LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The constitution states every person has a right to profess, practice, or propagate his or her religious belief if such activities do not breach any other laws relating to public order, public health, or morality. The constitution also prohibits discrimination based on religion in the administration of any law or in the appointment to, or employment in, any office under a public authority. It states that every religious group has the right to manage its own religious affairs. It does not prohibit restrictions on employment by a religious institution. The constitution states that no person shall be required to receive instruction or take part in any ceremony or act of worship in a religion other than his or her own.

The government maintains a decades-long ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church. The government banned Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1972 on grounds the religion was prejudicial to public welfare and order because the group objected to serving in the military, reciting the national pledge, or singing the national anthem. A 1996 decision by the Singapore Appeals Court upheld the ban and stated that individuals (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) have the right to profess, practice, and propagate their own beliefs but may not act as members of an unlawful society or attend meetings of such banned groups. In practice, the government does not arrest members of Jehovah’s Witnesses for attending or holding meetings in private homes but does not allow them to hold public meetings or publish or import their literature. The government banned the Unification Church in 1982 on grounds it was a “cult” that could have detrimental effects on society.

The law authorizes the Minister of Home Affairs to issue a “restraining order” against persons of authority within a religious group who cause feelings of enmity or hostility between different religious groups, promote political causes, carry out subversive activities, or encourage disaffection against the government under the guise of practicing religion. A restraining order places various restrictions on public activities in which a religious authority can participate. The Minister of Home Affairs may issue a restraining order against a religious organization if there is any foreign influence in the group that undermines religious harmony in the country. Subjects of a restraining order must also remove any online content deemed offensive.

Only citizens or permanent residents may fill key leadership roles in religious organizations, and religious organizations must disclose foreign donations of 10,000 Singapore dollars (SGD) ($7,600) or more and disclose any affiliation to foreign groups that may be able to exert influence on the organization.

The offenses of urging the use of force or violence carry a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, while offenses such as inciting feelings of enmity or ill will and insults against religious groups carry a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment. Individuals who “wound the religious feelings” of a religious group are allowed to voluntarily reconcile with the aggrieved group to avoid criminal prosecution. If, however, the individual violated an existing or prior restraining order, the person may nonetheless be charged for the offense.

A court may impose double the maximum penalty for most offenses if the offense is racially or religiously aggravated.

The country has two advisory groups on topics related to religious freedom, the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony (PCRH) and the Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR). The PCRH reports on matters affecting the maintenance of religious harmony and considers cases referred by the Ministry of Home Affairs or Parliament due to concerns the case could cause religious tensions. The President appoints the PCRH’s 10 members, seven of whom represent the Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Protestant, Sikh, and Taoist communities and three, including the chair, who do not represent any religious group. The PCMR acts within the legislative process and examines all legislation to ensure it does not disadvantage specific religious or racial groups. The PCMR also considers and reports on matters concerning any religious or racial group that Parliament or other government entity refers to it.

In February, the Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act took effect, which, in part, requires social media platforms to limit users’ exposure to online content considered harmful, including material that incites racial or religious tensions or promotes intolerance. Under the law, the government can also designate platforms with significant reach and impact as “regulated online communication services,” which must put in place system-wide processes and community standards for online safety, particularly among users under the age of 18. The IMDA may direct social media services to take down or disable user access to “egregious content” or to disallow specific accounts from interacting with and communicating content to users in the country. Platforms are also required to proactively detect and remove such content. Social media services failing to comply with the law could be fined up to one million SGD ($758,000) or have their services blocked in the country. The act does not apply to private messaging communications.

Under the law, a person is subject to arrest and prosecution for making, publishing, or circulating material or electronic records or giving speeches with the intent to incite violence against another group of persons or lead to a breach of the peace. The penalty for an offense is up to five years’ imprisonment.

The law requires all associations of 10 or more persons, including religious groups, to register with the government. Registration confers legal identity, which allows registered groups to own property, hold public meetings, and conduct financial transactions. Registered religious groups may apply to establish and maintain charitable and humanitarian institutions, which enables them to solicit and receive funding and tax benefits, such as income tax exemptions. Registered societies are subject to potential deregistration by the government on a variety of grounds, such as having purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare, or good order. Deregistration makes it impossible to maintain a legal identity as a religious group, with consequences related to owning property, conducting financial transactions, and holding public meetings. A person who acts as a member of or attends a meeting of an unregistered group may be punished with a fine of up to 5,000 SGD ($3,800), imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

Prisoners, including those in solitary confinement, are allowed access to chaplains of registered religious groups. Members of unregistered or banned religious groups, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification Church, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Christian Conference of Asia, and the South Korea-based Shincheonji Church, do not have this right.

