Foreign interference in Singapore politics, policies ‘an absolute no’: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE – Foreign interference in Singapore’s politics and policies, such as the penalties imposed for some criminal offences, is unacceptable, said Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam.

“Singapore’s position on this has been consistent since 1965: such interference is unacceptable. It is an absolute no,” he said in posts on his social media accounts. “That position has not changed – and it will be firmly enforced.”

His comments come after Ms Fadiah Nadwa Fikri – a Malaysian woman who had completed a PhD at the National University of Singapore in 2025 – was denied re-entry to the Republic after engaging in political activism here.

Ms Fadiah has been a member of two Malaysian advocacy groups, Lawyers for Liberty and the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism.

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.

She was at the time 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.

In posts on social media platform X on March 22 and 23, Ms Fadiah said she was banned from entering Singapore after trying to do so on March 22.

Noting that immigration officers could not disclose why she had been banned, Ms Fadiah said she had attempted to make the trip here as she had been invited to deliver a guest lecture. 

On March 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Ms Fadiah had encouraged the youth here to “adopt her brand of radical advocacy”.

The ministry said then that she encouraged them to go beyond protests, mobilise students and different communities in Singapore, and undertake disruptive and violent actions in support of specific causes.

In response, Ms Fadiah said MHA’s statement was “malicious, false and defamatory” and that the ministry had not provided evidence to support its allegations.

Mr Shanmugam – who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security – said the Republic is “increasingly” seeing people from different parts of Malaysian society seeking to intervene in Singapore’s politics and policies.

These include in penalties imposed for certain criminal offences, Singapore’s foreign policy as well as some of the ways the country organises itself, he said.

He said Ms Fadiah had “encouraged local activists to adopt her brand of radical advocacy” and “incited them to break the law and use violence”.

“When people attempt to interfere in this manner, we will act decisively,” he said.

“It does not matter whether the instigator is Singaporean, Malaysian, or any other foreign national.”