SINGAPORE: Religious teacher Noor Deros did not "gatecrash" an April meeting attended by Workers' Party (WP) candidates, including its vice-chair Faisal Manap, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh clarified in parliament on Tuesday (Nov 4).
Referencing a comment he made in parliament last month, Mr Singh said: "In using the word 'gatecrashed', I may have created an impression that Mr Noor Deros was not invited by anyone.
"This would be an incorrect impression, since I had confirmed later in the course of my response in this House … that Mr Noor Deros' presence at the meeting was at the invitation of an ustaz delegated by Mr Faisal."
Prior to Mr Singh's statement, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, delivered a ministerial statement seeking clarification on his characterisation of the meeting.
Ms Indranee noted that Mr Noor had released a YouTube video on Oct 18 stating he "did not gatecrash the meeting" and that this could be verified with Mr Faisal. She pointed out that Mr Noor claimed the names of religious teachers attending had been sent to Mr Faisal beforehand.
"On the face of things, it would appear that either one, Mr Faisal has told an untruth which has been repeated by Mr Singh during the (General Election) and now in parliament, or two, Mr Deros is lying," said Ms Indranee, describing the matter as "serious".
The meeting on Apr 20 took place ahead of the General Election on May 3. Mr Noor, a Singaporean self-styled religious teacher, had publicly made demands of political parties in exchange for his support and claimed to have met all of the WP's Malay candidates.
At the time, Mr Noor urged voters in Tampines GRC to support Mr Faisal over the People's Action Party's anchor candidate, then Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli. The incident drew attention when two politicians from Malaysian Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, or PAS, also publicly backed Mr Faisal, claiming that the People's Action Party's Malay-Muslim legislators could not be trusted.
The WP issued a statement on Apr 26 confirming that "no promises, commitments or agreements" were made in exchange for political support at the meeting with religious leaders where Mr Noor was present.
Speaking to the media on the same day, Mr Singh said the meeting was arranged after a member of the Muslim community asked to meet former WP Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament Faisal Manap and other Malay members of the party.
He added that there was no indication that Mr Noor would be among the attendees at this meeting and that he would arrive with a list of demands.
The topic came up in parliament last month during a ministerial statement by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on the politicisation of race and religion, and Mr Singh said that Mr Noor had "gatecrashed" the meeting.
The opposition leader reiterated that "there was no indication that this individual would be joining in the meeting".
In his clarification, Mr Singh revealed that about a week after making his October statement in parliament, Mr Faisal shared a WhatsApp message showing that an ustaz had informed him about an hour before the Apr 20 meeting that Mr Noor would be present.
"I was not aware of this detail in April this year, nor was I aware of it last month during the exchange on the ministerial statement," Mr Singh said, adding that he later asked Mr Faisal to provide context for the meeting.
In parliament last month, Mr Singh said the meeting on Apr 20 was arranged by an ustaz known to Mr Faisal. He also said that Mr Noor had attended the meeting at the invitation of an ustaz, who was delegated by Mr Faisal.
These are "correct and consistent with the facts of the meeting", Mr Singh said on Tuesday, adding that neither Mr Faisal nor the Malay WP candidates had arranged to meet Mr Noor or specifically sought out the religious teacher for his views.
According to Mr Singh, Mr Faisal had arranged the meeting with an ustaz to seek guidance on performing his role as a Malay-Muslim MP in Singapore's multi-religious and multicultural society. This followed a similar consultation Mr Faisal had found helpful after the 2011 elections.
The ustaz organising the April meeting had informed Mr Faisal on Apr 12 that he planned to "engage with a group of his asatizah friends" to exchange ideas and thoughts. Mr Faisal then suggested extending this to a sharing session with other WP Malay candidates ahead of the election.
Mr Singh reiterated that no promises or undertakings were made by Mr Faisal or the WP Malay candidates in exchange for political support during the meeting.
Ms Indranee also challenged Mr Singh's earlier description of Mr Noor as "a nobody", noting that Mr Faisal had publicly backed the Wear White movement founded by Mr Noor in 2014 and attended one of the movement's events.
This gave the impression that Mr Noor was not known to the WP, Mr Faisal or any of the other WP candidates who attended the meeting, she added.
"In the light of this, does it remain Mr Singh's position that Mr Deros was not known to Mr Faisal or any of the other Workers' Party candidates before this meeting on Apr 20, 2025?" she asked.
Mr Singh acknowledged that "Faisal Manap would have known of who Mr Noor Deros was" but said he was "not in a position to relay any information" about the extent of Mr Faisal's knowledge of Mr Noor.
When pressed on the distinction between knowing of someone versus knowing them personally, Mr Singh said he wanted to "be careful in not trying to import Mr Faisal's knowledge and make a representation which may not be correct".
Ms Indranee turned her attention to Mr Singh's clarification on the use of the word "gatecrashed", noting that had this been known during the elections, it "might have put a different colour on the circumstances then".
Mr Singh responded that this was precisely why he was making the clarification on record, "to correct the impression that would have logically flowed from the use of that word".
During the exchange on Tuesday, which lasted just over 20 minutes, Mr Singh stressed several times that he was making a "personal explanation".
He said he had told Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng on Monday night that he wished to clarify "certain representations" he had made in the House that were "incorrect" and had to be clarified for the record.
The WP chief also mentioned he was required to send his clarifications in advance to Mr Seah, who confirmed that this had taken place.
Mr Singh attended the parliament sitting during a break in the High Court where he was appealing against his conviction and sentence for lying to a parliamentary committee.