Citizens must obtain a permit prior to speaking at indoor gatherings open to the public if the topic refers to race or religion, and such events are only permitted if outside of the hearing or view of nonparticipants. Indoor, private (invitation-only) events are not subject to the same restrictions. Organizers of private events, however, must prevent inadvertent access by uninvited guests or they may be cited for noncompliance with the rules regarding public gatherings.

By law the government may prohibit publications that are considered objectionable because they describe, depict, express, or deal with matters of race or religion (among other things) in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill will, or hostility among racial or religious groups. The government may prohibit the importation of publications, including religious publications, under the law. For offenses involving the publication of material deemed objectionable, an individual may be subject upon conviction to a fine not exceeding 5,000 SGD ($3,800), imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both. A person in possession of a prohibited publication may be fined up to 2,000 SGD ($1,500) and imprisoned for up to 12 months for a first conviction. The government prohibits all written materials published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the publishing arms of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Ministry of National Development and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) establish guidelines on land development and use of space for religious activities. The URA regulates all land usage and decides where organizations may be located; a religious group seeking a new place of worship must apply to the URA for a permit. URA guidelines regulate the use of commercially and industrially zoned space for religious activities and religious groups; they apply equally to all religious groups.

The constitution states Malays are “the indigenous people of Singapore” and requires the government to protect and promote their interests, including religious interests. The Islamic Religious Council (MUIS), a statutory board established under the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (MCCY), administers affairs for all Muslims in the country and protects their interests, including for Sunnis and minority groups, such as Shia. MUIS further advises the president on matters relating to the practice of Islam in the country. The government appoints all members of the MUIS. The government also appoints the members of the Hindu Endowments Board, Hindu Advisory Board, and Sikh Advisory Board. These councils under the MCCY manage various aspects of their faith communities, mainly practiced by the Indian minority.

The law allows members of the Muslim community, irrespective of their school of Islam or ethnicity, to have personal status issues governed by Islamic law “as varied where applicable by Malay custom.” Ordinarily the Shafi’i school of law is used, but other accepted schools of Islamic law may be used as appropriate. The President appoints the president of the sharia court. A breach of a sharia court order is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of up to six months. Sharia courts have exclusive jurisdiction over marriage issues where both parties are Muslims or were married under Muslim law. Sharia courts have concurrent jurisdiction with secular courts over disputes related to custody of minors and disposition of property upon divorce. Sharia courts do not have jurisdiction over personal protection orders or applications for maintenance payments. Appeals within the sharia system go to an appeals board, the ruling of which is final and may not be appealed to any other court.

The law allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, but the Registry of Muslim Marriages may refuse requests to marry additional wives after soliciting the views of existing wives, reviewing the husband’s financial capability, and evaluating his ability to treat the wives and families fairly and equitably. By law, the President appoints a “male Muslim of good character and suitable attainments” as the Registrar of Muslim Marriages. According to Singapore’s sixth report to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, “polygamous marriages are rare in Singapore and have steadily decreased from 0.4 per cent in 2010 to 0.18 per cent of Muslim marriages in 2020.”

Under the law, certain criminal offenses apply only to those who profess Islam. This includes publicly teaching or expounding any doctrine relating to Islam in a manner contrary to Islamic law, which carries a maximum fine of 2,000 SGD ($1,500), maximum imprisonment of 12 months, or both. It is also a criminal offense for Muslims to cohabit outside of marriage, but there has been no report of the government enforcing that law in decades.

According to legal experts, Islamic law governs Muslims in the context of inheritance issues by default, but under certain circumstances, civil law takes precedence when invoked. Islamic law may result in a man receiving twice the share of a woman’s inheritance of the same family relational level. Under Islamic law, a man may also incur financial responsibilities for his female next of kin, although this provision is not codified in the country’s secular law.

Wearing of headscarves is generally allowed by law in the workplace, including in the healthcare sector. Headscarves remain banned for uniformed services, such as police and military personnel.

