Singapore

This chapter examines how the common law legacy, a remnant of its colonial past, has survived in Singapore and how the charity law aspect of that legacy now fits with the contemporary social policy challenges that are particular to this tiny jurisdiction. It is both a good and a bad time to conduct such an exercise.

For the several decades that have elapsed since it acquired independence, the regulatory framework governing charity in Singapore offered an interesting contrast with other common law jurisdictions. A very conservative and tightly controlled regime provided a stifling environment for philanthropy and failed to generate a significant culture of giving and volunteering. This may now be about to change. Following a scandal concerning governance in a leading Singaporean charity,1 one with a prominent international profile, the government instituted a charity law reform process the outcomes of which are now partially in place. A further legislative phase is anticipated and at this point it is difficult to be certain as to the full extent of the change that will be incorporated in statute form. At this stage, however, it is possible to gauge the broad direction and nature of reform and to conclude that the future legal framework for charity in Singapore will differ in some important respects from the model that has prevailed since independence.