Act of Parliament · Updated to 31 Mar 1994
Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation) Act 1949
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s 1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple
(Incorporation) Act 1949.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“Advisory Committee” means the Committee referred to in section 15;
“Register” means the Register of Members of the Corporation kept under section 6;
“Standing Committee” means the Committee referred to in section 11.
s 3Incorporation
The persons whose names are from time to time inscribed in the Register shall be a body corporate (hereinafter called “the
Corporation”) and shall have perpetual succession under the name of “The Cheng Hoon Teng Temple”.
s 4Office
The Corporation shall have an office at the Cheng Hoon Teng
Temple in Jalan To’ Kong (Temple Street), Malacca, or at such other place as may, from time to time, be specified by the Corporation.
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The Corporation shall have at least thirty-one members of whom—
four shall be members of the Standing Committee;
seventeen shall be members of the Advisory Committee;
and
ten shall be elected by the Standing Committee:
Provided that the Standing Committee may by special resolution increase the minimum number of members of the Corporation as they think fit.
For the purposes of subsection (1) “special resolution” means a resolution passed by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the members present at a meeting of the Standing Committee duly convened.
If the number of the members of the Corporation shall at any time be less than thirty-one, no business shall be transacted by the Corporation except for the purpose of filling vacancies.
As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the
Standing Committee shall elect not less than ten persons to be members of the Corporation.
No person shall be eligible for membership of the Corporation unless—
he is of Chinese origin;
he has attained the age of thirty years;
he was born in the Federation or the Republic of Singapore or has ordinarily resided in those territories for a period of ten years immediately preceding his election as a member; and
immediately prior to his election as a member, he is not a person professing the Christian or Islamic religion.
Every person shall immediately after election as a member of the Corporation, sign the form of consent set out in the Third
Schedule, and his name shall not be inscribed in the Register until he shall have signed such form.
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
The Standing Committee may refuse to admit a person as a member of the Corporation and shall not be bound to give its reasons for such refusal, and in any event the fact that there are already thirty-one members of the Corporation (inclusive of the members of the Standing Committee and of the Advisory Committee)
shall be a sufficient reason for refusing to admit a person as a member of the Corporation.
Where the application (the proposal) of a person for membership of the Corporation has been rejected by the Standing
Committee, that person shall not apply (be proposed) for membership until the expiration of one year from the date of such rejection.
s 6Register of Members of the Corporation
The Standing Committee shall within three months after the commencement of this Act cause to be kept a Register of Members of the Corporation and to be inscribed therein the name, address and occupation of every person elected to be a member of the
Corporation and the date of his election.
s 7Termination of membership
A member shall cease to be a member of the Corporation in any of the following events:
if he shall give seven days’ notice in writing of his intention to resign by delivering such notice or by sending the same by prepaid registered post addressed to the
Corporation at its registered office;
if he shall be adjudicated bankrupt or have a receiving order in bankruptcy made against him;
if he shall be found guilty by any Court of an offence punishable with a maximum sentence of imprisonment for a term of six months or upwards and shall by that
Court be sentenced to any term of imprisonment:
Provided always that the Standing Committee shall have power by special resolution to re-elect such member immediately in cases arising from motoring and traffic offences and offences of a like nature;
if he shall become a lunatic;
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if he shall cease to be ordinarily resident in Malacca or become a Christian or a Muslim;
if, being a member of the Standing Committee, he absents himself from the meetings of such Committee, of which due notice has been given, without special leave of absence obtained from the Chairman of the Corporation on six consecutive occasions and a resolution is passed to that effect at a meeting of the Standing Committee;
if, being a member of the Advisory Committee and having been duly called upon to do so, he fails, without special leave obtained from the Chairman of the Corporation, to attend meetings of the Advisory Committee on six consecutive occasions and a resolution is passed to that effect at a meeting of the Standing Committee.
s 8Expulsion of members
If in the opinion of the Standing Committee any member of the Corporation shall misconduct himself or his affairs, or otherwise be or become unfit to continue to be a member he may, by the vote of two-thirds of the members personally present at a General
Meeting of the Corporation specially called to consider the matter, be expelled from the Corporation but he shall at such meeting be given an opportunity of explaining his conduct or the matter giving rise to the calling of the meeting, and no vote shall be passed at such meeting unless such opportunity aforesaid shall have been given. For the purposes of this section, a member shall be deemed to have had an opportunity of attending the said meeting to explain his conduct as aforesaid, if seven clear days’ notice of the said meeting specifying the place, the day and the hour of meeting shall be served upon such member either personally or by sending it by registered post addressed to such at his address as is, for the time being, stated in the Register.