Ministry of Education (MOE) rules prohibit elementary and secondary school students (but not teachers) in public schools from wearing anything not forming part of an official school uniform, including hijabs or headscarves. Schools have the discretion to exempt a child from wearing the official uniform based on health but not on religious grounds. International and other private schools are not subject to the same restrictions. For example, in madrassahs, which are all under the purview of the MUIS, headscarves are part of the uniform. Headscarves are not banned at institutions of higher learning.

The government does not permit religious instruction in public schools, although it is allowed in the country’s 57 government-subsidized religiously affiliated schools (mostly Christian but including three Buddhist schools). Religious instruction in these schools is provided outside of regular curriculum time and must not involve proselytization; students have the right to opt out and be given alternatives, such as civics and moral education, in lieu of religious instruction. Religious instruction is allowed in private schools that are not subsidized by the government. At the primary level, however, the law allows only seven designated private schools (six Sunni madrassahs, which both Sunni and Shia students attend, and one Seventh-day Adventist school) to provide religious education to citizen students; these schools must continue to meet or exceed public school performance benchmarks in annual national exams. Other Muslim-minority groups may operate part-time schools. Public schools finish early on Fridays, which enables Muslim students to attend Friday prayers, or administrators allow Muslim students to leave early to attend prayers. Secondary school students learn about the diversity of the country’s religious practices as a component of their character and citizenship education.

The law does not recognize a right to conscientious objection to military service, including for religious reasons. Male citizens or second-generation permanent residents are required to complete 24 months of uniformed national service upon reaching age 18, with no option for an alternative to national service. Conscientious objectors are generally court-martialed and sentenced to detention, typically for 12 to 39 months. Although they remain technically obliged to perform national service, men who refuse to serve on religious grounds are generally not later called up for reservist duties. They do not, however, receive any form of legal documentation officially discharging them from reservist duties.

The government may detain individuals considered security threats, including those expressing religious motivations, under internal security laws and regulations. The individuals receive religious, psychological, and social rehabilitation through state and civil society groups, including the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG). All groups, including the RRG, must concur that a detainee is successfully rehabilitated before authorities can approve a release.

The country is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

Abuses Involving Violence, Detention, or Mass Resettlement

The official website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses reported that, as of December, 11 Jehovah’s Witnesses were being held in the armed forces’ detention facility for refusing on religious grounds to complete national service, compared with 14 members held the previous year.

Throughout the year, the government detained several individuals under internal security legislation for planning religiously linked terrorist activities.

In January, the government issued a restriction order for a 16-year-old student for activities supporting the Islamic State and propagating the use of violence in online games. A restriction order requires an individual to seek official approval for a change of address or occupation, overseas travel, or participation in any public organization or activity.

In September, a court sentenced rapper Subhas Nair to six weeks in jail for attempting to promote feelings of ill will between different religious and ethnic groups. In social media posts, Nair had said Malay Muslims would receive harsher treatment under the law than Chinese Christians for expressing religious hatred on social media and that a Chinese man involved in the 2019 murder of an Indian national received relatively lenient punishment. Nair’s lawyer said he would appeal the conviction and sentence.

As of years’ end, 80 out of 95 persons detained under internal security laws since 2002, most accused of planning religiously motivated terrorist attacks, had met the requirements for successful rehabilitation and had been released and reintegrated into society.

Abuses Limiting Religious Belief and Expression

The government prosecuted a number of individuals for comments on social media throughout the year directed against racial and religious groups.

In March, authorities extended the arrest warrant for fugitive Charles Yeo, former chairman of the opposition Reform Party, and again in September extended it until March 2024. Among other criminal complaints, authorities charged Yeo with wounding the religious feelings of the Christian community in social media comments he made in 2020 and 2021.

In July, media outlets reported that authorities charged a 65-year-old man under the Administration of Muslim Law Act for teaching a “deviant doctrine” and for operating an Islamic school without registration. MUIS filed a police report against the man in 2021. Authorities had previously presented the case to the Fatwa Committee, a panel of prominent Islamic scholars, which ruled that some of the man’s teachings had no basis in Islamic sources and ordered him to stop such teachings.

IMDA refused classification of Hindi film The Kerala Story, stating it could potentially cause enmity between religious communities and disrupt religious harmony, effectively blocking the screening of the film in the country. IMDA determined the film included negative representations of Muslims that could promote ill will between groups and denigrated a religious community.

