SINGAPORE: Foreigners urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines have "crossed the line", said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Apr 26), stressing that external actors must not be allowed to exploit divisions within the country.
At a press conference at the National Press Centre, Mr Wong welcomed the "clear consensus" from opposition parties rejecting foreign interference in Singapore's elections. He urged all political leaders to also firmly reject overseas endorsements.
Mr Wong said he is holding the press conference in the middle of GE2025 campaigning, in his position as Prime Minister, as the issue concerns "a matter of national interest".
His remarks follow the government's announcement on Friday that it directed Meta to block access to Facebook posts made by two Malaysian politicians and a former Internal Security Act detainee, now an Australian citizen. The posts criticised Singapore’s handling of religious matters and urged voters to cast ballots along religious lines.
Mr Wong said the foreign actors’ online activities specifically urged Singaporeans to vote for certain candidates in GE2025 based on race or religion. These posts, he added, were widely shared within the Singaporean community.
"Singaporeans may have different views about issues, but we cannot allow external actors to exploit whatever differences we may have to weaken us or to advance their own interests," he said. “Singapore's politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.”
He added that access to the posts had been blocked and warned that the government would continue to act firmly against such activities.
Under the Parliamentary Elections Act, it is an offence for foreigners to participate in election activities or to publish online election advertising. The Act defines such advertising as material that can "reasonably" be regarded as intending to promote or prejudice the electoral success of a party or candidate.
Beyond foreign interference, Mr Wong also raised concerns about other social media posts attempting to bring race and religion into politics – including one by a local activist calling for Muslims to vote for candidates who are willing to advance a religious agenda.
“These messages may be by Singaporeans, but we should also reject them. Were it a Christian, a Hindu or Buddhist group making the same demand, our response would be the same,” he said.
Mixing politics with religion, he stressed, is unacceptable in Singapore for three reasons: It fractures the common space shared by all Singaporeans, all communities are worse off when elections become contests of faith and external powers will exploit fault lines to advance their own agenda.
This does not mean that Singapore cannot engage different communities or discuss race and religion, Mr Wong said. Such engagements are important, but they are "very different from identity politics", which should be firmly rejected.
He described identity politics as dangerous as it encourages candidates and MPs to appeal for support based on race or religion, championing the interests of one group over others.
“When one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back, and you can see how these play out in countries everywhere,” said Mr Wong.
“The minority groups will fail to get what they want, because the majority group will push back strongly and the minorities will find their space constricted. At the same time, the majority group will also live in the most unhappy society where every issue comes down to race and religion.
“So no one is happy, no one wins. In the end, we will be more divided than before and Singaporeans, all of us, will pay the price.”
Mr Wong called on all political parties to make their positions clear – not only on foreign interference, but also on two fundamental principles: that identity politics has no place in Singapore and religion should never be mixed with politics.
“At the end of the day, whatever differences, we are all Singaporeans first and foremost,” he said.
Opposition party leaders also spoke out on Saturday against foreign interference in the upcoming General Election.
The Workers’ Party (WP) stated that it has no control over foreigners supporting its candidates and clarified that no promises, commitments or agreements were made to Islamic religious teacher Noor Deros – or anyone else – in exchange for political support.
This came in response to Mr Noor's social media posts, where he claimed that WP was the only party that responded to a list of demands he had made regarding political engagement with the Muslim community.
Mr Wong said that statements from various political leaders indicate a “clear consensus” on rejecting foreign interference.
“I think that's good. I welcome that,” said the Prime Minister, while urging all political parties to “clearly and categorically reject” any endorsements or support from overseas entities or individuals.
“We cannot control what other people say, fair enough. But should such endorsements or show of support come about, I would like to suggest and call on all parties to clearly and categorically reject these endorsements because the fundamental principle is foreigners should not decide the outcome of our elections.”
He also cautioned that issues beyond elections – such as foreign policy positions – could undermine Singapore’s national interest.
Citing Mr Noor’s posts, Mr Wong said the religious teacher had taken “very extreme positions on foreign policy”, such as calling America and Israel “the masterminds of terrorism”. Mr Noor had also advocated expanding Islamic principles “at the expense of shrinking the common space that other faiths and communities in Singapore share”, he said.
“These are positions that will go against our national interest,” said Mr Wong, noting that People’s Action Party leaders would "make it quite clear" that they disagree and will not support such positions, both privately and publicly.
“Likewise, I would encourage and call on all political parties to do the same.”
