Singapore inherited a Westminster-style constitution from the British who ruled the island for 140 years. Since Singapore’s independence in 1965, this constitution has been amended and augmented many times wherein unique institutions – such as the Elected Presidency and Group Representation Constitutions – were created. All these changes occurred against the backdrop of Singapore’s special geographical local, multi-ethnic population and vulnerability to externalities. This book features a collection of short essays describing and explaining 50 Constitutional Moments – major inflexion points in the trajectory of Singapore’s constitutional development. The authors have selected each of these ‘moments’ on the basis of their impact in the forging of the modern constitutional order. Starting in 1965, the book begins chronologically, from the ‘moment’ of Singapore’s expulsion from the Federation of Malaysia through the establishment of the Wee Chong Jin Constitutional Commission (1966) to the entrenchment of the sovereignty clause in the Constitution (1972) right through to the 2000s, with the Presidential Elections of 2011. In these easy-to-read essays, the reader is introduced to what the authors consider to be the most important episodes that have shaped the Singapore Constitution. These articles cover key events like President Ong Teng Cheong’s 1999 Press Conference and the 2001 Tudung controversy; constitutional amendments like the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (1990) and the introduction of Nominated Members of Parliament (1990); and seminal cases like Chng Suan Tze v Minister for Home Affairs (1989) and Yong Vui Kong v PP (2010 & 2015)) that have contributed to the sculpting of Singapore’s constitutional landscape.

This book aims to give a comprehensive picture of law, government and the constitution in Malaysia, and to set constitutional developments in their proper political and social context. It is written in such a way that lawyers may see how perspectives other than the purely legal can enrich the understanding of constitutional issues in Malaysia and that others may comprehend the lawyer's perspective on these issues. There has been an increasing interest in constitutional issues in Malaysia since the mid-1980s following a number of important events, including the advent of judicial activism and the curtailment of royal powers. There is now a pressing need for a reappraisal of the Malaysian constitution in terms of its political and social dimensions and dynamics, and the extent of its adherence to, or its interpretation of, those principles which are collectively known as `constitutionalism', that is, democratic government, the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the observance of fundamental human rights and liberties. The book examines how the constitution has adjusted to its environment, how it actually operates and how its abstractions differ from reality. The author concludes that the principles of the constitution have been eroded to such a degree that a new constitutional settlement is needed - one which makes it clear what the basic tenets of the Malaysian polity are.