Need for Clarification on Statements made by the Leader of the Opposition

1.00 pm

The Leader of the House (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mr Speaker, I wish to make a Ministerial Statement on the need for clarification on statements made by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

Mr Speaker, I am making this Ministerial Statement because there were some statements made in Parliament which appear to have been contradicted by statements made outside of this House. Hence, I think it is important that I make this Statement, so that I can highlight what these contradictions are and give the Member concerned an opportunity to state his position clearly for the record, as this relates to an important issue.

During the Ministerial Statement on Race and Religion by Minister Shanmugam on 14 October 2025, Mr Singh clarified by stating that: "I think the Minister started by referring to meeting Deros and I mentioned quite clearly during the elections that he gate-crashed the meeting that Mr Faisal Manap was having with someone else. My understanding from Mr Faisal Manap is that there was no arrangement to meet him specifically."

So, Mr Singh's position was that Mr Deros had "gate-crashed" Mr Faisal's meeting. The Workers' Party (WP) Malay/Muslim candidates attended this meeting.

Mr Singh also referred to an earlier statement he had made during the elections in the following terms: "There was no indication that this individual", meaning Mr Deros, "would be joining in the meeting".

Sir, Mr Deros has released a YouTube video on 18 October 2025, in which he said he "did not gate-crash the meeting as some have irresponsibly claimed". He also said that this could be verified with Mr Faisal Manap himself. Thus, Mr Deros says that Mr Singh's claim that Mr Deros had gate-crashed was "irresponsible". He does not refer to Mr Singh by name, but refers to the point made that he had gate-crashed.

Mr Deros has been publicly asked whether he had really been invited and if so, whether he had been invited by Mr Faisal Manap or someone else. Mr Deros has replied publicly that the names of the asatizahs who would be present at the meeting had been sent to Mr Faisal Manap before the meeting. Thus, Mr Deros has suggested that Mr Faisal, at least, would have known that Mr Deros would be attending the meeting.

On the face of things, it would appear that: either, one, Mr Faisal has told an untruth, which has been repeated by Mr Singh during the General Elections (GE) and now in Parliament; or two, Mr Deros is lying.

Sir, this is serious. And so, may I seek some clarifications from Mr Singh?

First, can Mr Singh reconfirm that his position is that Mr Deros had "gate-crashed" the meeting?

Second, can he confirm it is also Mr Faisal's position that Mr Deros had "gate-crashed" the meeting? Mr Faisal would know his answers to Mr Singh would be for this House.

Third, has Mr Singh confirmed with Mr Faisal whether the names of the asatizahs attending the meeting was sent in advance to Mr Faisal? If the names of the asatizahs attending the meeting were not sent in advance, was Mr Faisal nevertheless aware that Mr Deros would be attending the meeting?

I will now move onto my next set of clarifications.

During the proceedings on the Ministerial Statement on Race and Religion, Mr Singh clarified that: "my own view on this is, when a nobody claims that there is a set of demands that he has of a political party, one has to think of a number of factors."

He added that, "So, by dealing with it on 23 or 24 April, points made by a certain Noor Deros, who really, no one knows. I certainly did not know of him."

Mr Singh's statement that Mr Deros was a "nobody" whom "really, no one knows" gives the impression that Mr Deros was not known to the WP, to Mr Faisal, or to any of the other WP candidates who attended the meeting.

However, it has been publicly stated that:

(a) Mr Deros founded the Wear White movement in 2014.

(b) Mr Faisal said publicly then that he backed the movement.

(c) Members of the Wear White team gathered for the first Terawih, which are evening prayers during Ramadan at Masjid Ar-Raudhah on 28 June 2014. Members of the public were invited to join in the prayers.

(d) It is also a matter of public record that Mr Faisal attended that event.

Sir, in light of this, does it remain Mr Singh's position that Mr Deros was not known to Mr Faisal or any of the other WP candidates, before this meeting on 20 April 2025?

Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.

1.05 pm

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you to the Leader of the House. Just for a matter of record, before the Ministerial Statement was made, I communicated with Speaker, to inform Speaker last night that I would seek to make a clarification on certain representations that I had made in the House which were incorrect and they had to be clarified for the record.

So, just to be clear, I am responding through Standing Order No 25. Standing Order No 25 requires me to send to the Speaker in advance what I am going to share with this House and I will stick to that, notwithstanding Leader's questions. But apart from one point, I think all the questions that she has asked in her Ministerial Statement will be dealt with in the Personal Explanation.

Mr Speaker: I can confirm that, yes. Mr Pritam Singh, please go on.

Mr Pritam Singh: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to make a clarification pertaining to my response to a clarification from Member of Parliament (MP) Mr Saktiandi Supaat that arose from the Coordinating Minister for National Security's Ministerial Statement on 11 October, last month. I had stated, referencing my remarks at the WP's 26 April 2025 doorstop interview with the press that, I quote: "There was no indication that this individual would be joining in the meeting." By this individual I am referring to a Singaporean Citizen one Noor Deros.