Abuses Involving the Ability of Individuals to Engage in Religious Activities Alone or In Community with Others

The government continued to assist religious groups locate spaces for religious observance in public housing, where most citizens reside. The government continued to enforce the maintenance of ethnic ratios in public housing to avoid the emergence of ethnic and religious enclaves in concentrated geographic areas.

The government continued to prohibit religious content in television broadcasts “in order to maintain a secular public broadcast service.” The communal call to prayer and Ramadan sermons continued to be broadcast on radio and were available on the internet.

While there is no specific law prohibiting proselytization, the government continued to limit its practice through the broader application of laws regarding limits on public speech, assembly, and broadcasting; authorities cited concerns that proselytizing by one group might offend other religious groups and upset intergroup relations.

As part of the MOE’s National Education Program, the official primary and secondary public-school curricula continued to encourage religious harmony and tolerance. Secondary-school students visited diverse religious sites, including Buddhist and Hindu temples, mosques, churches, and synagogues. All schools celebrated the annual Racial Harmony Day in July, which the government introduced to promote understanding and acceptance of all races and religions. On that day, children wore traditional clothing and celebrated the country’s racial and religious diversity. Also in July, then President Halimah Yacob said it was important for everyone to be aware that they lived in a diverse society where differences are a strength and cause to celebrate. It was important for children to build bridges of understanding among the communities, she added.

Former President Halimah, current President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and government ministers regularly stressed the government’s commitment to the country as a multiracial and multireligious society and cited religious harmony as an important policy goal.

Cabinet members repeatedly emphasized the importance of religious harmony in statements delivered on major religious commemorations such as Easter, Ramadan, Vesak Day, and Deepavali and when visiting different religious groups. On April 6, Prime Minister Lee and Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli participated in an iftar with the Muslim community. Then President Halimah met with interreligious groups for iftar and invited them to the President’s office on April 20. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said during the 75th anniversary celebration of the Sikh Advisory Board in July that the country must continue to strengthen racial harmony and social cohesion so that every community had the space to maintain its own heritage and culture. During an interfaith event organized by the Jewish Welfare Board in October, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said “the government treats all religions equally and fairly” and forged religious harmony, which was a cornerstone of the nation’s political stability.

Cabinet ministers frequently gave speeches on strengthening religious pluralism and participated in virtual interfaith dialogues led by societal organizations. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat highlighted the government’s appreciation for the work of the Inter-Religious Organization (IRO) toward ensuring religious harmony in the country during the IRO’s 74th gala dinner in May.

Under the auspices of the MCCY, local government and government-affiliated organizations advocated interreligious understanding and support for followers of other religions.

Other Developments Affecting Religious Freedom

Interfaith activities occurred in each of the country’s five mayoral districts through programs such as Common Sense for Common Spaces. Racial and Religious Harmony Circles (Harmony Circles) operated in each of the country’s 31 electoral constituencies. These groups sought to deepen trust, understanding, and confidence among different communities and address new challenges such as evolving societal attitudes, fault lines, and the impact of social media. The Harmony Circles conducted a variety of local interreligious dialogues, counseling, and trust-building workshops, community celebrations, and religious awareness campaigns on social media. In May, MCCY formed a new Harmony Circle Coordinating Council to better coordinate efforts across the country’s 93 Harmony Circles.

The government continued to work with religious groups through the Community Engagement Program, which trained community leaders in techniques for promoting religious harmony. Through the Crisis Preparedness for Religious Organizations program, the MCCY helped to prepare religious organizations for terror threats and other crises by improving their ability to protect their premises and congregants, formulate emergency plans, and help the larger community during a crisis. The MCCY continued to work through the Broadening Religious/Racial Interaction through Dialogue and General Education initiative, which provided financial support for community-based initiatives that fostered understanding of different religious practices and beliefs.

The MUIS continued to operate the Harmony Center, an institution established to promote greater interfaith understanding. The center housed artifacts and information about Islam and nine other major religious groups in the country. The Harmony Center also organized interfaith programs, including dialogues with leaders from different religious groups.

The enhanced government supported Faithful Footprints Interfaith Heritage Program (run by the interfaith organization Humanity Matters) continued efforts to build awareness, understanding, and trust across faith groups. The program was launched in 2019 to assimilate nonnative citizens and residents and students but later expanded to include a wider audience and more grassroot organizations, such as the Harmony Circles.