The Corporation shall have and may use a corporate seal which may, from time to time, be broken, changed, altered or made anew as the Corporation shall deem fit.
The Corporation may sue and be sued in respect of its property and otherwise in all courts.
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
The Corporation may acquire, purchase, lease, take, hold and enjoy for valuable consideration or by way of gift or otherwise movable and immovable property of every description and may sell, exchange, convey, assign, surrender and yield up, mortgage, demise, re-assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of and deal with any movable and immovable property vested in the Corporation upon such terms as the Corporation shall deem fit and shall do and perform all other acts, deeds and things as are conducive to the attainment of the objects and general purposes of the Corporation hereinafter mentioned or are incidental thereto or connected therewith in any manner whatsoever or are likely in any respect to be advantageous to the Corporation.
s 10Objects and purposes
The objects and general purposes of the Corporation shall be—
the promotion, propagation and observance of the doctrines, ceremonies, rites and customs of the Buddhist and other religions (including Confucianism and Taoism, but not including the Christian or Islamic religions) commonly professed or maintained in Malacca by the Chinese
Community;
the maintenance, administration and improvement of and, if necessary, the enlargement and rebuilding of the Cheng
Hoon Teng Temple and other Temples which may belong to or be acquired by or under the care or control of the
Corporation;
the maintenance, administration and improvement and, if necessary, the enlargement and development of all burial grounds and other property of whatever description belonging to or acquired by the Corporation whether by way of gift, surrender, purchase, or in any other manner and the development for building or other purpose any land belonging to or under the control of or acquired by the Corporation as aforesaid and the rebuilding or improvement of properties belonging to or under the control of or acquired by the Corporation which is not required for use as a burial ground;
the establishment of a register of Chinese marriages; the provision and maintenance of a place to be set apart for the solemnization of marriages in accordance with Buddhist
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or Chinese practice; the establishment and maintenance of a crematorium for use in accordance with the doctrines of Buddhism, or any other religion commonly professed by the Chinese Community in Malacca;
such other charitable, humanitarian and religious purposes or objects for the benefit of the Chinese Community of the Federation and the Republic of Singapore including the relief of distress among the Chinese Community of these territories and the provision of adequate facilities for burial of the dead as shall be considered desirable by the Corporation.
The affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by a
Standing Committee consisting of not less than four and not more than six members to be styled Thye Lees or Managing Trustees who may exercise all such powers of the Corporation as are not by this Act or any other law in force for the time being required to be exercised by the Corporation in General Meeting.
No person shall be eligible for the office of Thye Lee or
Managing Trustee unless—
he is a member of the Corporation; and
his nomination for election is approved by a majority of the Standing Committee.
The first members of the Standing Committee shall be Poh
Kim Tiong of No. 55, Jonker Street, Malacca, Chan Teck Chye of No. 30, Second Cross Street, Malacca, Tan Cheng Lock of 96,
First Cross Street, Malacca and Loh Kim Swi of 317C, Klebang
Besar, Malacca.
The members of the Standing Committee (other than the original members) shall be elected from the members of the
Corporation in manner hereinafter appearing.
The four original members of the Standing Committee named in subsection (3) shall retire from office in the order therein set out respectively at the second, third, fourth and fifth Annual General
Meetings of the Corporation held after the commencement of this
Act. In each case, the retiring member shall be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting at which he retires.
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
Thereafter each member of the Standing Committee shall retire from office at the Annual General Meeting held next after the expiry of a period of five years from the date of such member’s previous election or re-election. Such retiring member shall be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting at which he retires.
If any member of the Standing Committee desires to retire from acting as such he shall give to the Corporation one month’s notice in writing of such desire, and his resignation shall take effect from the date of the expiration of such notice or its earlier acceptance by the remaining members of the Standing Committee.
