WP Says It Did Not Make Promises to Any Individual in Exchange for Political Support

The Singaporean religious teacher who said he spoke to WP candidates contesting the upcoming election had turned up unannounced at a meeting that the party had with Malay/Muslim religious leaders, said WP chief Pritam Singh.

- Clement Yong and Ng Keng Gene

There was no prior indication that the self-styled religious teacher – Mr Noor Deros – would be at the meeting, Mr Singh told reporters on April 26 when asked to comment about Facebook posts by Mr Noor that claimed he had spoken to all Malay candidates from the WP.

Malay-language newspaper Berita Harian reported on April 26 that Mr Noor claimed the WP had agreed to take up the concerns raised by the asatizah, or religious teachers, regarding the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.

Mr Noor also claimed, among other things, 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 a statement on April 26, the WP said: "At a meeting with other religious leaders where Noor Deros was present, the party confirms there were no promises, commitments or agreements made to any individual, including Noor Deros, in exchange for political support for WP candidates."

Mr Singh said Mr Noor had a list of demands, adding: "As our statement makes it quite clear, there is no situation of 'if the WP pushes forth this agenda, I would support you'. I am sorry, we don't work politics like that in Singapore."

The WP cannot be a successful political party "if we play the race and religion card", Mr Singh stressed.

On Mr Noor, he said: "If this gentleman thinks that his advocacy will lead to the issues being brought up by the Workers' Party, I think he is sadly mistaken."

Mr Singh's comments come a day after the Infocomm Media Development Authority – acting as Assistant Returning Officer – directed Meta, which owns Facebook, to disable Singapore users' access to several posts put up by foreigners.