Identity politics gained more prominence in GE2025, unity is S'pore's key strength: SM Teo

Straits Times

20-05-2025

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said external conflicts should not be part of Singapore's quarrels. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
SINGAPORE – Identity politics over race and religion gained more prominence in the 2025 General Election, and it is something Singapore should be careful about, said Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on May 20.
It goes against the nation's multiracial and multi-religious society where everyone has a place, lives together and does better as a country together, he said.
'We live side by side. By and large we go to schools together. We have many, many more opportunities together. So unity is the core of our strength,' he said, speaking to reporters during an interview at the Ministry of Home Affairs building on May 20.
Yet in the recent election, identity politics as well as external issues which had been imported into domestic politics had become part of some parties' political agendas. Some candidates even said that this was the motivating factor behind their entry into politics.
'We also saw some attempts of foreign interference into Singapore politics because they noticed that within Singapore, political parties were prepared to make use of this chip.'
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had called a press conference a week before the May 3 polls to ask all political parties to clarify their stance on two fundamental principles: that identity politics has no place in Singapore, and that religion and politics should not mix.
This came a day after the Government moved to block access to Facebook posts by two Malaysian politicians and a former Internal Security Act detainee for attempting to interfere in the election. They, along with a Singaporean self-styled religious teacher based in Malaysia, Mr Noor Deros, had spotlighted several opposition politicians in social media posts, including WP's Faisal Manap, who contested Tampines GRC.
Fortunately, SM Teo said, during the election, Singaporeans saw the importance of cohesion, harmony and unity, and the issues of identity politics did not become over-emphasised.
'It is very easy to create divisions based on race and religion, and that's why we treat them so sensitively,' he stressed.
'It's much more difficult to build unity, harmony, consensus, and it's even more difficult to rebuild harmony once that sense of community – one community – breaks down. So we should be very careful with that.
'And perhaps after this GE all the political parties ought to have a careful look at what this is all about and resolve whether or not this is a direction in which we want Singapore politics to go. I would be very wary if we went down that line.'
While it was valid to discuss the issues that all the communities in Singapore face, this should not lead to identity politics where different groups try to outbid one another and champion particular communities, he said.
Giving one example, he said that during GE2025, one of the political parties said that Thaipusam should be made a public holiday. Other political parties then tried to 'outbid them' by suggesting more public holidays.
'So you support something, somebody outbids you, somebody else will outbid you. And then what happens? It is very easy to go down this line, and this happened during this election. This was the agenda of some of the parties.'
During the election, the Workers' Party had asked that Thaipusam be reinstated as a public holiday. The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) proposed increasing the number of public holidays from 11 to 14. It suggested that the new holidays should represent each of the three major ethnic groups in Singapore, with possible additions including Chinese New Year's Eve, the day after Hari Raya Puasa, and Thaipusam.
External conflicts should not be part of Singapore's quarrels either. They are a chance for Singaporeans to show compassion and extend help, but should not become a cause because 'these are not our quarrels'.
Singaporeans have, in fact, come together to help the victims of the Syrian war and Palestine conflict, regardless of race and religion, SM Teo pointed out.
Unity is Singapore's core strength as a small nation, he added.
While Singapore lacks resources, it can pull all its strengths together so that it can project itself as larger than it is, and be strong when facing the world.
Policies like the Ethnic Integration Policy in HDB estates contributed to Singapore's unity, he said.
Singaporeans have become more enlightened as a people living side by side, going to schools together and enjoying many more opportunities together, he added.
Different communities in Singapore also work together to tackle radicalisation, which has evolved with the internet and social media platforms indoctrinating people rapidly, teaching them to build bombs and carrying out acts of terror.
SM Teo spoke about how a self-professed white supremacist was educated by the Religious Rehabilitation Group – a voluntary group of Islamic scholars and teachers – and eventually changed his mind about attacking Muslim targets.
In January 2024, a Secondary 4 student who identified as a white supremacist and was radicalised by far-right propaganda received a restriction order for planning attacks overseas.
SM Teo, 70, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, is stepping down from the Cabinet and politics. Both he and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat confirmed their retirement from politics on Nomination Day on April 23.
SM Teo said he would continue to help and assist in any way which would be helpful.
Singapore is quite unique because in many countries, the party that won power often tried to burnish its own reputation by condemning everything that the former party did, he said.
'We can see that in so many countries, they rubbish everything the previous government did, and so there's no continuity, whereas here we have continuity,' he said, pointing out that as Coordinating Minister for National Security, he still consulted former deputy prime minister S. Jayakumar.
'It's a wonderful resource... We build on what we did. And that is, again, one of the strengths that we have in Singapore.'
He is happy to see that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has put together a strong team of good people.
There are people who stand for election because they want to do good for their fellow Singaporeans and improve their lives, 'who derive happiness from seeing other people happy'. There are also others who 'feed on anger and unhappiness', he said.
'So you have to discern between the two, who you really want to represent you, what kind of Parliament you want, and what will really improve your life.'
His advice to the new parliamentarians is to uphold truth, honesty and integrity.
'I think we have many strengths today,' he said.
'We have found a formula over many years which helps us to be united, synergise and multiply our strengths so that we can stand up to the world and be taken seriously, and this is something which we should continue.'
He added: 'I want them to succeed, we want them to succeed, because we want Singapore to succeed.'
Chin Soo Fang is senior correspondent at The Straits Times covering topics such as community, politics, social issues, consumer, culture and heritage.
Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.