If for any cause any casual vacancy shall occur in the Standing
Committee such vacancy may be filled by a member of the
Corporation elected by the Standing Committee, and any person so elected shall (unless otherwise arranged at the time of his election) hold office for the remainder of the period during which the member in whose place he shall be elected would have held office had such a vacancy not occurred.
Any member of the Standing Committee with the consent of that Committee may, by writing under his hand, appoint any member of the Corporation (including another member of the
Standing Committee) to be his substitute for any period not exceeding three months and every such substitute shall, in the absence from the Standing Committee of the member appointing him, be entitled to attend and vote at the meetings of the Standing Committee and shall have and exercise all powers, rights, duties and authorities of the member appointing him. A member of the Standing Committee may, at any time, revoke the appointment of a substitute appointed by him and, subject to the consent of the Standing Committee, appoint another person in his place, and if a member of the Standing
Committee shall die, or cease to hold office, the appointment of his substitute shall thereupon cease and determine. Any member of the Standing Committee who is appointed a substitute under this subsection on behalf of one or more members shall be entitled to vote at a meeting of the Standing Committee on behalf of the member or each of the members so appointing him as distinct from the vote to which he is entitled in his own capacity as a member of the Standing Committee and shall also be considered as two or more members for the purposes of making a quorum of the Standing
Committee. Every person acting as a substitute for a member shall alone be responsible to the Corporation for his own acts and defaults, and he shall not be deemed to be agent of or for the member appointing him.
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The Standing Committee may employ and pay a Secretary or Secretaries, Treasurer or Treasurers, auditor or auditors, priests and scholars properly versed in the doctrines of Buddhism,
Confucianism or Taoism and such other persons as they consider necessary to assist them in the management of the affairs of and the carrying out of the objects and purposes of the Corporation.
Particulars of the appointments of the persons referred to in subsection (1) and of the election of every member of the Standing
Committee including the name, address and occupation of the person appointed, the date of the appointment and the office to which the person was appointed, shall be published in the Gazette within twenty-one days after the date of such appointment.
The Standing Committee shall meet at least once in every three lunar months for the despatch of business and to discuss the management and affairs of, and matters of interest to, the Corporation and three members of the Standing Committee shall form a quorum:
Provided always that upon the receipt by the Secretary of a requisition by any member of the Standing Committee at any time, the Secretary shall convene a meeting of the Standing Committee within seven days from the date of receipt of such requisition.
The Chairman of the Corporation shall preside at all meetings of the Standing Committee. In his absence the Vice-Chairman of the Corporation shall preside or in the absence of both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman the members shall appoint one of their number to preside.
All questions arising at any meeting of the Standing Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes and each member present shall be entitled to one vote and in the case of an equality of votes the Chairman or the person presiding at the meeting shall have an additional or casting vote.
The Standing Committee shall cause to be kept minutes of the proceedings of all meetings of the Standing Committee and such minutes shall be submitted for confirmation at the next
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
succeeding meeting of the Standing Committee and if then confirmed, with or without amendment as the case may require, shall be signed by the Chairman or the person presiding at the meeting at which such confirmation is made and thereafter shall be prima facie evidence of all proceedings evidenced thereby.
The Standing Committee shall cause proper books of account to be kept and therein to be entered full particulars of all assets and liabilities and of all receipts and disbursements on account of the Corporation and of all other matters and things relative thereto and necessary to explain such entries and the Standing Committee shall cause such books of account to be audited annually by an auditor authorized as such under the Companies Act 1965
[Act 125] and every other law for the time being in force concerning joint stock companies.
Not later than the end of the fifth lunar month in each year according to the old Chinese calendar, the Standing Committee shall cause to be prepared, audited by an auditor authorized as such under the Companies Act 1965 and every other law for the time being in force concerning joint stock companies, and distributed to all members of the Corporation, a statement in the form of a balance sheet containing particulars of all assets and liabilities of the Corporation and an account of the receipts and disbursements during the Chinese lunar year preceding.
s 14Charges on funds of the Corporation
Every member of the Standing Committee shall be indemnified out of the funds of the Corporation against all costs, charges, expenses, losses and liabilities incurred by him in the management of the affairs of the Corporation or in the discharge of his duties, and no member of the Standing Committee shall be liable for the acts, defaults or omission of any other member of the Standing
Committee, or by reason of his having joined in any receipt for money not received by him personally, or for any loss on account of defect of title to any property acquired by the Corporation or on account of the insufficiency of any security in or upon which any moneys of the Corporation shall be invested, or for any loss incurred through any bank, broker or other agent or for any loss or damage arising from or out of the bankruptcy, insolvency or tortious act of any person with whom any moneys, securities or effects have been deposited or occasioned by any error of judgment or oversight on his part, or for any other loss, damage or misfortune
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whatever which shall happen in the execution of the duties of his office or in relation thereto, unless the same shall happen through his wilful act or default.
