The recent riots in United Kingdom (UK) since last July, its "worst riots in 13 years", have been caused by a mix of factors, such as disinformation, hate speech and foreign interference, said Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam on Aug. 16.

Singapore's approach to pre-empting such a situation is to have a carefully designed framework of laws and policies which gives priority to law and order, Shanmugam said.

Shanmugam went on to explain how the framework help maintain Singapore's harmony in a speech at the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Scholarship award ceremony 2024 held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

UK Riots

Shanmugam highlighted the wave of riots that has hit the UK since late July 2024, affecting more than 15 towns and cities.

He noted that rioters have looted shops, burned cars, targeted mosques, and attacked police officers as well as hotels that they believed to be housing refugees.

400 of these rioters have been arrested.

He highlighted that the causes of these riots "are many" including disinformation, hate speech, foreign interference, deep-seated resentments which have been growing, and underlying socio-economic issues like jobs and housing.

The riots were said to have started as a result of falsehoods involving a knife attack that killed three children, in which the attacker had initially been rumoured to be a Muslim.

The matter was made worse by UK public figures and online influencers who "added fuel to the fire" by stoking anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiments.

Other factors also include high levels of unhappiness about the country's high immigration.

Protests may get "hijacked" by those with their own agendas

Shanmugam said that in Singapore, the government has tried to pre-empt such a situation by having a carefully designed framework of laws and policies focusing on law and order.

He added that free speech is important but the government does not have much tolerance for fake speech, racial or religious hate speech, and speech inciting violence particularly if it can impact law and order.

He reiterated that protests in Singapore are regulated under the Public Order Act.

Shanmugam said that any protests must get permits and are subject to police assessment. If there is a likelihood of a law and order issue, there will be no permit given.

On allowing pro-Palestinians protests in Singapore, Shanmugam said that such gatherings may start off well-intentioned, led by honest, idealistic people.

However, he added that these protests often get "hijacked" by people with their own agendas, referring to the examples from the UK where people "hijack" with their own agendas and create violence.

As such, if Palestinian protests are allowed, other similar gatherings will also have to be allowed, like protests about the treatment of Chinese minorities in Malaysia.

"We are very careful about this for good reasons, and we have a tough set of laws on incitement of racial and religious hatred, including a strict approach towards hate speech."

"Our laws underpin our ideology"

Shanmugam said that the Singapore government enforces such laws to "set the tone" and also ensure that the large majority of society is protected from hate speech.

He added that Singapore does not take the same ideology as the British do.

He said that laws such as the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA), the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) help to maintain religious harmony, hate speech and falsehoods.

The government will also be introducing the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill to consolidate existing laws dealing with racial issues, and to introduce ‘softer’ reparative measures for race-related offences to strengthen mutual understanding between the races.

"So the result is no riots, racial attacks, lawlessness", Shanmugam said.

He also noted policies "that work for our people", highlighting the Ethnic Integration Policy in Singapore's public housing estates, in which every estate is required to have a certain percentage of Malays, Indians and Chinese.

Shanmugam said that leaders from different ethnic and religious communities have also organised common activities for all Singaporeans to build mutual trust.

"When people do things together, celebrate each other's festivals, we have a greater appreciation for others," he said.

He noted that it is important as it is part of the reason we are "as stable as we are".

Top photo via K Shanmugam SC/Facebook