REJECTING FOREGN INTERFERENCE
Mr Shanmugam on Tuesday also criticised WP’s response to foreign attempts to influence the General Election.
WP fielded Mr Faisal in Tampines to contest against PAP’s team led by Mr Masagos, he said, adding that it was “obvious” that they were targeting the Malay-Muslim vote.
On Apr 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Elections Department Singapore (ELD) said in a statement on Friday (Apr 25) that it had identified a “number of foreigners” attempting to influence the election, days before Singaporeans headed to the polls on May 3.
In the statement, the authorities said it directed Meta to block online election advertising posted on Facebook by two Malaysian politicians from PAS, and a former Internal Security Act detainee who is now an Australian citizen.
The posts, which can no longer be viewed by users in Singapore, expressed support for certain opposition candidates running in GE2025 and criticised decisions made by the ruling government.
Two articles were also published in a PAS newsletter, one of which named several Malay opposition candidates running in GE2025, highlighting their educational and career backgrounds. The other criticised Singapore’s housing policies, linking them to immigration.
“Malaysian politicians from PAS jumped in. They saw an opening and urged Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines,” said Mr Shanmugam.
Noting that PAS is an Islamist political party and its goal is to Islamise society in Malaysia, he added: “Does anyone … seriously believe that PAS is supporting the WP’s Malay-Muslim candidates in Singapore because PAS cares for Singaporeans?
“And does anyone believe that PAS has Singaporeans’ best interests at heart? Does anyone believe that PAS subscribes to Singapore’s multiracial, multireligious model?”
Singapore’s history with Malaysia is seared into some Singaporeans and also some Malaysians “for very different reasons”, said the home affairs minister.
“So we knew the government had to call it out when PAS leaders openly supported a political party in Singapore on racial and religious grounds and in the middle of a General Election, and when the political party in question hadn’t responded.”
Referring again to the WP statement on Apr 26, Mr Shanmugam noted that the opposition party said it does not have control over what foreign parties say.
The timing and substance of WP’s statement were of concern, he added.
Foreign influence is a serious matter, especially in the middle of election campaigning, said the minister.
Given the gravity of the matter, it would have been better if WP had issued its statement immediately “without waiting until after” MHA and ELD issued theirs, he added.
“The WP statement did not clearly reject foreign influence or the foreign endorsement of its candidates. What it said was that the WP had no control over what others said,” said Mr Shanmugam.
Mr Singh made further statements on the matter on the same day. Mr Shanmugam on Tuesday acknowledged that the Leader of the Opposition had “stood behind” the message in the joint statement by MHA and ELD, which made WP’s position clearer.
At a rally speech that night, which took place after Mr Wong’s press conference, Mr Singh “went further” and gave his party’s “clearest statement on the matter”.
During his speech, he stressed that the WP “categorically rejects” the involvement of any foreign element in Singapore’s domestic politics. Mr Singh also said at the time that WP does not need the support of any “foreign element”, said Mr Shanmugam in parliament on Tuesday.
“It would have been better if the WP had said this right from the start – responding directly and promptly to what the PAS leaders had said,” he added.
AGAINST IDENTITY POLITICS
In his speech on Tuesday, the home affairs minister also took aim at Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Damanhuri Abas, who contested Sembawang GRC at GE2025.
He also contested in the 2015 and 2020 elections as part of SDP teams in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a regional educational consultant, having previously been a director at Muhammadiyah Islamic College.
At an SDP event, Mr Damanhuri had “made attempts to get support along racial lines”, said Mr Shanmugam on Tuesday.
The opposition party candidate had accused PAP’s Malay MPs of failing to represent the Malay community and ignoring their issues, Mr Shanmugam added. “He claimed that more opposition Malay MPs were needed to raise Malay issues in parliament.”
In an interview posted online, Mr Damanhuri said that Malay community issues “had not been resolved for 60 years under the PAP government”, said Mr Shanmugam.
“He called for the Malay voters to vote against the PAP, framing it as an issue of upholding Malay dignity,” he added. “In a separate podcast, he said meritocracy is selectively applied. He rehashed these arguments again in rally speeches, this time in Malay.”
Mr Damanhuri’s rhetoric is “deceptive”, said Mr Shanmugam
“What he is effectively doing is trading off the long-term welfare of the Malay community and our country for his immediate political gain,” said Mr Shanmugam.
“This is a slippery and dangerous path that will invite strong reaction from other races in future elections.”
The situation has been “broadly stable” so far because the government has anchored Singapore on the ideal of multiracialism and the governing PAP has “eschewed identity politics”, he said.
Various parties or candidates have tried to stir up the Chinese and Malay communities from time to time, and these efforts have not been successful because of the PAP government’s political dominance, said Mr Shanmugam.
“The PAP has been the dominant political force, so it has been able to bear the political cost of fighting against such sentiments,” he added.
“Making this statement … (it) would actually have been easier to leave all of this unsaid. But this statement has to be made in the country’s interests.”
This situation is dynamic, said Mr Shanmugam, adding that if future generations of political leaders see identity politics gaining traction, they will also be pressured and tempted to engage in it.
“You know what will happen then. It is a one-way street to ruin.”
People like Mr Damanhuri should be “more honest” with their constituents, the minister added.
Their brand of politics will only work as long as the dominant political force in Singapore rejects identity politics, said Mr Shanmugam.
“But if people like Mr Damanhuri succeed, then the serious risk is that more and more politicians on all sides will go for identity politics,” he added.
“And then Singapore will suffer. We will experience the same conflicts and divisions we see unfolding elsewhere in the world.”
