PUBLISHED ONAugust 12, 2026 1:50 PMBYSean LerThe three institutions — elected presidency (EP), Group Representation Constituency (GRC), and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP) — are unique to Singapore and have stood the test of time to serve the country well, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Speaking at the launch of a new book, titled "Creating Three Unique Singapore Laws: An Inside Story", by former Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Tanglin on Wednesday (Aug 12), SM Lee noted that the true test of these institutions was how well they would work out in practice through the years, and across successive governments.
He said that in evaluating them, the overriding concern must always be about what is in Singapore's long-term interests, and what will maintain a stable and well-functioning political system in Singapore.
"And from that point of view, I am happy that all three have worked out well in practice. The institutions that Mr Lee and his team created have stood the test of time," SM Lee added.
Earlier in his speech, SM Lee referred to what Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said in 1984, as he explained his views on how the working Constitution could be updated, modified and adapted, when changes became necessary.
Lee Kuan Yew said in Parliament in 1984: “From my experience, constitutions have to be custom-made, tailored to suit the peculiarities of the person wearing the suit.
"Perhaps... like shoes, the older they are, the better they fit. Stretch them, soften them, resole them, repair them. They are always better than a brand new pair of shoes."
SM Lee said that Professor Jayakumar's book vividly describes what this meant in practice and how the Constitution was amended to create the three institutions.
"They are specifically adapted to our context and circumstances – and quite unlike any other constitution in the world," said SM Lee, adding that each institution had a clear purpose which made sense for Singapore's context.
He said that the EP was created to protect Singapore's reserves — painstakingly built up over many generations — preventing it from being squandered by an irresponsible Government.
It also serves to safeguard the integrity of the public service through independent oversight over key public service appointments and processes.
On GRCs, he reiterated that they were to ensure that there would always be adequate representation of the minority races in Parliament, while NCMPs were to ensure opposition voices were never shut out of Parliament.
This recognises the need to provide an outlet for the growing desire to have such voices in Parliament, he added.
@asiaone Speaking at the launch of a new book by former Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that in evaluating the three institutions - namely the elected presidency, Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) and Group Representation Constituency (GRC) scheme, the overriding concern must always be what is in Singapore’s long-term interests, and what will maintain a stable, well-functioning political system. SM Lee added from that point of view, he was happy that all three have worked out well in practice. #sgnews #Singapore #GRC #NCMP #ElectedPresidency ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
SM Lee noted that there were many disagreements after Lee Kuan Yew mooted the idea of the three institutions with Cabinet colleagues, with many possible models suggested and discarded.
"These deliberations surfaced new and complex considerations, which had to be carefully examined, and where relevant, taken into the design.
"From conceptual idea to implemented scheme, the team revised their thinking quite significantly."
Illustrating this, SM Lee said that the initial EP proposal entailed vesting the elected president with extensive executive powers, which could be used to check and overrule the Government of the day.
However, younger Cabinet colleagues, including Dr Tony Tan and Goh Chok Tong, expressed concerns that over-concentrating power in a single person could lead to political impasse and abuse of power.
Eventually, Singapore's leaders at that time decided that the elected president should only have custodial powers, which SM Lee said, means the power to say no to Government proposals, and even then only in specified key areas where checks and balances were particularly important.
Explaining why this is important later in his speech, SM Lee highlighted that the elected president has to win popular support to get elected.
This means that it is not a given that voters in a Presidential Election will judge candidates solely on who is best qualified for the task, or who is most committed to fulfilling the custodial role, adding that "many other factors and considerations" can influence the outcome.
He emphasised that presidents who end up exceeding their roles and responsibilities could cause the system to malfunction.
But he acknowledged that on the whole, Singapore's political system and long-term stability are still much better served with the check and balance afforded by an elected president, than without.
In their present form, each of these institutions is the end result of more than three decades of accumulated refinements and revisions, SM Lee said.
"To extend Mr Lee’s vivid metaphor, these innovations are no longer recent alterations to our old shoes, but have themselves been stretched, softened, smoothed, and re-patched, to become essential parts of the whole," he added.
Summarising the journey behind the institutions, SM Lee said that creating a Constitution and laws that meet the specific needs and circumstances of the country is "never a purely legal process".
Instead, it requires a keen understanding of Singapore's society, including its vulnerabilities, the likely problems, and the solutions to these problems that have the best chance of working.
"The men who created these three institutions were not scholars or philosophers. They were practical men — men who governed Singapore, and had spent decades creating this improbable nation, and making it work."
Constitutional innovations also cannot be divorced from their contemporary political context, or the larger changes in Singapore's demographics, SM Lee said.
Using the example of the 1984 General Election, he noted how the use of blatant racist appeals to win votes by some candidates gave renewed urgency to ensuring multi-racial representation in Parliament through the GRC system implemented in 1988.
In 1981, Lee Kuan Yew noted how the presence of opposition MP JB Jeyaretnam had sharpened parliamentary debates, leading to his conclusion that having opposition members of Parliament would keep ruling party MPs on their toes.
This led to the introduction of the NCMP scheme in 1984, SM Lee said.
Singapore's leaders at that time had also sought to build a constitutional framework that would last and bind future governments, regardless of political party, he added.
Thanking Prof Jayakumar for finishing the book he started in 2011, SM Lee said that it brings alive the problems the team was trying to solve, and the trade-offs, intricacies and complications they had to consider.
It sheds light on how the leadership team worked behind closed doors — open to radical, out-of-box ideas — and the intensive but objective discourse, he said.
"...Mr Lee Kuan Yew, as prime minister, put forth his views robustly, yet repeatedly and indeed obsessively sought alternative perspectives. He was always willing to be persuaded to change his mind, and sometimes settled on a conclusion only after years of reflection and debate.
"It shows what it means for the prime minister to be primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Cabinet, and how Cabinet collective responsibility is meant to work," SM Lee added.
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