The Standing Committee may request all or any of the members of an Advisory Committee to attend at every or any of its meetings to assist and advise the Standing Committee in the management of the affairs of the Corporation.
The Advisory Committee shall consist of not less than seventeen and not more than twenty-four members of the Corporation.
Members of the Advisory Committee shall be styled Kay Teohs.
No person shall be eligible as a member of the Advisory
Committee unless—
he is a member of the Corporation; and
his nomination for election is approved by a majority of the Standing Committee.
The original members of the Advisory Committee shall be—
Tan Swi Chay
Ho Kim Toon
Cheong Tiong Hak
Guan Kim Lee
Ong Tock Seng
Tan Koon Tiang
Tan Thiam Thye
Tan San Hong
Chee Hong Chiang
Goh Tiow Wan
Ee Yew Kim
Tan Seng Tee
Tan Soo Chong
Chi Sun Cheng
Goh Tiow Chong
Chee Guan Chiang
Wee Soon Teck
Members of the Advisory Committee (other than the original members) shall be elected from the members of the Corporation in the same manner as near as may be as that provided for the election of members of the Standing Committee.
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
At the first Annual General Meeting of the Corporation and at each Annual General Meeting of the Corporation held in every succeeding year one-third of the members of the Advisory Committee or if their number is not a multiple of three then the number nearest to one-third, shall retire from office, the members to retire being those who have been longest in office since their last election but as between persons who became members of the Advisory
Committee on the same day those to retire shall (unless otherwise agreed amongst themselves) be determined by lot. Retiring members shall be eligible for re-election.
If any member of the Advisory Committee desires to retire from acting as such he shall give to the Corporation one month’s notice in writing of such desire and his resignation shall take effect from the expiration of such notice or its earlier acceptance by the Standing Committee.
If for any cause any casual vacancy shall occur in the Advisory
Committee such vacancy may be filled by a member of the
Corporation elected by the Standing Committee, and any person so elected shall (unless otherwise arranged at the time of his election) hold office for the remainder of the period during which the member in whose place he shall be elected would have held office had such a vacancy not occurred.
The Corporation shall at least once in every Chinese lunar year not later than the last day of the sixth lunar month according to the old Chinese calendar hold an annual meeting of its members.
The business to be transacted at each annual meeting shall be the consideration of the annual statement of accounts, the consideration of any question raised as to the management of the affairs of the Corporation and when necessary the election of members of the Standing Committee, Advisory Committee and the
Chairman of the Corporation.
Upon receipt of a requisition by at least two members of the Standing Committee, or of five members of the Advisory
Committee or of ten members of the Corporation the Standing
Committee shall proceed to convene an Extraordinary General
Meeting of the Corporation.
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The requisition shall state the objects of the meeting and shall be signed by the persons making it and deposited at the office of the Corporation. The requisition may consist of more documents than one provided the same are duly signed and specify the same or similar objects. Unless called by the Standing Committee no business shall be transacted except those stated in the requisition.
The Standing Committee shall within ten days from the receipt of such requisition aforesaid cause an acknowledgment to be sent to the signatories and shall within one month from the receipt of such requisition cause an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held to discuss the objects specified in the requisition.
If the Standing Committee do not within the time aforesaid cause an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Corporation to be held in manner aforesaid the persons making the requisition or a majority of them may themselves convene the meeting and any meeting convened by such persons shall be convened in the same manner as nearly as possible as that in which such meetings ought to be convened by the Standing Committee.
The Annual General Meeting and all Extraordinary General
Meetings are hereinafter referred to as General Meetings.
