00:00I'm calling this press conference, in the middle of the campaign, as Prime Minister,
00:10because it concerns a matter of national interest.
00:14Singapore's greatest strength is our unity across race and religion.
00:20It is a background of our multiracial and multireligious society.
00:25And this is not accidental. It is the result of painstaking hard work and patient efforts by generations of Singaporeans.
00:37In the past few days, we have detected online activity by foreign actors,
00:43urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.
00:48They say, vote for so-and-so because he or she will represent a particular race or religion.
00:58These foreigners targeted Singaporeans.
01:01And their social media posts were also widely shared within the Singaporean community.
01:06That crosses the line.
01:08Singaporeans may have different views about issues, but we cannot allow external actors to exploit whatever differences we may have
01:19to weaken us or to advance their own interests.
01:23Singapore's politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.
01:29Mixing politics with religion is unacceptable in Singapore.
01:35We have always taken a firm stance against this.
01:40First, it fractures the common space we share as Singaporeans.
01:46Second, once elections become contest of faith, all communities in our society will end up worse off.
01:56Third, external powers will seek to exploit these fault lines to advance their own agendas.
02:04And as we have already seen, these challenges and threats are very real.
02:09Identity politics means candidates and MPs appealing for support on the basis of race or religion
02:18and championing the interests of that particular group over other groups and over everything else.
02:25That's dangerous.
02:26Because when one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity, others will organise and start to jostle back.
02:38And you can see how this plays out in countries everywhere.
02:42You end up fueling our worst tendencies, hostilities and vengefulness across society.
02:49No one wins when this happens.
02:53The minority groups will fail to get what they want because the majority group will push back strongly
02:59and the minorities will find their space constricted.
03:02At the same time, the majority group will also live in a most unhappy society where every issue comes down to race and religion.
03:12So no one is happy, no one wins.
03:14And in the end, we will be more divided than before.
03:19And Singaporeans, all of us, will pay the price.
03:24So I call on all political parties to make their positions clear on this matter.
03:30This is not a partisan or party matter.
03:33This is a matter of national importance.
03:36In particular, I invite the leaders of all political parties to make their stand clear,
03:42not just on foreign interference, but on two fundamental principles.
03:47First, that identity politics has no place in Singapore.
03:52Second, that we should never mix religion and politics.
03:59At the end of the day, whatever our differences, we are all Singaporeans first and foremost.
04:05I thank Singaporeans of all races and religions for having supported this multi-racial and multi-religious approach
04:13all this world, which has enabled us to build a successful and harmonious Singapore.
04:22At the end of the day, I'll continue to do the same thing as a communist vice president.
04:25I thank you for that very much.
04:27Thank you for continuing the announcement.
04:29Thank you for that.
04:31My book is from the beginning of the 2000s.
04:32All of us, begin to write and we will keep the same thing as an article as a national and national and national,
04:35as a scholar as an article, as a writer of science-wave,
04:37as a writer of science-wave, as a writer, who shared a story on the subject.
04:38I thank you for the first time.
04:40Yes, instead of the PhD, I'm the PhD, I'd hope to try to see,
04:42you know the PhD will find a new study or a writing process.
04:43I thank you for this always.
04:44Today, I give you a lot of questions and a few questions that don't be about.
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