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Referencing a comment he made in parliament last month, Mr Singh said: "In using the word 'gatecrashed', I may have created an impression that Mr Noor Deros was not invited by anyone.
"This would be an incorrect impression, since I had confirmed later in the course of my response in this House … that Mr Noor Deros' presence at the meeting was at the invitation of an ustaz delegated by Mr Faisal."
Prior to Mr Singh's statement, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, delivered a ministerial statement seeking clarification on his characterisation of the meeting.
Ms Indranee noted that Mr Noor had released a YouTube video on Oct 18 stating he "did not gatecrash the meeting" and that this could be verified with Mr Faisal. She pointed out that Mr Noor claimed the names of religious teachers attending had been sent to Mr Faisal beforehand.
"On the face of things, it would appear that either one, Mr Faisal has told an untruth which has been repeated by Mr Singh during the (General Election) and now in parliament, or two, Mr Deros is lying," said Ms Indranee, describing the matter as "serious".
WHAT HAPPENED
The meeting on Apr 20 took place ahead of the General Election on May 3. Mr Noor, a Singaporean self-styled religious teacher, had publicly made demands of political parties in exchange for his support and claimed to have met all of the WP's Malay candidates.
At the time, Mr Noor urged voters in Tampines GRC to support Mr Faisal over the People's Action Party's anchor candidate, then Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli. The incident drew attention when two politicians from Malaysian Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, or PAS, also publicly backed Mr Faisal, claiming that the People's Action Party's Malay-Muslim legislators could not be trusted.
The WP issued a statement on Apr 26 confirming that "no promises, commitments or agreements" were made in exchange for political support at the meeting with religious leaders where Mr Noor was present.
Speaking to the media on the same day, Mr Singh said the meeting was arranged after a member of the Muslim community asked to meet former WP Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament Faisal Manap and other Malay members of the party.
He added that there was no indication that Mr Noor would be among the attendees at this meeting and that he would arrive with a list of demands.
The topic came up in parliament last month during a ministerial statement by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on the politicisation of race and religion, and Mr Singh said that Mr Noor had "gatecrashed" the meeting.
The opposition leader reiterated that "there was no indication that this individual would be joining in the meeting".
Related:
DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT MEETING ARRANGEMENT
In his clarification, Mr Singh revealed that about a week after making his October statement in parliament, Mr Faisal shared a WhatsApp message showing that an ustaz had informed him about an hour before the Apr 20 meeting that Mr Noor would be present.
"I was not aware of this detail in April this year, nor was I aware of it last month during the exchange on the ministerial statement," Mr Singh said, adding that he later asked Mr Faisal to provide context for the meeting.
In parliament last month, Mr Singh said the meeting on Apr 20 was arranged by an ustaz known to Mr Faisal. He also said that Mr Noor had attended the meeting at the invitation of an ustaz, who was delegated by Mr Faisal.
These are "correct and consistent with the facts of the meeting", Mr Singh said on Tuesday, adding that neither Mr Faisal nor the Malay WP candidates had arranged to meet Mr Noor or specifically sought out the religious teacher for his views.
According to Mr Singh, Mr Faisal had arranged the meeting with an ustaz to seek guidance on performing his role as a Malay-Muslim MP in Singapore's multi-religious and multicultural society. This followed a similar consultation Mr Faisal had found helpful after the 2011 elections.
The ustaz organising the April meeting had informed Mr Faisal on Apr 12 that he planned to "engage with a group of his asatizah friends" to exchange ideas and thoughts. Mr Faisal then suggested extending this to a sharing session with other WP Malay candidates ahead of the election.
Mr Singh reiterated that no promises or undertakings were made by Mr Faisal or the WP Malay candidates in exchange for political support during the meeting.
Related:
Ms Indranee also challenged Mr Singh's earlier description of Mr Noor as "a nobody", noting that Mr Faisal had publicly backed the Wear White movement founded by Mr Noor in 2014 and attended one of the movement's events.
This gave the impression that Mr Noor was not known to the WP, Mr Faisal or any of the other WP candidates who attended the meeting, she added.
"In the light of this, does it remain Mr Singh's position that Mr Deros was not known to Mr Faisal or any of the other Workers' Party candidates before this meeting on Apr 20, 2025?" she asked.
Mr Singh acknowledged that "Faisal Manap would have known of who Mr Noor Deros was" but said he was "not in a position to relay any information" about the extent of Mr Faisal's knowledge of Mr Noor.
When pressed on the distinction between knowing of someone versus knowing them personally, Mr Singh said he wanted to "be careful in not trying to import Mr Faisal's knowledge and make a representation which may not be correct".
Ms Indranee turned her attention to Mr Singh's clarification on the use of the word "gatecrashed", noting that had this been known during the elections, it "might have put a different colour on the circumstances then".
Mr Singh responded that this was precisely why he was making the clarification on record, "to correct the impression that would have logically flowed from the use of that word".
During the exchange on Tuesday, which lasted just over 20 minutes, Mr Singh stressed several times that he was making a "personal explanation".
He said he had told Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng on Monday night that he wished to clarify "certain representations" he had made in the House that were "incorrect" and had to be clarified for the record.
The WP chief also mentioned he was required to send his clarifications in advance to Mr Seah, who confirmed that this had taken place.
Mr Singh attended the parliament sitting during a break in the High Court where he was appealing against his conviction and sentence for lying to a parliamentary committee.
Continue reading...