The Community Development Council (CDC; ; zh, 社區發展理事會; ) is a government-led organisation to organise grassroot organisations and community programmes into smaller, local units as a bridge between the government and the community in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It encourages volunteerism from wider community, and organises community and social assistance programs with the help of a monetary grant from the government. They are governed by the ''Community Development Council Rules 1997''.

Organisation

These are the constituencies in each of the five Community Development Council districts as of 23 May 2025: The council boundaries follow that of the existing political divisions, with each handling between four and six GRCs and SMCs and roughly dividing the country's population into equal parts. Each CDC is managed by a Council, which in turn is headed by an appointed

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and has between 12 and 80 members. The members are appointed by the chairman or deputy chairman of the People's Association.

Mayors

Singapore has in total five mayors, each responsible for the CDC in a specific district. Mayors also sit as the chairman of the CDC. According to former politician Teo Ser Luck who was the mayor of the North East district, mayors are in charge of laying foundation for building camaraderie within communities. However, the necessity of having five mayors in a small city-state like Singapore is sometimes questioned. In 2021, during the parliamentary debate on Budget 2021,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Pritam Singh questioned the amount of salaries paid to the mayors and whether is there a need of full-time CDC mayors. Central Singapore CDC's mayor, Denise Phua, replied that she is the only full-time CDC mayor while the rest are considered part-time mayors.

Funding

The CDCs are funded by an annual sum from the government directly proportionate to the number of residents living within their jurisdiction at a rate of S$1 per person. They are free to conduct their own fund-raising programs, which the government will match S$3 for every S$1 raised, up to a cap of S$40 million a year from 2018 financial year. Previously, the cap was S$24 million a year. The government also pays for the councils' operational costs, including that for its offices.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Singapore government policies Community Development Council 2001 establishments in Singapore