Board-member clause in ISEAS Bill ‘will have no material impact’

SINGAPORE – While it sparked an acrimonious exchange involving Workers’ Party chief Low Thia Khiang and Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, among others, a clause in the Bill to rename the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) - which gives the Minister sole powers to appoint board members - would have no material impact on the institute, said former and current board members interviewed by TODAY.

They also pointed out that unlike other research institutions that operate autonomously within the universities here, ISEAS is the only one that is a statutory board. Mr Heng had explained that the clause would bring it in line with other statutory boards where, in general, board members are appointed by a minister.

The Bill to rename the institute after Singapore’s first President Yusof Ishak was passed on Tuesday (July 14), and the name change to ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute would take effect on Aug 12. However, all nine WP Members of Parliament objected to the clause, which also reduces the size of the board from 22 to 15.

The ISEAS Act, passed in 1968, had provided for board members to be appointed by the President and four chambers of commerce, two charitable organisations - Lee Foundation and Shaw Foundation - and the president of the National University of Singapore.

Pointing out that almost five decades have since passed, Mr K Kesavapany, who was director of ISEAS from 2002 to 2012. said that this arrangement may no longer be the optimal way. On the new clause, he said: “This is merely an administrative transfer of a function that was performed by the President and now it is performed by the minister. I don’t see that there is anything very drastic in this.”

ISEAS was the brainchild of former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee. Mr Kesavapany said that Dr Goh wanted ISEAS to be a standalone research institution that was not part of the universities here. Dr Goh had envisaged it to be an organisation that will “create knowledge and spread knowledge about the region”, he added. On why the President was among those given the appointing authority at the beginning, Mr Kesavapany said the decision could have been made to lend prestige to the newly set-up institution then.

The process of appointing board members can take about six months, Mr Kesavapany said. Those appointed sit on the board for up to three years.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, an ISEAS spokesman said that currently, the institute consults the Education Minister “on all board nominations before they are communicated to the President for appointment”. He reiterated: “The change to give the Education Minister the power to nominate Board Members does not affect the way in which ISEAS operates... ISEAS is a statutory board under the purview of the MOE and (the ministry) is already involved in appointments to the ISEAS board.”

Straits Law Practice senior director M Rajaram, who sits on the ISEAS board, acknowledged that a reduction in the number of members may result in less diversity. But he pointed out that with the changes, the minister can appoint individuals who can contribute. Under the current pratice, the importance of the appointments may be diminished as organisations empowered to appoint board members will not lose these spots regardless of how their representatives perform, Mr Rajaram noted.

On the fact that his organisation would no longer have the power to appoint board members, Mr Lim Kok Eng, who is representing Lee Foundation on the ISEAS board, said that the foundation’s representatives would do their best to render their services when they are appointed. But if none of their representatives are appointed, it would be “one less job” for them, he added.

ISEAS: INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY NOT AFFECTED

The ISEAS spokesman said that the amendment bill passed in Parliament “does not affect the independence and autonomy of the Institute’s research”.

“The research programme and focus of the Institute does not require the approval of the Minister or MOE. This has been so since its inception in 1968 and will remain so even after the change of name,” he said.

Mr Kesavapany said that it is ultimately the responsibility of the people involved with ISEAS - including its directors, trustees, and research staff - to ensure that its credibility and academic integrity are maintained.

On Tuesday, the parliamentary debate on the Bill took an acrimonious turn, after Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education and Manpower) Hawazi Daipi accused WP chairman Sylvia Lim of politicising the issue when she voiced her party’s objection to the clause.

Mr Heng, Mr Low and WP MP Faisal Manap also jumped into the fray and locked horns for more than 30 minutes, prompting Parliament Speaker Halimah Yacob to stop the feisty debate, which she said was “going around in circles”. The exchange saw Mr Low accusing the Government of having a hidden motive to “control” ISEAS under the guise of honouring Mr Yusof. This drew a testy response from Mr Heng, who said he was “surprised” and “disappointed” by Mr Low’s comments.

Political observer Eugene Tan described the fiesty exchange in Parliament as “a storm in the tea cup”. It was odd for WP to insinuate that the amendments were designed for the government to control ISEAS, he said. Nevertheless, the Government could have debunked its concerns in a matter-of-fact manner, he added.

The Singapore Management University law don said: “Ultimately, any academic institution that seeks to serve political interest will not stand up to scrutiny of its peers because they would be generating research that would be biased or that would not stand up to rigorous peer review.”