Malaysian who did PhD in S’pore banned from re-entry after engaging in political activism here: MHA
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The Ministry of Home Affairs said on March 27 that Ms Fadiah Nadwa Fikri had encouraged some of the youth here to “adopt her brand of radical advocacy”.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
SINGAPORE - A Malaysian woman who had studied in Singapore was denied re-entry after engaging in political activism in the city-state.
In response to queries, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on March 27 that Ms Fadiah Nadwa Fikri had encouraged some of the youth here to “adopt her brand of radical advocacy”.
The ministry said she encouraged them to go beyond protests, to mobilise students and different communities in Singapore, and to undertake disruptive and violent actions to support specific causes. Ms Fadiah had completed a PhD at the National University of Singapore in 2025.
On March 22 and 23, she posted on social media platform X that she had been notified that she was banned from entering the country after trying to do so on March 22.
MHA said: “We will not tolerate foreigners getting involved in our domestic politics, nor the promotion of unlawful, violent and disruptive methods of civil protest.
“Fadiah is an undesirable visitor, and we have thus denied her entry into our country.”
In her social media posts, Ms Fadiah said she had asked immigration officers why she was banned, but was told that they could not disclose the reasons.
She posted a photo of a notice of refusal of entry dated March 22, which stated that she was not allowed to enter Singapore as she is “ineligible for the issue of a pass under current immigration policies”. The notice cited the place of issue as Woodlands.
Ms Fadiah said she had attempted to make the recent trip to Singapore as her former supervisor had invited her to deliver a guest lecture. She had also planned to take care of her friend’s cat and collect her degree certificate and books.
Ms Fadiah said she had lived in Singapore for five years and was conferred a doctoral degree on Jan 31, adding that she had left legal practice to pursue the PhD at NUS.
According to the university’s website, Ms Fadiah had pursued her doctorate at its Department of South-east Asian Studies and graduated in 2025.
In 2020, Malaysian media reported that she was being investigated for alleged sedition and the wrongful use of network services and facilities for a Twitter post that encouraged people to join a political rally.
At the time, she was under another sedition investigation for an article she had written on the monarchy in the wake of Malaysia’s 2018 General Election. The outcome of both investigations has not been reported.
Ms Fadiah has been a member of Lawyers for Liberty and the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), both Malaysian advocacy groups.
In a social media post on March 27, Ms Fadiah responded to MHA’s statement saying it was “malicious, false, and defamatory” and that the ministry had not provided evidence to support its allegations.
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority figures from 2025 show that 45,700 foreigners were denied entry into Singapore, up from 33,100 the year before.
They were refused entry after having been assessed to pose immigration threats, including those who may work illegally or who have the potential to overstay their visits, and individuals who pose security risks to the nation.