On 21 October 2025, about a week after the Ministerial Statement, Mr Faisal Manap shared with me a WhatsApp message that he received on his mobile device at the material time. The WhatsApp message showed that the ustaz who had invited Mr Noor Deros to a meeting with Mr Faisal had sent a WhatsApp message to Mr Faisal on 20 April, about one hour before the meeting in question, indicating that Noor Deros would be present. I was not aware of this detail in April this year, nor was I aware of it last month during the exchange on the Ministerial Statement.

In view of this, I asked Mr Faisal to provide context for the meeting where Mr Noor Deros was present in view of the Ministerial Statement and the Parliamentary consensus that race and religion should not be used for political gain. I said in Parliament last month that the meeting in question was arranged by an ustaz who was known to Mr Faisal. The meeting took place on 20 April this year. I said, quoting Mr Deros's Facebook post of 3 May 2025 that he attended the meeting at the invitation of an ustaz who was delegated by Mr Faisal. This is correct and consistent with the facts of the meeting. Neither Mr Faisal nor the Malay WP candidates arranged to meet Mr Noor Deros or specifically sought him out for his views.

Mr Faisal shared that after GE 2011, he had approached an ustaz who was involved in inter-faith discourse to seek guidance on how he, being a minority Malay/Muslim MP could perform his role in a way that would best fit Singapore's multi-religious and multi-cultural society. He found the guidance helpful and meaningful, and hence, prior to GE 2015, he arranged for a similar session with an ustaz for himself and the WP Malay candidates to seek guidance and advice. Mr Faisal confirms that the motives behind the meeting prior to GE 2025, which was attended by Mr Noor Deros, were the same.

On 12 April 2025, before Parliament was dissolved and Nomination Day announced, the ustaz who invited Mr Noor Deros, reached out to Mr Faisal informing him that he was planning to engage with the group of his asatizah friends to meet Mr Faisal to exchange ideas and thoughts. In response, Mr Faisal said that he planned to engage with the ustaz for a sharing session with other WP Malay candidates in the lead-up to GE 2025.

When the meeting took place on 20 April, I can reconfirm that no promises or undertakings were made by Mr Faisal or the WP Malay/Muslim candidates present, in exchange for political support from Mr Noor Deros during the elections. This has been reconfirmed to me by Mr Faisal and the WP Malay/Muslim candidates who were present at the meeting.

During the Parliamentary exchange last month, I also said that Mr Noor Deros gate-crashed the meeting. In using the word "gate-crashed", I may have created an impression that Mr Noor Deros was not invited by anyone. This would be an incorrect impression since I had confirmed later in the course of my response in this House to Member Saktiandi that Mr Noor Deros's presence at the meeting was at the invitation of an ustaz delegated by Mr Faisal.

I would like to put this clarification on the record, Mr Speaker. I believe that deals with the Personal Explanation that I am obliged to share with Speaker, as per the Standing Orders.

There was an additional question from the Leader that pertained to Mr Noor Deros being a nobody. I have confirmed in the statement that the WP Malay/Muslim candidates confirmed that there were no promises or undertakings made. They also confirmed that they did not know who Mr Noor Deros was. That is the position.

Mr Faisal, as the Leader of the House shares, must have been known to Mr Deros because he was present at this Wear White event. So, Mr Faisal Manap would have known of who Mr Noor Deros was.

I hope that clarifies the query that the Leader put. And if I have not addressed any point, I would be grateful if Leader could repeat the question.

Mr Speaker: Minister Indranee.

1:12 pm

Ms Indranee Rajah: I am grateful to Mr Singh for his clarification. Let me just deal with his clarifications one by one.

First, on the second point, the point that Mr Deros was a "nobody" and really, nobody knows of him. If I understand Mr Singh's explanation correctly, you said Mr Faisal Manap would have known Mr Deros? I just want to make sure that I get that correct. In other words, is it correct to say that Mr Faisal Manap knew who Mr Deros was or knew Mr Deros before that meeting in April? [Inaudible.]

So, he did. Right. In other words, the statement that Mr Deros is somebody who really nobody knows, is not accurate. Would you like to clarify that?

Mr Speaker: Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, Mr Faisal may have known of him, but the other Malay/Muslim candidates did not know of him. On my personal basis, I did not know who Mr Noor Deros was as well. So, in that context, that is what I mean when I say Mr Noor Deros is a nobody.

Mr Speaker: Minister Indranee.

Ms Indranee Rajah: I thank Mr Singh for his clarification. So, we are clear on one thing. I think Mr Singh says he himself does not know Mr Deros – that, we are clear. I think Mr Singh has also said that the other Malay/Muslim candidates, other than Mr Faisal, did not know Mr Deros – that one, we are clear.

