Workers' Party Aljunied GRC team of (L-R) Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, Chen Show Mao and Faisal Manap thanking residents during a procession in Kovan on 12 Sept 2015. - ST/ANN Workers' Party Aljunied GRC team of (L-R) Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, Chen Show Mao and Faisal Manap thanking residents during a procession in Kovan on 12 Sept 2015.
SINGAPORE: The statements made by leaders of a Malaysian political party before Singapore’s May 3 General Election had “clear intent” to influence Singaporean voters, and that is unacceptable, said the Republic’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Oct 16.
In a statement, the ministry rebutted the position taken by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) secretary general Takiyuddin Hassan on Oct 15, that the party was cast “as a convenient bogeyman to advance domestic political agendas in Singapore”.
MHA said that PAS had contradicted its earlier position, in April, with its Oct 15 statement. The ministry then referred to a statement made by the party on April 28, where it distanced itself from comments made by two of its leaders in relation to PAP and Workers’ Party politicians, ahead of Singapore’s May 3 General Election.
Earlier, on April 24, PAS national treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad publicly expressed support for the WP’s Faisal Manap.
He praised Faisal for having “the courage to explain to Parliament that in Islam religion must not be separated from politics”, and said he hoped that Faisal “will be successful once again”.
On the same day, PAS Selangor Youth Chief Mohamed Sukri Omar re-posted a social media post which stated that PAP’s Malay-Muslim Members of Parliament cannot be trusted.
MHA pointed out that PAS had, on April 28, said the comments made by the duo “represent their personal views and in no way reflect PAS’s official policy or stance as a political party”.
Referring to PAS’ latest statement on Oct 15, MHA said: “PAS now characterises the April 24 comments by its members as expressions of PAS’s official view. It describes them as ‘ordinary cross-border commentary’, and takes issue with Singapore’s response to such ‘legitimate speech’.
“PAS further claims to be entitled to freely express its views on Singapore politics, so long as this is not accompanied by ‘funding, actions, coordination or directives’.
“What is PAS’ true position?”
MHA added that PAS, as a Malaysian Islamist political party, “cannot have Singapore’s best interests at heart”.
“It is not for foreign entities or individuals to tell Singaporeans how to vote, least of all along racial and religious lines. That is divisive and unacceptable,” the ministry said.
“PAS now also claims that its earlier comments of April 24 were unlikely to influence Singaporeans. If that were true, why make these comments at all?
“Their clear intent was to influence Singaporean voters. That is unacceptable.”
The ministry also said that foreigners are entitled to comment on Singapore’s policies and politics, with foreign media doing so regularly.
“But the Singapore Government will not stand by if a foreign actor attempts to influence Singaporeans for its own purposes, especially by rousing racial and religious sentiments and during elections,” MHA said.
Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for National Security and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam had on Oct 14 delivered a parliamentary statement on the politicisation of race and religion.
Shanmugam said politicians from PAS saw the WP’s fielding of Faisal in Tampines during the 2025 General Election as an opening, and urged Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines.
On April 25, MHA and the Elections Department put out a statement to highlight the dangers of mixing religion and politics, and urged all political parties and their candidates to do their part to safeguard Singapore’s harmony.
That statement stated that the Government had blocked access to posts by foreigners who sought to influence the general election, including the posts by the two PAS leaders.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong then called a press conference on April 26, where he called on Singaporeans to reject efforts to bring race and religion into politics. - The Straits Times/ANN
