Tan Cheng Bock v AG [2017] SGCA 50 (Inspector of Taxes) [1955] 1 AC 667 at 685. However, unless we are satisfied that Parliament did intend that the identical expression, “office of the President”, in Art 19B(1) could mean two different things, the presumptive view would be that the condition – that no person of a given community has held the office of President – would be assessed by reference to those eligible for and holding that office under the Constitution as it stands after the appointed date; (ii) The second point to note is that it speaks not of a President who was elected to the office but of one who has held the office. This choice of words is potentially of wide application. There are potentially two categories of persons it could cover: those who have held the office in their own right, pursuant to an election (leaving to one side for the moment, whether this is by Parliament or by the citizens); and those who do not hold the office in their own right but exercise the functions and powers of the office for a time. In relation to the former category, namely those who hold the office in their own right, Art 19B is silent on how long a President must have held the term for. (d) “for any of the 5 most recent terms of office of the President”: This too is of interest for two reasons. First, it completes the condition for an election to be reserved by stipulating the duration for which no person of the community in question must have held the office. The second point is that it defines that duration by reference to the number of “terms of office of the President” rather than by reference to a certain length of time. As explained, “office of the President” here should be 32

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