S'porean religious teacher says he had discussions with WP, urged party to prioritise rights of community
S'porean religious teacher says he had discussions with WP, urged party to prioritise rights of community
SINGAPORE - A Singaporean religious teacher based in Malaysia has said that he has spoken with WP candidates contesting the upcoming election and urged the opposition party to prioritise the rights and concerns of the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.
Malay-language newspaper Berita Harian reported on April 26 that in a series of Facebook posts, Mr Noor Deros claimed he had spoken to all the Malay candidates from the WP. He also claimed that the party had agreed to take up the concerns raised by the asatizah, or religious teachers, regarding the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.
According to the BH report, he said the WP had taken seriously his call for the party to raise in Parliament issues surrounding the control and regulation of Islam's practice in Singapore, citing the Administration of Muslim Law Act and institutions such as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.
Mr Noor also claimed that he had urged WP and other election candidates to reject the normalisation of LGBTQ+ issues, take a strong stance against Israel, and recognise the state of Palestine.
In another post, Mr Noor criticised Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, accusing him of failing to defend the rights and aspirations of the Malay/Muslim community.
He compared Mr Masagos with WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap, pointing to Mr Faisal's efforts in raising the tudung (headscarf) issue in Parliament referring to how in 2021, the Government lifted former restrictions on the headgear for Muslim staff in healthcare settings.
Mr Noor called on his followers, particularly those in Tampines GRC, to vote for Mr Faisal, who is contesting in the constituency at the May 3 General Election.
Mr Noor's posts are among a number of online messages by Singaporeans that have surfaced during the election period, which the authorities said contained racial and religious undertones.
On April 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Elections Department (ELD) issued a statement warning that foreigners must not direct, fund or in any way influence Singapore's elections.
The statement said: 'Singapore's politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.'
This was after three foreigners, including an ex-ISA detainee, were found to be attempting to interfere in the election.
One of them is a Facebook user under the name of 'Zai Nal'. He had shared Mr Noor's posts and accused Malay/Muslim Members of Parliament (MPs) of failing to represent the interests of the Muslim community. He said the community did not need 'another Malay MP who does not represent their views'.
The user was identified as Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, an Australian citizen who renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020. Zulfikar was previously detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2016 for promoting terrorism and praising the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) online.
He had also posted criticisms of Malay/Muslim MPs regarding the tudung issue. His posts were subsequently reshared by Mr Mohamed Sukri Omar, the Selangor Youth Chief of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
The other two foreigners identified are Mr Mohamed Sukri Omar and Mr Iskandar Abdul Samad, national treasurer of PAS.
On April 25, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued a correction direction to Meta, requiring the tech giant to disable access for Singapore users to several of these Facebook posts. The posts have since been blocked.
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