Singapore’s politics are not like those in Malaysia, where parties are divided along racial and religious lines, says the republic’s senior minister of state Zaqy Mohamad.
Zaqy said it was dangerous for religion-based parties like PAS to ask Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines.
“That’s the kind of politics you can see in Malaysia, where you have different parties representing different faiths and races, whether they are Umno, PAS, DAP or MIC.
“That’s not the case in Singapore, where we’ve spent the last 60 years trying to build peace, unity, harmony and mutual trust between races,” he said in a video by CNA.
Yesterday, the Singapore home ministry and elections department said in a joint statement that several online posts had urged Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines, which in turn sparked more social media content of a similar nature.
They called out PAS leaders and a former detainee, now an Australian citizen, for allegedly trying to influence the country’s general election on May 3 with posts that could harm racial and religious harmony.
The Singapore government ordered Facebook parent Meta to block Singaporeans’ access to posts made by foreigners, ahead of the election, under rules restricting their social media posts.
Facebook user “Zai Nal”, identified as Zulfikar Shariff, accused several Malay-Muslim MPs of failing to represent the Muslim community, and said Singapore does not need another Malay MP who does not reflect their views.
PAS national treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad also expressed support for a candidate in the Singapore election, while Selangor PAS Youth chief Sukri Omar shared Zulfikar’s post in support.
However, Zaqy warned against exploiting racial and religious sentiments, saying its dangers were seen in the early days of Singapore’s independence and riots, ostensibly a reference to the 1969 race riots that spilled over from Malaysia into Singapore.
He also said while there is scope for discourse, it “does not suit” Singapore to have foreigners ask Singaporeans to vote a certain way because of beliefs or ways of life held by those overseas.
“We’ve seen this in many countries, whether they distort algorithms or use bots to influence elections.
“But I think the bigger danger is when you start using religion and racial divides. This is something we have to guard against in Singapore.
“Once you break that trust between races or people of different faiths, I think that’s very dangerous here in Singapore,” he said.
Zaqy said while many Singaporeans today identify as Singaporeans first, there are segments of the community that feel otherwise.
“They identify more with race and religion. Therefore, there is that balance that has to be managed.
“We are making it clear that foreign interference is not something we will accept. Singapore politics is for Singaporeans alone,” he said.
