\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“I am not in favour of the idea. We should avoid it if we can. As a Malay, I don\u2019t think I would like to contest in any elections where my victory is guaranteed \u2013 not because I am a \u2018strong\u2019 candidate but because I have a so-called \u2018strong\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Prof Jayakumar then proposed nominating minority MPs. \u201cWe could empower the president, whenever there were insufficient numbers of Malay or minority members, to nominate Members of Parliament to make up certain numbers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee rejected the idea as even more demeaning, as the nominees would not have been elected by the people at all.<\/p>\n
Then-Attorney General Tan Boon Teik suggested reserved constituencies for Malay candidates, which Prof Jayakumar said was also \u201cobjectionable and not acceptable to the minority community\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you see, several alternatives were floated,\u201d said Prof Jayakumar.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough came when Mr Goh, who later became Singapore\u2019s second prime minister, proposed widening the GRC system to include other minority communities beyond Malays. This addressed Dr Ahmad Mattar\u2019s reservations.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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