The Honorary Citizen Award is the highest national honour conferred by the Government of Singapore to foreigners since 2003, to recognise and acknowledge the contributions of foreigners who have contributed extensively and significantly to Singapore and its people.

Description

The Honorary Citizen Award was first introduced in 2003, it is the highest national honour for foreigners. The title Honorary Citizen is conferred for life. Other existing national awards for foreigners includes the

Public Service Star The Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (English: Public Service Star) is a Singaporean decoration instituted in 1963, is awarded to any person who has rendered valuable public service to the people of Singapore, or who has distinguished themselves in the ...

(Distinguished Friends of Singapore) award and the Public Service Medal (Friends of Singapore) award. The award does not equate to citizenship. Therefore, atypical rights and duties of Singapore citizens, such as

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

and the requirement to fulfil

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

(NS), do not apply to Honorary Citizens. Additionally, grants and subsidies which Singaporeans are entitled to are not made available to the recipients. The privileges for the award recipients include the right to live and work in Singapore for themselves as well as their immediate dependent family members and to purchase property if they decide to stay in Singapore. Administered by Ministry of Manpower, a selection committee panel made up of high-level government officials would receive nominations of foreigners who have rendered extensive and valuable services to Singapore and its people, or who have made a significant impact in the areas of business, science and technology, information communications, education, health, arts and culture, sports, tourism, community services or security. The final selections are then endorsed by the

Cabinet of Singapore The Cabinet of Singapore forms the executive branch of the Government of Singapore together with the President. It is led by the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The prime minister is a Member of Parliament (MP) appointed by the ...

. Recipients are conferred the Award in the following year of their nomination. The Awards are presented at a formal ceremony by the

President of Singapore The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the reserves and the integrity of the public service. The presidency is largely ceremonial, with the Cabinet led by the prime ...

at the

Istana ''Istana'' is an Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay word meaning "palace". Notable Istanas *Istana Alam Shah, the official palace of the Sultan of Selangor *Istana Besar, 19th- and early 20th-century residence of the Sultan o ...

. , there are 21 recipients being conferred with the title.

Honourees

References

{{Honorary citizenship Orders, decorations, and medals of Singapore

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...