PSS101 GBA (Group-based Assignment) SUSS : July 2024 – Introduction to the Singapore Legal System

Part I: Essay

A 34-years old Singaporean man namely Alex Timah had just descended from Mount Faber Park and proclaimed that he had received a divine revelation to establish a new religious movement in Singapore which is to be known as the “Saturnary” movement.

Alex Timah went on to author and published the Saturnary’s religious text namely the “Holy Star” which generally promotes ill-will amongst other religious and racial groups in Singapore causing unrest and discontent amongst Singaporeans. On 15 July 2024 Alex Timah held a public assembly, where he promoted the contents/teachings of the Holy star without a valid license from the Singapore Police Force, at the Singapore’s Speakers’ Corner located at Hong Lim Park. At the assembly, Alex Timah made derogatory comments on the various religious beliefs and races in Singapore intending for it to cause discontent and hurt amongst the passers-by and riling up his 10,000 devotees who attended the assembly.

The passers-by were upset with the said derogatory comments made by Alex Timah as they found it to be racist and hurtful. Many passers-by were discontented and most of them lodged police reports against Alex Timah for the derogatory and hurtful comments made on the various faiths and races. Consequentially, Alex Timah was arrested on 20th July 2024 for, amongst others, holding a public assembly without a valid license and promoting ill-will amongst the various races and religious beliefs in Singapore. Alex Timah is now released on bail and has approached your legal team for advice.

Discuss whether Alex Timah’s (i) freedom of religion and (ii) freedom of speech and expression is/are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore and identify if the scope of this/these rights is/are limited and illustrate the rationale behind such limitation(s).

Part II: Presentation (60 marks) Part IIa:

Interview Assignment (30 marks) Under the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, the President’s function is different from that of the Prime Minister. Examine the power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) of the President of the Republic of Singapore, as enshrined in the constitution of the Republic of Singapore with a stakeholder (a member of the public).

Each student will conduct ONE audio recorded semi-structured interview (10 mins) as part of primary research (data collection) to find out the public’s perceptions of:

the President’s power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) (if any) which is/are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore AND their ability to identify what this/these power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) is/are (e.g. power to pardon etc.)
whether they are aware of the composition of the Council of Presidential Advisors and their role(s), power(s) and limitation(s) (if any)
whether amendment(s) can be made (and if so, how made) to the Constitution defining the President’s power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) (if any)  what else could be done to raise the awareness of Singaporeans on the structure of the Executive branch of the Government. Take note:
You would need to profile your stakeholder. Stakeholder MUST be a Singapore citizen. This means finding out relevant demographic-related facts such as age, gender, marital status, education level, nationality, among others.
Craft and ask open-ended questions that will encourage stakeholders to share their experiences, opinions, and insights on what you hope to understand.
You should obtain stakeholder consent to record your interview (voice recording). Please ensure that the stakeholder’s identity is not exposed in the recording.
Use the informed consent form provided (see end of this assignment brief)
Observe research ethics.

Specifically, you are not allowed to interview the following groups of people in order to protect their rights and welfare:

(i) Anyone below 16 years of age;

(ii) People living with disabilities;

(iii) People with special needs;

(iv) People living with mental illnesses.

You should observe confidentiality protocol. This means that any personal information (name, affiliation) of the interviewees that leads to them being identified should not be included in your submission. All interview findings should only be used for this course and not shared outside the context of the university, on the internet or on any social media platform.

The presentation should include the following:

Examine the President’s power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) (if any) which is/are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore
Explain the composition of the Council of Presidential Advisors and their role(s), power(s) and limitation(s) (if any)
Explain the level of awareness of the President’s power(s), role(s) and limitation(s)(if any) as enshrined in the Republic of Singapore’s Constitution
Review the level of awareness of the composition of the Council of Presidential Advisors and their role(s), power(s) and limitation(s) (if any), amongst the interviewees
Examine and provide brief description of the powers/roles/limitation(s) the stakeholders identified
Summary of stakeholders’ views
Examine whether amendment(s) can be made (and if so, how made) to the Constitution and specifically in relation to amendment defining the President’s power(s), role(s) and limitation(s) (if any)
Develop and provide suggestions to increase the awareness of Singaporeans on the structure of the Executive branch of the Government.

Note: You must support your analysis with findings/evidence from the stakeholders’ interviews and secondary research.

Additional Note: • Please submit a recording of your presentation in the form of a video in .mp4 format.

The presentation must be delivered verbally, with every member of the group speaking. All members of the group must be present in the video (with video camera on).
You may use meeting conferencing platforms to record the presentation or any other video production tools. The presentation must not be narrated by AI generative tools.
The delivery of presentation should not exceed 15 minutes.
You must upload the Microsoft PowerPoint slides in .ppt, .pptx, or .pdf format into Canvas.
Word count: Maximum 12 Microsoft PowerPoint slides only. • In-text citations and a reference list must be provided in the presentation slides. (30 marks)

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