Religious teacher says he had talks with WP, urged party to prioritise rights of Malay/Muslim community

A Singaporean self-styled religious teacher based in Malaysia has said that he has spoken with WP candidates contesting the upcoming election and urged the opposition party to prioritise the rights and concerns of the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.

- Hariz Baharudin

Malay-language newspaper Berita Harian reported on April 26 that in a series of Facebook posts, Mr Noor Deros claimed he had spoken to all the Malay candidates from the WP.

He also claimed that the party had agreed to take up the concerns raised by the asatizah, or religious teachers, regarding the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.

According to the BH report, he said the WP had taken seriously his call for the party to raise in Parliament issues surrounding the control and regulation of Islam's practice in Singapore, citing the Administration of Muslim Law Act and institutions such as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.

Mr Noor also claimed that he had urged WP and other election candidates to reject the normalisation of LGBTQ+ issues, take a strong stance against Israel, and recognise the state of Palestine.

In another post, Mr Noor criticised Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, accusing him of failing to defend the rights and aspirations of the Malay/Muslim community.