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong speaks to the media during a press conference at the National Press Centre on Apr 26, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Christine Tan)
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At a press conference at the National Press Centre, Mr Wong welcomed the "clear consensus" from opposition parties rejecting foreign interference in Singapore's elections. He urged all political leaders to also firmly reject overseas endorsements.
Mr Wong said he is holding the press conference in the middle of GE2025 campaigning, in his position as Prime Minister, as the issue concerns "a matter of national interest".
His remarks follow the government's announcement on Friday that it directed Meta to block access to Facebook posts made by two Malaysian politicians and a former Internal Security Act detainee, now an Australian citizen. The posts criticised Singapore’s handling of religious matters and urged voters to cast ballots along religious lines.
Mr Wong said the foreign actors’ online activities specifically urged Singaporeans to vote for certain candidates in GE2025 based on race or religion. These posts, he added, were widely shared within the Singaporean community.
"Singaporeans may have different views about issues, but we cannot allow external actors to exploit whatever differences we may have to weaken us or to advance their own interests," he said. “Singapore's politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.”
He added that access to the posts had been blocked and warned that the government would continue to act firmly against such activities.
Under the Parliamentary Elections Act, it is an offence for foreigners to participate in election activities or to publish online election advertising. The Act defines such advertising as material that can "reasonably" be regarded as intending to promote or prejudice the electoral success of a party or candidate.
Related:
RACE, RELIGION AND IDENTITY POLITICS
Beyond foreign interference, Mr Wong also raised concerns about other social media posts attempting to bring race and religion into politics – including one by a local activist calling for Muslims to vote for candidates who are willing to advance a religious agenda.
“These messages may be by Singaporeans, but we should also reject them. Were it a Christian, a Hindu or Buddhist group making the same demand, our response would be the same,” he said.
Mixing politics with religion, he stressed, is unacceptable in Singapore for three reasons: It fractures the common space shared by all Singaporeans, all communities are worse off when elections become contests of faith and external powers will exploit fault lines to advance their own agenda.
This does not mean that Singapore cannot engage different communities or discuss race and religion, Mr Wong said. Such engagements are important, but they are "very different from identity politics", which should be firmly rejected.
He described identity politics as dangerous as it encourages candidates and MPs to appeal for support based on race or religion, championing the interests of one group over others.
“When one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back, and you can see how these play out in countries everywhere,” said Mr Wong.
“The minority groups will fail to get what they want, because the majority group will push back strongly and the minorities will find their space constricted. At the same time, the majority group will also live in the most unhappy society where every issue comes down to race and religion.
“So no one is happy, no one wins. In the end, we will be more divided than before and Singaporeans, all of us, will pay the price.”
Related:
OPPOSITION PARTIES' RESPONSE
Mr Wong called on all political parties to make their positions clear – not only on foreign interference, but also on two fundamental principles: that identity politics has no place in Singapore and religion should never be mixed with politics.
“At the end of the day, whatever differences, we are all Singaporeans first and foremost,” he said.
Opposition party leaders also spoke out on Saturday against foreign interference in the upcoming General Election.
The Workers’ Party (WP) stated that it has no control over foreigners supporting its candidates and clarified that no promises, commitments or agreements were made to Islamic religious teacher Noor Deros – or anyone else – in exchange for political support.
This came in response to Mr Noor's social media posts, where he claimed that WP was the only party that responded to a list of demands he had made regarding political engagement with the Muslim community.
Mr Wong said that statements from various political leaders indicate a “clear consensus” on rejecting foreign interference.
“I think that's good. I welcome that,” said the Prime Minister, while urging all political parties to “clearly and categorically reject” any endorsements or support from overseas entities or individuals.
“We cannot control what other people say, fair enough. But should such endorsements or show of support come about, I would like to suggest and call on all parties to clearly and categorically reject these endorsements because the fundamental principle is foreigners should not decide the outcome of our elections.”
He also cautioned that issues beyond elections – such as foreign policy positions – could undermine Singapore’s national interest.
Citing Mr Noor’s posts, Mr Wong said the religious teacher had taken “very extreme positions on foreign policy”, such as calling America and Israel “the masterminds of terrorism”. Mr Noor had also advocated expanding Islamic principles “at the expense of shrinking the common space that other faiths and communities in Singapore share”, he said.
“These are positions that will go against our national interest,” said Mr Wong, noting that People’s Action Party leaders would "make it quite clear" that they disagree and will not support such positions, both privately and publicly.
“Likewise, I would encourage and call on all political parties to do the same.”
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong speaks to the media during a press conference at the National Press Centre on Apr 26, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Christine Tan)
Continue reading...