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.
Related:
GE2025: ‘Very dangerous’ for foreign parties to ask Singaporeans to vote along religious lines, says Zaqy Mohamad
GE2025: Singapore identifies foreigners trying to influence elections; Meta directed to block access to Facebook posts
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.
He did not name the activist but Islamic religious teacher Noor Deros had in recent days put up social media posts sparking debate about the mixing of religion and politics. In one of his posts, for example, he made a list of demands to Singapore’s politicians and claimed to have met the Workers’ Party’s Malay candidates.
“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…
