Singaporeans Urged to Be Careful following Abdul Somad's Refusal of Entry
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24 May 2022 23:16 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the controversy over the denied entry of Indonesian preacher Abdul Somad, Singaporean Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam urged citizens to be careful and discerning in dealing with foreign preachers and potentially divisive teachings.
"Apply your own judgment. You know what makes Singapore work, you know what is good for oneself as well as the society," said Shanmugam before reporters as quoted from Singapore Law Watch on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
As widely reported, Abdul Somad who is also known as UAS was denied entry to Singapore last week. The Singaporean Home Affairs Ministry via its press release on May 17 stated the reasons that the latter has been known to promote extremist and segregationist teachings.
"Everyone is free to practice their religion here [Singapore]. Everyone is free to believe in God or not believe in God, or believe in whichever god they want to believe. But we don't need to cross the line and attack somebody else," Shanmugam added.
He emphasized that Singapore would continue with its zero-tolerance and even-handed approach towards any form of hate speech and divisive ideologies, adding that this applies equally to all. "As I said, I make no apologies for this."
After the refusal of entry, Shanmugam who is also the Minister for Law claimed that many of Somad's supporters via the Singapore government's social media networking sites openly threatened to launch an attack similar to 9/11 in New York 2001 and bombs.
The pressure on Singapore after denying Abdul Somad’s entry was quite high. The preacher’s supporters last week staged a protest in front of the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta and the Singapore Consulate in Medan, calling for Singapore's apology.
Tempo has asked for a response from the Singaporean Ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar through his secretary, but no response has been received yet.
DANIEL AHMAD
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