Pritam Singh clarifies that Noor Deros was invited to WP meeting with religious leaders in April
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WP chief Pritam Singh told the House on Nov 4 that a religious teacher had invited self-styled preacher Noor Deros to the April 20 meeting.
PHOTO: MDDI
Follow topic:
- Pritam Singh clarified his inaccurate claim that Mr Noor Deros "gatecrashed" an April meeting with that WP had with some Malay/Muslim leaders during the election period.
- Workers' Party vice-chair Faisal Manap was told that Mr Noor would attend the meeting an hour prior, by the religious teacher who invited him.
- Mr Singh said he made a personal statement of his own volition on Nov 4 to clarify the wrong impression given.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – WP chief Pritam Singh on Nov 4 clarified he had given the wrong impression that Mr Noor Deros was not invited to an April meeting that the party had with Malay/Muslim religious leaders, when he said the self-styled preacher “gatecrashed” the session.
In his response to a ministerial statement on race and religion
On Nov 4, Mr Singh told the House that a religious teacher had invited Mr Noor to the meeting, and informed WP vice-chair Faisal Manap via a WhatsApp message one hour before it started.
The Leader of the Opposition said he found out about this a week after the ministerial statement, on Oct 21, when Mr Faisal showed him the WhatsApp message.
“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,” said Mr Singh.
His clarification came after Leader of the House Indranee Rajah made a surprise ministerial statement to seek clarity over Mr Singh’s statements on the matter.
The April 20 meeting has been a topic of contention as Mr Noor had said he spoke to WP election candidates
This prompted concerns about the mixing of race and religion with politics – an issue that Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam addressed
Ms Indranee noted that Mr Noor released a YouTube video on Oct 18 saying he had not gatecrashed the meeting, and that Mr Faisal knew he would be at 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 election and now in Parliament. Or two, Mr Deros is lying. Sir, this is serious,” said Ms Indranee.
She then sought clarification from Mr Singh on the matter.
Rising to speak, Mr Singh said he informed Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng on the night of Nov 3 that he wished to clarify “certain representations” he had made in the House that were incorrect and had to be clarified for the record.
Mr Singh had joined the sitting while on a lunchtime break during his appeal in the High Court
“In using the word ‘gatecrash’, I may have created an impression that Mr Noor was not invited by anyone. This would be an incorrect impression,” he said, adding that Mr Noor was invited by the religious teacher who arranged the meeting with WP.
“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,” he added.
Asked by Ms Indranee what had led him to characterise Mr Noor’s presence at the meeting as gatecrashing, Mr Singh said he drew that conclusion as Mr Noor was not invited by Mr Faisal, and was also not specifically sought out by any WP member.
He reiterated that no promises or undertakings were made by Mr Faisal or WP’s Malay/Muslim candidates at the meeting in exchange for political support.
Ms Indranee also asked about Mr Singh’s portrayal of Mr Noor as a “nobody”, which she said gave the impression that he was not known to the WP, Mr Faisal or any of the other WP candidates who attended the meeting.
She noted that Mr Noor had founded the Wear White movement in 2014 in opposition to Pink Dot, which Mr Faisal publicly backed then.
Mr Faisal had also attended an event where Wear White members gathered for evening prayers during the holy month of Ramadan in June 2018, said Ms Indranee.
In response, Mr Singh conceded that Mr Faisal might have known of Mr Noor, but said he and the other WP candidates did not.
Ms Indranee then asked the WP chief whether Mr Faisal had heard of Mr Noor but did not know him, or if he knew Mr Noor.
“I want to be careful in trying not to import Mr Faisal’s knowledge and make a representation which may not be correct as to the degree of which he knew (Mr Noor),” Mr Singh replied.
Wrapping up the exchange, Ms Indranee pointed out the difference between Mr Singh saying Mr Noor was not specifically sought out, and that Mr Noor had gatecrashed a meeting, which implies he was not even supposed to be there. The facts show that Mr Noor was invited and Mr Faisal was also informed, she said.
“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,” said Ms Indranee, adding that “gatecrash” was an odd word to use if that had not been verified.
Replying, Mr Singh said that was why he made the clarification to correct the wrong impression.
In a statement issued after the sitting, Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming noted that Mr Singh’s inaccurate statements – that Mr Noor had gatecrashed the meeting, and no one in the WP really knew who he was – were conveyed to voters during the general election and repeated in Parliament.
The clarifications had taken many months to emerge, and might not have been made if Mr Noor had not publicly refuted Mr Singh, said Mr Goh.
While Mr Goh said he was glad Mr Singh has clarified the matter, “it would have been better if Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap had cleared the air much sooner and not allowed Singaporeans to be misled for so long”.
“All parliamentarians, and all political parties, have a responsibility to uphold high standards of integrity in our politics and political discourse,” he added.
