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GE2025: PM Lawrence Wong urges political parties not to bring race and religions into politics
AsiaOne
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4/27/2025
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called on political parties to reject foreign influence and identity politics.
"Singapore’s politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide,” PM Wong said.
He added that mixing politics with religion is unacceptable in Singapore.
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00:00
I'm calling this press conference, in the middle of the campaign, as Prime Minister,
00:10
because it concerns a matter of national interest.
00:14
Singapore's greatest strength is our unity across race and religion.
00:20
It is a background of our multiracial and multireligious society.
00:25
And this is not accidental. It is the result of painstaking hard work and patient efforts by generations of Singaporeans.
00:37
In the past few days, we have detected online activity by foreign actors,
00:43
urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.
00:48
They say, vote for so-and-so because he or she will represent a particular race or religion.
00:58
These foreigners targeted Singaporeans.
01:01
And their social media posts were also widely shared within the Singaporean community.
01:06
That crosses the line.
01:08
Singaporeans may have different views about issues, but we cannot allow external actors to exploit whatever differences we may have
01:19
to weaken us or to advance their own interests.
01:23
Singapore's politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.
01:29
Mixing politics with religion is unacceptable in Singapore.
01:35
We have always taken a firm stance against this.
01:40
First, it fractures the common space we share as Singaporeans.
01:46
Second, once elections become contest of faith, all communities in our society will end up worse off.
01:56
Third, external powers will seek to exploit these fault lines to advance their own agendas.
02:04
And as we have already seen, these challenges and threats are very real.
02:09
Identity politics means candidates and MPs appealing for support on the basis of race or religion
02:18
and championing the interests of that particular group over other groups and over everything else.
02:25
That's dangerous.
02:26
Because when one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back.
02:38
And you can see how this plays out in countries everywhere.
02:42
You end up fueling our worst tendencies, hostilities and vengefulness across society.
02:49
No one wins when this happens.
02:53
The minority groups will fail to get what they want because the majority group will push back strongly
02:59
and the minorities will find their space constricted.
03:02
At the same time, the majority group will also live in a most unhappy society where every issue comes down to race and religion.
03:12
So no one is happy, no one wins.
03:14
And in the end, we will be more divided than before.
03:19
And Singaporeans, all of us, will pay the price.
03:24
So I call on all political parties to make their positions clear on this matter.
03:30
This is not a partisan or party matter.
03:33
This is a matter of national importance.
03:36
In particular, I invite the leaders of all political parties to make their stand clear,
03:42
not just on foreign interference, but on two fundamental principles.
03:47
First, that identity politics has no place in Singapore.
03:52
Second, that we should never mix religion and politics.
03:59
At the end of the day, whatever our differences, we are all Singaporeans first and foremost.
04:05
I thank Singaporeans of all races and religions for having supported this multi-racial and multi-religious approach
04:13
all this world, which has enabled us to build a successful and harmonious Singapore.
04:22
At the end of the day, I'll continue to do the same thing as a communist vice president.
04:25
I thank you for that very much.
04:27
Thank you for continuing the announcement.
04:29
Thank you for that.
04:31
My book is from the beginning of the 2000s.
04:32
All of us, begin to write and we will keep the same thing as an article as a national and national and national,
04:35
as a scholar as an article, as a writer of science-wave,
04:37
as a writer of science-wave, as a writer, who shared a story on the subject.
04:38
I thank you for the first time.
04:40
Yes, instead of the PhD, I'm the PhD, I'd hope to try to see,
04:42
you know the PhD will find a new study or a writing process.
04:43
I thank you for this always.
04:44
Today, I give you a lot of questions and a few questions that don't be about.
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