Singapore must keep minority safeguards like GRC system, as 'racial undercurrents' persist: Jayakumar

Recent online vitriol against the Indian community shows that Singapore must stay realistic despite decades of progress, says the former senior minister.

Former Senior Minister S Jayakumar during an exclusive interview with CNA at The Arts House at the old parliament building on Sep 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Timothy De Souza)

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

This is the first of three articles from CNA’s interview with former Senior Minister S Jayakumar, who recently launched his book Creating Three Unique Singapore Laws: An Inside Story. The book chronicles how the elected presidency, Group Representation Constituencies and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament were established through constitutional amendment.

SINGAPORE: Recent online vitriol against the Indian community shows “racial undercurrents” persist in Singapore despite decades of progress - which is why mechanisms to safeguard minority representation such as the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system are still needed, said former Senior Minister S Jayakumar.

“(The GRC system) will no longer apply when you and I can confidently say that race, language and religion are issues we never have to worry about again,” he said.

Online comments following the Nepal-Tibet disaster and Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) investment in Air India show that race remains a sensitive issue that can be exploited, he told CNA in an interview.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less “We have made great strides on the government’s part, as well as on society's part, in moving towards greater understanding and harmony between the different groups, different communities. “I'm old enough to have seen racial riots, and 10 years as home affairs minister, I had to deal with issues caused by race, language and religion. I would caution us to be more realistic,” he said. He pointed to the last General Election, when Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had to make a strong statement about playing the racial card in the middle of the hustings. More recently, Mr Wong, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister K Shanmugam denounced “very vile and vicious racial slurs made by some Singaporeans against the Indian community” after the Nepal-Tibet disaster and the SIA investment. ALTERNATIVES TO GRC SYSTEM During the interview, Prof Jayakumar also spoke about how the GRC system originated from a “twin constituencies” proposal mooted by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1982.

“We have made great strides on the government’s part, as well as on society's part, in moving towards greater understanding and harmony between the different groups, different communities.

“I'm old enough to have seen racial riots, and 10 years as home affairs minister, I had to deal with issues caused by race, language and religion. I would caution us to be more realistic,” he said.

He pointed to the last General Election, when Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had to make a strong statement about playing the racial card in the middle of the hustings.

More recently, Mr Wong, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister K Shanmugam denounced “very vile and vicious racial slurs made by some Singaporeans against the Indian community” after the Nepal-Tibet disaster and the SIA investment.

ALTERNATIVES TO GRC SYSTEM

During the interview, Prof Jayakumar also spoke about how the GRC system originated from a “twin constituencies” proposal mooted by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1982.

Under that proposal, two constituencies would be paired, with two Members of Parliament contesting together, one of them from a minority community. It was met with strong objection from some Cabinet members, including then-Environment Minister Ahmad Mattar.

"I am not in favour of the idea. We should avoid it if we can. As a Malay, I don’t think I would like to contest in any elections where my victory is guaranteed – not because I am a ‘strong’ candidate but because I have a so-called ‘strong’ twin brother to lean on," Dr Mattar wrote in a letter to Mr Goh Chok Tong, who had sounded him out as Mr Lee requested.

Prof Jayakumar then proposed nominating minority MPs. “We could empower the president, whenever there were insufficient numbers of Malay or minority members, to nominate Members of Parliament to make up certain numbers,” he said.

Mr Lee rejected the idea as even more demeaning, as the nominees would not have been elected by the people at all.

Then-Attorney General Tan Boon Teik suggested reserved constituencies for Malay candidates, which Prof Jayakumar said was also “objectionable and not acceptable to the minority community”.

“So you see, several alternatives were floated,” said Prof Jayakumar.

The breakthrough came when Mr Goh, who later became Singapore’s second prime minister, proposed widening the GRC system to include other minority communities beyond Malays. This addressed Dr Ahmad Mattar’s reservations.

The GRC scheme was eventually passed in parliament in May 1988, and introduced at the General Election later that year, with 39 seats across 13 GRCs, out of a total of 81 seats.

