Pritam Singh Clarifies Misstatement on Noor Deros’ Attendance

In a recent parliamentary session, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh clarified his previous remarks regarding religious teacher Noor Deros attending a meeting with Workers’ Party (WP) candidates, including vice-chair Faisal Manap. Mr. Singh stated that he had mischaracterised Mr. Deros’ attendance as a “gatecrash” during a session in October, which was held to discuss the politicisation of race and religion.

Addressing the House on November 4, 2025, Mr. Singh acknowledged that his use of the term may have led to misconceptions about Mr. Deros’ presence at the meeting held on April 20, 2025. He stated, “In using the word ‘gatecrashed’, 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 that Mr. Noor Deros’ presence at the meeting was at the invitation of an ustaz delegated by Mr. Faisal.”

The clarification followed a ministerial statement by Indranee Rajah, Leader of the House and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, who sought to clarify Mr. Singh’s earlier comments. She highlighted that Mr. Deros had released a YouTube video on October 18, asserting he did not “gatecrash” the meeting, and suggested that this could be verified with Mr. Faisal. Ms. Rajah remarked, “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,” calling the matter “serious.”

The meeting in question was convened ahead of the General Election on May 3, 2025. Mr. Deros, a self-styled religious teacher in Singapore, had publicly demanded political engagement in return for his support, and had previously met with all of WP’s Malay candidates. He urged voters in Tampines GRC to back Mr. Faisal against the People’s Action Party’s anchor candidate, Masagos Zulkifli.

The Workers’ Party confirmed on April 26 that “no promises, commitments or agreements” were made in exchange for political support during the meeting with religious leaders, including Mr. Deros. Mr. Singh explained that the meeting was arranged after a member of the Muslim community requested to meet with Mr. Faisal and other Malay candidates, noting that there was no indication that Mr. Deros would attend along with a list of demands.

In his clarification, Mr. Singh revealed he had gained new insights about the meeting. Approximately a week after his October remarks, Mr. Faisal provided a WhatsApp message showing an ustaz had informed him about an hour prior to the meeting that Mr. Deros would be present. Mr. Singh stated, “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.”

He reiterated that Mr. Faisal had arranged the meeting with an ustaz to seek guidance on his responsibilities as a Malay-Muslim MP in Singapore’s diverse society, following a similar beneficial consultation after the 2011 elections. The ustaz had communicated to Mr. Faisal on April 12 about engaging with a group of religious teachers, prompting Mr. Faisal to suggest the meeting include other WP Malay candidates ahead of the election.

Ms. Rajah also challenged Mr. Singh’s earlier description of Mr. Deros as “a nobody,” pointing out that Mr. Faisal had supported the Wear White movement founded by Mr. Deros in 2014 and attended one of its events. This raised questions regarding Mr. Deros’ recognition by the WP and its candidates prior to the meeting on April 20.

In response, Mr. Singh acknowledged that “Faisal Manap would have known of who Mr. Noor Deros was” but expressed caution about making assumptions regarding the depth of Mr. Faisal’s knowledge of Mr. Deros. When questioned about the nuances of knowing someone versus knowing them personally, Mr. Singh maintained that he wanted to avoid misrepresenting Mr. Faisal’s awareness.

Ms. Rajah emphasized that had the clarification regarding Mr. Deros’ attendance been known during the election period, it “might have put a different colour on the circumstances then.” Mr. Singh confirmed that he was making this clarification to correct any misleading impressions resulting from his previous comments.

The exchange in parliament, which lasted over 20 minutes, was marked by Mr. Singh’s insistence that he was providing a “personal explanation.” He had informed Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng of his intent to clarify “certain representations” he had made that were “incorrect” and needed rectification for the official record. Mr. Singh attended the parliamentary session during a break in his ongoing appeal against a conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee, adding another layer of complexity to the proceedings.