Tan Cheng Bock v AG 63 [2017] SGCA 50 But the question of constitutional interpretation in this appeal does not concern only Art 19B; here we turn to Art 164, which provides: Transitional provisions for Article 19B 164.—(1) The Legislature must, by law — (a) specify the first term of office of the President to be counted for the purposes of deciding whether an election is reserved under Article 19B; and (b) if any of the terms of office that are counted for the purposes of deciding whether an election is reserved under Article 19B commenced before the appointed date, further specify the communities to which the persons who held those terms of office are considered to belong. (2) In this Article, “appointed date” means the date of commencement of section 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 2016. As we shall see, Art 164 is of critical importance and, ultimately, must displace the presumptive position described above (at [59]). 64 Art 164 is a transitional provision. The function of a transitional provision is, as the Appellant rightly points out, “to make special provision for the application of legislation to the circumstances which exist at the time when that legislation comes into force” (Regina v Secretary of State for Social Security ex parte Britnell [1991] 1 WLR 198 at 202B–C). 65 That is what Art 164 does for Art 19B. Art 164(1)(a) mandates that Parliament shall specify the “first term of office” to be counted for the purposes of determining a reserved election under Art 19B; it is, as the Judge noted, a “duty-imposing” provision as much as a “power-conferring” one. Looking further, Art 164(1)(b) crucially adds that if any of the terms counted for the purposes of deciding if an election is reserved under Art 19B commenced before the appointed date (1 April 2017), Parliament must specify the racial 35