sense as she herself explicitly states that she had collated this book to show that NMPs were actually a useful arm of parliament, and should not be removed.

However, the writing itself left much to be desired. I understand that NMPs come from all walks of life to represent various groups, but some essays were really well-written and others were unclear and narrative in nature. Some were also unclear in their central argument. I wish that the essays had been better edited for style and clarity, to be consistent across the book. That said, this is a common issue across most essay collections, and not just this one.

[Yong Feng · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the effort made to interview and feature a large number of former and current NMPs in this book to hear directly from them about the significance of the scheme. Some of the essays repeated similar points, which is unavoidable in such a format. While the personal voices and reflections are interesting, I feel they could have been complemented by some non-NMP views - the appendix with statistics NMP representation was a step towards this but lacked a deeper analysis beyond the figures. The lack of support for parliamentary research and secretarial work as well as collaboration between NMPs seems to be a key sticking point across many of the essays, as well as the lack of transparency in the selection process. Ultimately, I did learn new things about the NMP scheme and the impact it has made over the years.