GE2025: 'Very dangerous' for foreign parties to ask Singaporeans to vote along religious lines, says Zaqy Mohamad

SINGAPORE: It is concerning that foreigners are exploiting race relations and religious elements for political gains during this election period, Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad said on Saturday (Apr 26).

“So when you have a party like PAS, for example, espousing certain views, asking Singaporeans to vote along religious and racial lines, I think that's very dangerous,” the People's Action Party candidate for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC told reporters ahead of a walkabout at Fuchun Market.

“That's the kind of politics perhaps you can see in Malaysia, where you have different parties representing different faiths or different races, whether it’s UMNO, PAS, DAP and MIC, and you can see how the parties are organised.”

Mr Zaqy was responding to news that the government has directed Meta to block access to posts by two Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) politicians attempting to influence Singapore's election.

In his comments on Saturday, he referred to the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) as race-based Malaysian parties.

Singapore has spent the last 60 years trying to build peace, harmony, mutual trust and a society that understands and respects each other’s faith, he said.

“But having said that, we don't want to have a situation where this is being exploited. We’ve seen the dangers of that,” he added.

“In the early days of our independence, we had racial riots, we have protests, whether it's across different races or along religious lines.”

As a small country, Singapore guards against the use of race and religion to divide people, Mr Zaqy said, stressing that it is "very easy" for these elements to be exploited, leading to a breakdown in trust between different segments of the population.

"We have foreigners interfering - it's not just about being putting posts, but you're asking Singaporeans to vote a certain way because of their beliefs overseas or the way of life overseas, then I think it doesn't suit us," he said.

While Mr Zaqy said there is "certainly" scope for discourse and debate on religious issues, asking people to vote along these lines could be likened to "asking for trouble".

This is why he feels the government's directions to Meta send a "strong signal" that Singapore wants to protect its harmony while ensuring foreigners do not have any influence on the election, which he said is for Singaporeans alone to decide.

"It's for Singapore and Singaporeans to decide what kind of politics you want, what kind of society you want to build, and you can take on issues," he said, citing the Gaza conflict as one issue that has been debated in parliament.

"But bear in mind that raising issues that touch the hearts of those in our community, we have to also bear in mind the way we conduct it, the way we raise it, one where we recognise that we live in a multi-religious, multiracial society," he said.

On Saturday, the Workers' Party (WP) said it has no control over foreigners supporting its candidates, while clarifying details about a meeting involving some of its Malay-Muslim candidates and an Islamic religious teacher.

The party, which has included the Gaza conflict in its manifesto, said no promises were made to the teacher Noor Deros, or anyone else in exchange for political support for WP candidates.

Mr Zaqy said he does not think opposition parties have tried to exploit race or religion for political mileage, urging Singaporeans to push back against other individuals who attempt this.

"I think that there are some who veer close, but I don't think opposition parties themselves have done it," he said.

"But you see comments online. So, there's a big difference between what opposition parties have espoused, and what you see espoused by third-party advocates.

Mr Zaqy pointed to Mr Noor Deros as one example. He said Mr Noor Deros is a Singaporean who has been "influencing" this election, and that the religious teacher had met election candidates to ask them to consider a set of demands for the Malay-Muslim community.

"So you see third parties coming out. But I think bear in mind that we want to also keep this political space clear on those lines," Mr Zaqy said, adding that mixing race or religion in politics is a "powerful" tool used in other countries.

Despite that, Mr Zaqy said it is sometimes difficult to determine whether these third-party comments were written by locals or supporters of PAS, for example.

"That's exactly why foreign interference becomes very key, because some of the comments you get may not have been from Singaporeans either," he said.

"So you have to bear in mind how this feeds into your local narratives, especially being in a region where you do have large Muslim populations too." 

Mr Zaqy encouraged Singaporeans to make their own judgment and political choice, with the values of wanting a harmonious and peaceful Singapore at the heart of it. 

"Ultimately, you don't want to push the agenda of one ahead of the other, because you will find pushback. Therein lies the danger - the last thing you want is to go the way of some countries, as I said, with political parties pushing the agenda of identity or race," he added.

WORRYING TREND OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE

Speaking to the media at another event at Keat Hong Market on Saturday, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng called foreign interference in politics a "worrying trend".

"Our election should be entirely a domestic affair, and I hope that all foreign players, regardless of where they are, should take the cue that Singapore's politics is entirely for Singaporeans," said the PAP candidate for Chua Chu Kang GRC.

"And for us, it is our existence, it is our survival, it is our ability to come together, to be united, to reject all these foreign influences and interference, because we want to chart our own path ourselves for a better and a more united Singapore."

While fellow PAP candidate for Chua Chu Kang Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim said it is "concerning" to hear foreign parties were trying to influence the election, he added he was "heartened" that Singapore has the legislative framework to tackle such issues.

"With that, I ask all Singaporeans: We may have different thinking, we may have disagreements about how to make things done, but I think we are all headed in the right direction, the same destination," he said.

"And I think all of our Singaporeans, even the Chua Chu Kang residents, they understood the importance of it - that their voice must be their voice alone, and not be altered by foreign interference."

INAUTHENTIC ACTIVITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Back at Fuchun Market, Mr Zaqy also touched on the inauthentic activity detected on social media recently, saying this risks distorting real ground sentiments during the election period.

This comes after checks by CNA had found that anonymous Facebook profiles with inauthentic or falsified origins, also known as bots, have been active online, targeting both the PAP and WP.

Mr Zaqy said these profiles seem to be locked or have very few posts and followers, and that they are targeting the pages of more mainstream news sites.

“They probably want to target where you find most traction, and where national mainstream news comes out,” he added.

“I think this distorts the perception of what the realities could be, or what the ground sentiments could be.”

Ms Hany Soh, another PAP candidate for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, said "a few accounts" had impersonated her even before campaigning started, something she was alerted to by residents and supporters.

"We look out for one another. For this campaign, we want to make sure that this is a fair contest throughout," she said.

"While social media is one important element, actually, more importantly when it comes to this election, it's about our voters, our residents on the ground. We want to walk the ground, listen to their needs and share with them what are our upcoming plans that we have."

The incumbent PAP team, comprising Mr Zaqy, Ms Soh, Mr Alex Yam and Prime Minster Lawrence Wong, will go up against a team from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in Marsiling-Yew Tee.

The SDP has fielded party organising secretary Jufri Salim, founder of alternative news site Wake Up Singapore Ariffin Sha, theatre director Alec Tok and Dr Gigene Wong.

Ms Soh said she has "not seen" her opponents on the ground yet in the past few days of campaigning, be it during house visits or walkabouts at neighbourhood centres.

"My residents have also told me they have not seen them yet," she added.

Mr Zaqy was also asked about SDP chief Chee Soon Juan's call during a rally on Friday evening for Mr Wong to state an "optimal" population size for Singapore, amid what Dr Chee described as an "unsustainable" influx of foreigners.

"I think you should ask the prime minister, because that concerns more MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and ICA (Immigrations and Checkpoint Authority) policies. So, I'll let the prime minister comment on that," he replied.