Stand up and reject racial, religious identity politics; uphold multiracial unity, says SM Lee

Singaporeans need to stand up and reject racial and religious identity politics forcefully and affirm their unity, regardless of race, language or religion, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

- Samuel Devaraj

Speaking at a PAP rally in Fern Green Primary School on April 27, SM Lee said political posts linked to race and religion have been circulating online recently, in which MPs and candidates were being attacked for not championing the causes of their own racial or religious group stridently enough.

Also, members of a foreign political party had asked Singaporeans to vote for this or that Malay/Muslim candidate on the basis of how staunch a Muslim he or she might be, he added.

Singaporeans, SM Lee said, need to understand that such things have been happening, and they need to realise the dangers of such developments.

Now, the other political parties have declared that they agree with the stance taken against identity politics, but only after the PAP government took action.

SM Lee said: "The Government came out very strongly on this. It is a very sensitive matter. This is the middle of a very hot election campaign, but the matter came up, we had to raise it, we could not wait.