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The Star
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Identity politics has gained more prominence in GE2025, unity is Singapore's key strength: Senior Minister Teo
SINGAPORE: Identity politics over race and religion has gained more prominence in the 2025 general election, and it is something Singapore should be careful about, said Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on Tuesday (May 20). It goes against the nation's multi-racial 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 Tuesday (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 an ex-ISA detainee for attempting to interfere in the election. They, along with a Singaporean self-styled religious teacher based in Malaysia known as 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 GE, 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 each other 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.' The Workers' Party had asked Thaipusam to be reinstated as a public holiday during the election. 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 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. But he said he would continue to help and assist in any way which would be helpful. Singapore was 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 DPM Professor 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.' And 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 '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.' - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Reject identity politics, says PM Wong as he calls on political parties to make clear their position
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, speaking at a press conference, said that this is a matter of national importance. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG Reject identity politics, says PM Wong as he calls on political parties to make clear their position Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE – Singapore should firmly reject identity politics, and keep race and religion out of the political space, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. A week before the nation heads to the polls on May 3, he called on all political parties to make clear their position on the matter. He explained that identity politics refers to candidates appealing for support on the basis of race and religion, and championing the interests of particular groups over everything else. Speaking at a press conference on April 26, he said: 'This is not a partisan or party matter. This is a matter of national importance.' He called on the leaders of 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. He said: 'My call to all political parties is as I said: let's do our best not to push the boundaries and push the frontiers of race and religion, and bring in race and religion into politics.' He added that if all parties agree and exercise their campaign with an element of restraint, Singapore will be better off as a whole. He said: 'In the end, Singaporeans can choose whichever party they wish to support for their constituency and for their government, but we will not allow this to become an issue that divides us especially in the middle of an election campaign.' PM Wong was speaking a day after the government moved to block access to Facebook posts by two Malaysian politicians and an ex-ISA detainee for attempting to interfere in the ongoing election. The posts belong to Mr Iskandar Abdul Samad, the national treasurer of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), and the Islamist party's Selangor Youth chief Mohamed Sukri Omar. A third person, Facebook user 'Zai Nal', identified as Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff – an Australian citizen who renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020 – was also named. They, along with a Singaporean religious teacher based in Malaysia known as Mr Noor Deros, had spotlighted several opposition politicians in social media posts, including incumbent Aljunied MP Faisal Manap, who is contesting Tampines GRC this year under the WP banner. Earlier that day, party chief Pritam Singh had said in response to the recent developments that the WP cannot be a successful political party 'if we play the race and religion card'. Asked to comment on the statements by the WP and other opposition parties, PM Wong said he had seen across the board a clear consensus to reject foreign interference in the election. PM Wong, who is Secretary-General of the PAP, added: 'I think that's good. I welcome that.' He added that while one cannot control what foreign actors say – be it support or endorsements – he called on parties to 'categorically reject these endorsements'. The fundamental principle is that foreigners should not decide the outcome of Singapore's elections, he said. He said: 'This is our country, our elections. Singaporeans alone decide the outcome of our elections.' He added that on issues that have the potential to undermine national interest, such as foreign policy, there should be a 'sense of unity in presenting to the world.' Adopting identity politics will result in more division, and Singaporeans will all pay the price, PM Wong said. He added: 'That's dangerous, because when one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back. 'You can see how this plays out in countries everywhere. You end up fueling our worst tendencies, hostilities and vengefulness across the side.' No one wins when this happens, PM Wong said. He said: 'The minority groups will fail to get what they want, because the majority group will push back strongly, and the minorities will find their space constricted. 'At the same time, the majority group will also live in the most unhappy society, where every issue comes down to race and religion. So no one is happy.' Social media posts 'crossed the line' The social media accounts that were blocked had targeted Singaporeans, and their posts were widely shared within the Singaporean community. This crossed the line, said PM Wong. He said: '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.' Foreign influence is one side of the coin, but there are also other posts circulating online attempting to bring race and religion into politics, he said. He cited those by Singaporean activists proposing that Muslims should vote for candidates that are willing to advance a religious agenda. He said: 'These messages may be by Singaporeans, but we should also reject them, and were it a Christian, a Hindu or Buddhist group making the same demand, our response would be the same.' Mixing politics with religion is unacceptable in Singapore, he said, adding that the Government has always taken a firm stance against this. Doing so fractures the common space Singaporeans share, he warned. If elections become contests of faith, all communities will end up worse off, he added. Also, external powers will seek to explore these fault lines to advance their own agendas, he said. When asked if he was worried that the actions by authorities will cause backlash in terms of vote swings for GE2025, PM Wong said that the Government was not acting out of concern about the electoral outcome, but instead, focusing on the impact on Singapore's social harmony. This was the reason why authorities intervened during the campaign period and why he called for the press conference on April 26, said PM Wong, stressing how the matter went beyond politics. 'I'm not here to talk about my concerns about the party. I'm here to talk about my concern for Singapore, and our country,' said PM Wong. 'And this goes beyond one election, because once the faultlines deepen, once trust is eroded, it is so hard to recover again.' PM Wong was asked if there are other entities that are a cause for concern when it comes to foreign influence on GE2025, such as Critical Spectator, the Facebook page and website run by Polish national Michael Petraeus. Singapore's rules are clear and the outcome of its elections is for its citizens to decide, he stressed. Foreigners are allowed to write about elections, but they cross the line if they take a position on an issue or a candidate, or push for one over the other. This is especially so when it is about race and religion, he said. 'You start mixing race and religion into politics, that crosses the line. So the agencies and authorities will continue to monitor…but if anything crosses the line we will certainly take action,' he said. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