The thing that Mr Singh has just said is that Mr Faisal Manap would have "known of" Mr Deros. There is a distinction between saying Mr Faisal Manap would have "known of" him; for example, I know of many other world leaders, but I do not know them personally. So, there is a distinction between saying Mr Faisal Manap would have "known of" Mr Deros and Mr Faisal Manap would have "known" Mr Deros.

So, what I am trying to understand here is whether Mr Faisal Manap just would have "known of", which means you hear of this person, but you do not know them, or whether he knew him.

Mr Speaker: Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: Mr Speaker, I want to be careful in not trying to import Mr Faisal's knowledge and make a representation which may not be correct as to the degree of which he knew him. Did he know of him or did know of him as an individual? I think the Leader shared a particular occasion where both of them were at a common platform.

To the extent of how much Mr Faisal Manap knew of Mr Deros, I am not in a position to relay any information in that regard. But I have seen pictures to that effect of both Mr Faisal and Mr Noor Deros being at that event that the Leader mentioned. But I cannot stand here and suggest or even imply the extent of how well they knew each other.

Mr Speaker: Minister Indranee.

Ms Indranee Rajah: I thank Mr Singh for his clarifications.

So, now I move to the first point on this question of gate-crashing. And I was not sure that I quite understood Mr Singh's clarification here.

In light of the clarification, because I think it is important to go back to the original statement. The original statement, which was stated in Mr Singh's clarification on 14 October, he said, "I mentioned quite clearly during the elections that he had gate-crashed the meeting that Mr Faisal Manap was having with someone else."

So, "gate-crashed" actually implies that you are not invited and that really, you are not supposed to be there. But I think we have heard – firstly, today, that in fact, there was a WhatsApp message and the ustaz had shared with Mr Faisal Manap one hour before the meeting that Mr Deros would be present. So, would it be fair to say that it is wrong to say that Mr Deros gate-crashed that meeting?

Mr Speaker: Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: Mr Speaker, I believe this was clear in my Personal Explanation that by using the word "gate-crashed", I would have created an impression that Mr Noor Deros was not invited by anyone. So, that would be wrong. It would not be right to leave that impression on the record. Hence, my decision to make a Personal Explanation, on my own volition, today.

The position, of course, is not known to me that he was — based on what I had said in April was based on the knowledge I had in April and the knowledge that I had in October. The revelation of this message that Mr Noor Deros was attending the meeting which was sent to Mr Faisal one hour before the meeting was only made known to me, I believe I mentioned it, on 21 October.

So, it is knowledge that I received after the fact. I have made certain statements in Parliament about it. I have this knowledge. So, I come to Parliament and I correct the impression that I have left with Parliament.

Mr Speaker: Minister Indranee.

Ms Indranee Rajah: I thank Mr Singh for that clarification.

It is quite clear that – Mr Singh has clarified it now – because he says the knowledge that Mr Deros was included in the group was given to him on 21 October.

What I want to know is, because Mr Singh had said during the elections that Mr Deros had gate-crashed the meeting, and Mr Singh had said the same thing on 14 October 2025; because on 14 October what Mr Singh said was, "I mentioned quite clearly during the elections that he had gate-crashed the meeting", I just want to know during the elections in April and on 14 October, on what basis does Mr Singh say that Mr Deros had gate-crashed the meeting?

Mr Speaker: Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: The basis is the fact that Mr Deros was not invited by Mr Faisal. So, my impression based on what had transpired at the elections and also, in the course of the Ministerial Statement was, there was no WP member who specifically sought out Mr Noor Deros. That is how I phrased — or that understanding led me to use the word "gate-crashed".

But on reflection, that would not be a correct word to use, because it is quite clear that, and by Mr Deros' own statements in public that he was invited by the ustaz who Mr Faisal was in contact with. That also has been stated in my Personal Explanation.

Mr Speaker: Minister indranee.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will not belabour the point, but I just want to wrap it up by saying this.

There is actually a difference between saying that Mr Deros was not specifically sought out. Not specifically sought out is one thing, but "gate-crashed" really implies – not even supposed to be there, not invited. And what the facts do show now is that he was invited by the ustaz, and that the ustaz had informed Mr Faisal.

So, I think, in short, had this been known in April during the elections and made known to the voters, I think it might have put a different colour on the circumstances then.

And also, it is an odd word to use – "gate-crashed" – if you have not actually verified that. I am not sure that the statement that "gate-crashed" means "did not seek out", actually makes sense. But I leave it there.

Mr Speaker: Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: Mr Speaker, that is precisely why I am making the Personal Explanation: to put on record what the circumstances were, with regard to the statements that I made on 14 October in Parliament and to correct the impression that would have logically flowed from the use of that word. So, I can understand where the Leader is coming from. Hence, the clarification.

I do not believe there are any other outstanding matters. Leader can correct me if that is not the case.

Mr Speaker: Minister Indranee.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Nothing further.

1.22 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. Introduction of Government Bill. Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.