SINGAPORE: In the past several days, since election season began in earnest, some social media posts made by a man named Noor Deros have been making the rounds online, sparking debates about the mixing of religion and politics.
In one of his posts, for example,he made a list of demands to Singapore's politicians and claimed to have met Workers' Party (WP) Malay candidates.
He also called on his followers to vote for WP candidates such as former Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap, who is contesting in Tampines GRC this election.
In a statement on Apr 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Elections Department Singapore (ELD) reiterated that Singapore is a secular state and "we must not mix religion and politics".
The reminder came as the authorities said they had identified a “number of foreigners” attempting to influence the GE. The three individuals cited by the authorities had, among other things, criticised the Singapore government's handling of sensitive religious issues and urged Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.
“Bringing religion into politics will undermine social cohesion and harmony, as we have seen in other countries with race- or religion-based politics,” said MHA and ELD.
Who is Mr Noor?
HIS BACKGROUND
Mr Noor is a Singaporean Islamic religious teacher now based in Malaysia. He is not an accredited ustaz in Singapore and is therefore not allowed to preach in the country.
His Facebook account states that he lives in Kuala Lumpur and is the second vice-president at MIASA Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation that raises awareness and supports persons with mental illnesses.
According to Infaq.sg, a website listing Islamic events in Singapore, Mr Noor graduated fromAl-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt with a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Creed and Philosophy. In 2006 and 2007, he was also the president of PERKEMAS, a Singapore student welfare assembly in Egypt.
He came into some prominence in Singapore in 2014, when he founded the WearWhite movement, an anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) campaign that called on Muslims to wear white clothing as a protest against homosexuality and to defend traditional family values.
The campaign was a response to Pink Dot, the annual protest advocating for LGBT rights in Singapore.
He said then that "the natural state of human relationships is now under sustained attack by LGBT activists" and urged Muslims to"stand up and defend the sanctity of family".
According to his biography on the International Mental Health Recovery Conference, at which he spoke in 2019, Mr Noor teaches Islamic creeds, "especially on facing the challenges posed by Western philosophy", in Johor Bahru, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Singapore'sAsatizah Recognition Board (ARB) said Mr Noorapplied for recognition in the country in 2017, but his application was not successful because he refused to comply with theAsatizah Recognition Scheme Code of Ethics.
This is despite being counselled by ARB, whichconsists of 12 senior members of the Asatizah fraternity who represent various sectors and areas of expertise within the Muslim community.
"The (Code of Ethics) is a framework established to ensure accountability and integrity among religious teachers while safeguarding Singapore's unity, peace and harmony," ARB said in a media statement.
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
In more recent days, Mr Noor made several social media posts mixing religion and politics and claimed to have met WP candidates.
On Apr 19, he published on Facebook a list of demands to all the political parties contesting in GE2025 and encouraged people who "resonate with these ideals, whether wholly or partially", to read and share the demands.
Some of these demands were to:
- Give the Muslim community the right to vote for their Minister-in-Chargeof Muslim Affairs
- Make the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) an independent body
- Ensure the MUIS council is composed of ulama from PERGAS,an association for Asatizah in Singapore,and qualified Muslim professionals
- Have the MUIS Council elect the Mufti and President of MUIS
- Create spaces within mosques and madrasahs for Islamic perspectives to contribute to national discourse and development
- Have MHA and the Religious Rehabilitation Group handle radicalisation by acknowledging and addressing the "real cause of political grievances of Muslims globally"
- Recognise the state of Palestine and sever ties with Israel
- End "race-based demographic engineering"
- Put in place legal reforms that uphold the "sanctity of marriage and family life", including possibly criminalisingadultery
- Protect the family institution from "ideologies that undermine it ... particularly LGBTQ advocacy and radical feminist enculturation"
- Abolish the Internal Security Act
On Apr 23, Mr Noor claimed that the WP was the only party that had responded to his demands, but added that they had not made a "concrete promise".
He also issued four additional demands to the WP in this post.They were:
- To raise in parliament the issue of how the administration and practice of Islam in Singapore is restricted and guarded through the Administration of Muslim Law Act and related institutions such as MUIS.
- Not to advocate or defend anything related to the normalisation of LGBTQ+.
- To "bring a new narrative" to efforts against radicalisation by "acknowledging the US and Israel as the real masterminds of terrorism", and that the War on Terror campaign by the US is a false campaign to destabilise the Middle East for Israel's prosperity.
- To cut ties with Israel and recognise Palestine as a state.
When asked in a Facebook comment who in WP he had spoken to, Mr Noor replied: "All of the Malay candidates."
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, and called on Tampines residents to "do the right thing".
Subsequently, he said on Apr 24 that if the WP "does not respond to the widespread demands of the Muslim community to reject the normalisation of LGBTQ+ and address other major concerns, then I urge that we vote for the candidate, not the party".
At around midnight on Apr 26, Mr Noor made another Facebook post where he clarified that WP had "accepted" his requests, but that it was not the same as "agreeing" to his requests.
"'Taking seriously' does not necessarily mean 'agree and promise to deliver'," he added, in reference to his earlier post that WP was the only party that had taken his demands seriously.
WP'S RESPONSE
In a statement on Apr 26, WP said that itmeets with various members of Singapore's religious communities, regardless of race or religion.
"At a meeting with other religious leaders where Mr Noor was present, the Party confirms there were no promises, commitments or agreements made to any individual, including Mr Noor, in exchange for political support for WP candidates," WP said.
It also highlighted speeches made in parliament by party chief Pritam Singh and former Mr Faisal about separating religion and politics.
"We remain firmly committed to Singapore’s secular, multi-racial, multi-religious society, and to protecting the integrity of our electoral process," said the opposition party.
