Singapore’s government has reinforced its bottomline of zero tolerance for the politics of race and religion as well as foreign interference, arguing that such elements should be rejected swiftly.
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In parliament on Tuesday, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh and Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam disagreed on the “timing” and “substance” of the WP in rejecting election endorsements by a self-styled Islamic preacher Noor Deros and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) members.
In April, ahead of Singapore’s May 3 general election, Noor and the PAS members endorsed WP candidate Faisal Manap over then minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Masagos Zulkifli, as the former was seen to be more vocally supportive of the Malay-Muslim community.
Masagos led the ruling People’s Action Party to a narrow victory in a four-corner fight in the Tampines constituency, including against Faisal’s WP team, during the election.
Shanmugam said that asking Singaporeans to vote for political candidates along racial and religious lines was “reckless”, and foreigners urging such acts had crossed a red line.
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“If different groups press their religious ideals hard instead of compromising with one another, and if the government prioritises the views of one faith over another, conflict is inevitable,” warned Shanmugam, who is also home affairs minister.
About 74 per cent of the Singapore population is Chinese, followed by Malays at 13.5 per cent and Indians at 9 per cent.