The Standing Committee shall cause to be sent by post to all members of the Corporation whose names appear for the time being on the Register a notice of every General Meeting of the members of the Corporation and such notice shall specify the date, time and place for the holding of the meeting, the general nature of the business to be transacted and, in case of special business, concise particulars thereof, and such notice shall be sent as aforesaid at least seven days prior to any such meeting being held.
Every General Meeting of the Corporation shall be held at the office of the Corporation or at such other place as may be specified by the Standing Committee or if called under subsection 17(4) by the persons making a requisition in the notice calling such meeting.
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
Subject to subsection (4) the members of the Corporation in General Meeting shall elect from among the members of the
Standing Committee a Chairman of the Corporation who shall hold office for a term of three years.
A Chairman elected pursuant to subsection (1) shall retire from office at the third Annual General Meeting held after his election but shall be eligible for re-election.
A Chairman elected pursuant to subsection (1) or re-elected pursuant to subsection (2) may, during his term of office, retire by giving to the Standing Committee not less than one calendar month’s notice of his intention so to do and in such event or in the event of his being unable or unwilling to continue in office until the expiry of his term the Vice-Chairman elected under section 19A shall assume the office of Chairman until the next Annual
General Meeting when a Chairman shall be elected in the manner provided for in subsection (1).
The first Chairman of the Corporation shall be the said
Chan Teck Chye.
The Standing Committee shall at the first meeting subsequent to the Annual General Meeting at which a Chairman is elected pursuant to subsection 19(1) or is re-elected pursuant to subsection 19(2) elect from among its members a Vice-Chairman of the Corporation who shall hold office for a term of three years but shall be eligible for re-election.
A Vice-Chairman elected or re-elected pursuant to subsection (1) may during his term of office, retire by giving to the Standing Committee not less than one calendar month’s notice of his intention so to do and in such event or in the event of his being unable or unwilling to continue in office until the expiry of his term or in the event of his assuming the office of Chairman pursuant to subsection 19(3) the Standing Committee shall at its next meeting elect a Vice-Chairman in his place.
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Seven members of the Corporation shall form a quorum at all General Meetings.
The Chairman of the Corporation shall preside at all meetings of the Corporation but if at any meeting he be not present the Vice-Chairman of the Corporation shall preside or if neither the Chairman nor the Vice-Chairman be present the meeting shall appoint a member of the Standing Committee to preside.
Every question arising at a General Meeting shall be decided by a majority vote on a show of hands or on a ballot if a ballot be demanded by the Chairman or the person presiding at such
General Meeting or by not less than five of the members present at such General Meeting. Every Member shall have one vote and in the case of an equality of votes the Chairman or the person presiding at the meeting shall have an additional or casting vote.
The Chairman or the person presiding at a General Meeting of the
Corporation shall cause minutes to be kept of all proceedings at such General Meeting.
s 21Notices
Whenever, under this Act, a notice or other document is required to be sent to a member of the Corporation, such notice or other document shall, if sent by post addressed to such member at his address as is, for the time being, stated in the Register, be deemed to have been served at the latest within forty-eight hours after the same shall have been posted, and in proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that the cover containing the same was properly addressed and put into a Post Office. A certificate in writing, signed by at least two members of the Standing Committee, that the letter, envelope or wrapper, was so addressed and posted shall be deemed to be conclusive evidence thereof. The non-receipt of any notice or other document by any member shall not invalidate the proceedings at any meeting.
s 22Seal of the Corporation
The seal of the Corporation shall be kept at the office of the
Corporation and shall not be affixed to any document except by the authority of a resolution of the Standing Committee and in the presence of at least two members of the Standing Committee and the Secretary or the person acting as Secretary, and such members
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Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation)
of the Standing Committee and the Secretary or the person acting as Secretary shall sign every instrument to which the seal shall be affixed in their presence and such signatures shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that the Seal has been properly affixed.
The Register, the minutes of proceedings at all General
Meetings of the Corporation and at all meetings of the members of the Standing Committee, and the books of account of the
Corporation shall be kept at the office of the Corporation and shall at all reasonable times be open for inspection by any member of the Corporation provided that the written permission of the Chairman of the Corporation be obtained prior to such inspection.
The title deeds and securities of the Corporation shall be kept at such place and in such custody as the Chairman of the
Corporation with the approval of the Standing Committee shall decide and the Chairman of the Corporation shall be responsible for their safe custody.