Second Law Minister S Jayakumar trying out a gun during his visit to the Security Branch of the Internal Security Department at Loewen Road on Jan 14, 1987. (Photo: National Archives of Singapore)

RESERVED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

In the same vein, Prof Jayakumar said he supported the idea of reserved presidential elections even before the constitutional commission officially proposed them.

Changes to the elected presidency, passed in November 2016, include a mechanism that reserves an election for a community that has not been represented for five consecutive terms. “Is it good or bad for Singapore if half a century or more passes by without a Malay or minority occupying the highest office in the country? If you take the view that it doesn't matter, then you don't have to do anything,” Prof Jayakumar said.

Asked if reserved elections imply that candidates from certain minority groups could not otherwise win an open contest, Prof Jayakumar noted that similar criticisms were made when the proposal first emerged.

“But we have to be realistic,” said Prof Jayakumar. “In a presidential election, the whole of Singapore, in a sense, is treated as one constituency. All of Singapore are voting for one candidate, unlike General Elections where individual wards, different candidates are being contested. That has a different dynamic altogether.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law S Jayakumar and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the National Day Rally 2000 at the Kallang Theatre on Aug 20, 2000. (Photo: National Archives of Singapore)

He acknowledged that President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whom he called “an outstanding person”, was elected in an open contest. Mr Tharman, also a former senior minister, won the 2023 presidential election with 70.4 per cent of the votes in a three-way race.

“Can you be absolutely sure that in the next 30, 40, 50 years, you will have another minority candidate elected? So is it prudent to have a mechanism that ensures that?” asked Prof Jayakumar, stressing that a reserved election is a precaution that applies only if the situation calls for it.

While he hopes such topics will fade over time, Prof Jayakumar said Singapore should remain cautious.

“We have made great progress. But at the same time, we have to be clear-eyed that there are these racial undercurrents which may be exploited from time to time by some people. So because of that, it's better to put some mechanisms in place,” he said.

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这位前高级部长表示，最近网上针对印度社群的恶意攻击表明，尽管新加坡取得了数十年的发展，但必须保持务实态度。

2026年9月14日，前高级部长S Jayakumar在旧国会大厦的艺术中心接受CNA独家专访。（图片：CNA/Timothy De Souza）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

这是亚洲新闻台（CNA）对前高级部长S·贾古玛的专访系列文章的第一篇。贾古玛近期发布了他的新书《创建新加坡三项独特法律：内幕故事》。该书详细记录了新加坡如何通过宪法修正案设立民选总统制、集选区制和非选区议员制。

新加坡：前高级部长S Jayakumar表示，最近网上针对印度裔群体的恶毒攻击表明，尽管新加坡几十年来取得了进步，但“种族暗流”依然存在——这就是为什么仍然需要像集选区（GRC）制度这样的机制来保障少数族裔的代表权。

他说：“当我们都能自信地说，种族、语言和宗教是我们永远不必再担心的问题时，（集选区制度）就不再适用了。”

他在接受亚洲新闻台采访时表示，尼泊尔-西藏空难和新加坡航空公司（新航）投资印度航空后的网络评论表明，种族问题仍然是一个容易被利用的敏感问题。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，大挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 “政府和社会在促进不同群体、不同社区之间的相互理解与和谐方面都取得了长足进步。” “我年纪足够大，亲眼目睹过种族骚乱，担任内政部长10年期间，我不得不处理由种族、语言和宗教引起的问题。” “我建议大家要更加务实，”他说。他指出，在上届大选中，时任总理黄循财不得不就竞选期间打种族牌一事发表强硬声明。最近，在尼泊尔-西藏灾难和新航投资事件之后，黄循财、李显龙和尚穆根三位高级部长谴责了“一些新加坡人对印度社群发表的极其卑劣恶毒的种族歧视言论”。 在采访中，贾亚库玛教授还谈到了集选区制度的起源，即建国总理李光耀在1982年提出的“双选区”方案。

