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‘We are feeling our way forward, step by step’
The continuing Singapore experiment in the construction
of communitarian constitutionalism in the twenty-first
century’s first decade
Thio Li-ann
i. introduction: trends, change-overs and major political
developments: 2000–2011Constitutions, as a form of political technology, are continuing experiments,
establishing fundamental principles, institutions and values undergirding state–
society relations. The Singapore constitutional experiment is relatively young, a few
years shy of its jubilee in 2015 .Asof 2009 , the relative youth of the nation is again
apparent – ‘The founding father is still in the House.’^1 Singapore’s first premier,
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has been in Cabinet since 1965 , only stepping down after the
2011 general elections, while retaining his parliamentary seat. Until then, his
intervention in politics had been determinative and his influence in shaping
the constitutional architecture lionesque. In terms of leading constitutional actors,
the first decade of the twenty-first century (‘the first decade’) has witnessed signifi-
cant changes and handovers. The motive force for constitutional change and
refinement may be encapsulated in the third prime minister’s comment: ‘We are
feeling our way forward step by step as Deng Xiaoping used to saymo zhe shi zi guo
he(摸着石子过河), looking for stone...as you cross the river.’
2
Singapore’s third chief justice (CJ), Chan Sek Keong, assumed office on 11 April
- 3
Unlike the utilitarian, parochial orientation of the preceding Yong Bench,
the jurisprudence from the Chan bench generally evidences a modest ‘sea change’
in a greater concern towards intrinsic legal values in balancing both efficiency and
fairness, and a more nuanced engagement with transnational legal sources, main-
taining a ‘particularism’ without parochialism. CJ Chan signalled an ambition to
expend ‘a sustained intellectual effort’ to develop ‘a large body of local
(^1) E.H. Ng, 86 Singapore Parliament Reports (SPR), 19 August 2009.
(^2) Transcript, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong National Day Rally speech, 20 August 2006.
(^3) The other chief justices were Yong Pung How ( 28 September 1990 – 10 April 2006 ) and Wee
Chong Jin ( 5 January 1963 – 27 September 1990 ).