every viewpoint. On the other hand, the Opposition MPs and NCMPs represented anti-establishment voters. Goh expressed the view that people who stood as Opposition candidates usually believed that having the PAP government was bad for Singapore and wished to oust the PAP. Therefore, the range of people likely to be elected to Parliament as Opposition MPs was limited. NMPs could represent the people who disagreed with the PAP but did not wish to oust them from government. Goh also pointed out that at least 20 other countries had nominated Members in their Houses of Representatives, while noting that each variant of the NMP system had to be tailored to the country in which it was implemented. The bill for amending the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to implement the NMP scheme was introduced in Parliament and underwent its First Reading on 6 October 1989. On 30 November 1989, the bill was read a second time, and referred to a select committee. The report of the select committee was presented to Parliament on 15 March 1990, and the bill read a third time and enacted as the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 1990 on 29 March 1990. It came into force on 10 September 1990. Modifications From 1 September 1997, the maximum number of NMPs in Parliament was increased from six to nine. Introducing a motion in Parliament for the second reading of the constitutional amendment bill that was eventually passed to effect the change, the Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said that the NMP scheme was now well accepted by practically all MPs as it had proven its usefulness and worth. The Government intended to expand the scheme "so that more NMPs can be in Parliament to air views which may not be canvassed by the PAP or by the Opposition. ... We are now proposing to increase the number of NMPs so that a wider cross-section of such views can be canvassed and expressed." In 2002, an NMP's term of office was extended from two to two and a half years. This was done to avoid the need to select NMPs three times if a particular Parliament lasted its full five-year term. In fact, during the Ninth Parliament, the NMPs had only served 17 days from 1 to 17 October 2001 and attended three sittings before Parliament was dissolved for the 2001 general