“无论是政府还是社会，我们都在努力增进不同群体、不同社区之间的相互理解与和谐。

“我年纪够大，亲眼目睹过种族骚乱，担任内政部长十年期间，我也处理过由种族、语言和宗教引发的问题。我想提醒大家要更加务实，”他说。

他指出，在上届大选中，总理黄循财不得不就竞选活动中打种族牌一事发表强硬声明。

最近，黄之锋先生、李显龙高级部长和尚穆根高级部长谴责了尼泊尔-西藏灾难和新加坡航空公司投资后“一些新加坡人对印度社群发表的极其卑鄙恶毒的种族侮辱”。

GRC系统的替代方案

在采访中，贾亚库玛教授还谈到集选区制度是如何起源于建国总理李光耀在 1982 年提出的“双选区”提案的。

根据该提议，两个选区将合并，由两名议员共同竞选，其中一人必须来自少数族裔。该提议遭到部分内阁成员的强烈反对，其中包括时任环境部长艾哈迈德·马塔尔。

“我不赞成这个想法。如果可以的话，我们应该避免它。作为一名马来人，我不希望参加任何胜券在握的选举——不是因为我是一个‘强’候选人，而是因为我有一个所谓的‘强’孪生兄弟可以依靠，”马塔尔医生在写给吴作栋先生的信中这样说道。吴作栋先生是应李显龙先生的要求向他征询意见的。

贾亚库玛教授随后提议提名少数族裔议员。他说：“我们可以授权总统，在马来族或少数族裔议员人数不足时，提名议员以弥补人数缺口。”

李先生认为这种做法更加有损尊严，因为被提名人根本不是由人民选举产生的。

时任总检察长陈文德建议为马来候选人保留选区，但贾亚库玛教授表示，这一建议“令人反感，少数族裔无法接受”。

“所以你看，我们提出了好几种替代方案，”杰亚库马尔教授说。

突破性进展出现在吴作栋先生（他后来成为新加坡第二任总理）提议扩大集选区制度，将马来人以外的其他少数族裔纳入其中时。这消除了艾哈迈德·马塔尔博士的疑虑。

集选区制度最终于 1988 年 5 月在国会获得通过，并在同年晚些时候的大选中推出，在总共 81 个席位中，有 39 个席位分布在 13 个集选区。

1987年1月14日，第二法律部长S Jayakumar在视察位于罗文路的内部安全局安全处时试用枪支。（照片：新加坡国家档案馆）

保留的总统选举

同样，贾亚库马尔教授表示，早在宪法委员会正式提出保留总统选举制度之前，他就支持这一想法。

2016年11月通过的总统选举制度改革方案中包含一项机制，规定如果某个族群连续五届未在总统职位上获得代表，则该族群将获得一次选举机会。“如果半个世纪甚至更长时间过去，新加坡的最高领导人仍然不是马来人或少数族裔，这对新加坡来说是好事还是坏事？如果你认为这无关紧要，那就什么都不用做。”杰亚库玛教授说道。

当被问及保留选举是否意味着某些少数族裔的候选人无法在公开竞选中获胜时，贾亚库马尔教授指出，当该提议首次出现时，也曾有人提出过类似的批评。

“但我们必须面对现实，”贾亚库玛教授说。“在总统选举中，从某种意义上说，整个新加坡被视为一个选区。所有新加坡人都投票给同一位候选人，这与大选不同，大选是各个选区、不同候选人之间的竞争。两者的运作机制完全不同。”

2000年8月20日，外交部长兼律政部长S Jayakumar和高级部长李光耀在加冷剧院举行的2000年国庆群众大会上。（照片：新加坡国家档案馆）

他承认，他称赞的总统尚达曼是一位“杰出人士”，并且是在公开竞选中当选的。尚达曼先生也曾担任高级部长，在2023年的总统选举中，他在三方角逐中以70.4%的得票率获胜。

“你能绝对确定在未来30年、40年、50年内，还会有一位少数族裔候选人当选吗？那么，建立一种确保这一点的机制是否明智呢？”贾亚库马尔教授问道，并强调保留选举是一种预防措施，只有在情况需要时才适用。

杰亚库玛教授希望这类话题会随着时间推移而逐渐淡出人们的视线，但他表示新加坡仍应保持谨慎。

“我们取得了巨大进步。但与此同时，我们必须清醒地认识到，种族问题仍然存在，有些人可能会不时地利用这些问题。因此，最好建立一些机制来应对，”他说。

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