Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called a press conference in the middle of the 2025 General Election on Apr. 26 regarding recent online activity and social media posts by foreign actors urging Singaporeans to vote along religious and racial lines.
Calling it a "matter of national interest", PM Wong said such online activity "crosses the line".
"As Prime Minister, I cannot emphasise this enough — Singapore’s greatest strength is our unity across race and religion," he said.
A day before, on Apr. 25, three foreigners were identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) as attempting to influence Singaporean voters.
As they attempted to exert influence through Facebook posts, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued Corrective Directions to Facebook's parent company, Meta, to disable Singapore users' access to some of their posts during the election period.
Mixing politics and religion is unacceptable in Singapore
PM Wong also addressed social media posts circulating online made by Singaporeans "attempting to bring race and religion into politics."
He cited one post by a Singaporean activist proposing that Muslims should vote for candidates willing to advance his religious agenda.
"These messages may be by Singaporeans, but we should also reject them. And were a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist group making the same demand, our response would be the same: mixing politics with religion is unacceptable in Singapore," PM Wong said.
PM Wong made explained his firm stance against mixing politics with religion:
"First, it fractures the common space we share as Singaporeans.
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Third, external powers will seek to exploit these fault lines to advance their own agendas, and as we have already seen, these challenges and threats are very real."
While PM Wong condemned mixing politics with religion, he also highlighted that this does not mean "we cannot engage and address the needs of our different communities, or even talk about race and religion."
PM said that he made a point to engage different communities personally and such engagements help the government understand and address different needs in a way that can "expand common ground and strengthen our society"
"I know it's harder for our minority groups as it is in any multi-racial society, and I'm grateful for their efforts in upholding our social compact in Singapore," he added.
No one wins from identity politics
PM Wong also said that identity politics has no place in Singapore.
Identity politics, PM Wong explained, refers to "candidates and MPs (Members of Parliament) appealing for support on the basis of race or religion and championing the interest of that particular group over other groups and over everything else."
"That's dangerous, because when one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back," he said.
PM Wong described the resulting situation as one where "no one wins".
"And in the end, we will be more divided than before. And Singaporeans — all of us – will pay the price."
Responding to questions from the media, PM Wong noted that this does not mean we cannot talk about race and religion, adding:
"But it means we understand the concerns, we think about what we say, we think about whatever actions we make that may be misconstrued, and we are careful, or sensible and reasonable."
PM Wong said:
"I am confident that even now, the majority of Singaporeans across all racial groups support this approach. I ask Singaporeans to continue doing so. Then we can protect this oasis of peace and sustain our exceptional harmony for many more years to come."
Calls on all political parties to make positions clear
PM Wong called on all political party leaders to make their positions clear on such matters of foreign interference and identity politics:
"This is not a partisan or party matter. This is a matter of national importance.
In particular, I invite the leaders of all political parties to make their stand clear, not just on foreign interference, but on two fundamental principles, first, that identity politics has no place in Singapore.
Second, that we should never mix religion and politics. At the end of the day, whatever our differences, we are all Singaporeans first and foremost."
"I am glad, based on what I've seen so far, that the political parties all agree, we don't want foreign interference," PM Wong said, in response to a question from the media.
The Workers' Party (WP) had issued a media statement on foreign interference earlier on Apr. 26.
WP clarified a meeting they had with a Singaporean Muslim religious teacher, Noor Deros, who had claimed via Facebook that only WP had taken demands he made, in exchange for his support in GE2025, seriously.
WP clarified that there were no promises, commitments or agreements made with him or any other individual in exchange for political support for their candidates.
WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh also addressed the foreign interference concerns at a doorstop on Apr. 26:
"I'm sorry. We don't work politics like that in Singapore. We don't work politics like that in the Workers' Party."
PM Wong said he had not looked at The Workers' Party's (WP) response in detail and so was unable to comment on their remarks.
"I'll just reiterate what I had said just now in my statement, to call on all parties to affirm the principles which I just described, and I hope all parties will do so," he said.
Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) leaders Chee Soon Juan and Paul Tambyah also criticised recent online activity by foreigners about Singapore's general election in media addresses on Apr. 26.
"Stay out. We're not interested in people coming in here and making endorsements. We'll fight our own battle," Chee said.
PM Wong said:
"You can make your pitch, appeal to residents across different ethnic groups, across different ages, and fight hard for every vote. Every political party will do that, but we can have the assurance that we will do so in a way that doesn't harm our cohesion and harmony."
Top photo by Mothership
