Singapore Matters Facebook page's fake quote attributed to Workers' Party Alia Mattar fact-checked

Workers' Party politician Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar, 43, has responded to a fake quote attributed to her during the 2025 general election campaigning period.

The 43-year-old lawyer, a candidate for Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC) alongside Harpreet Singh, Alexis Dang and Jackson Au, posted on Facebook on May 5, writing:

"The false image circulating about me has finally been fact-checked.

It is untrue and I hope that those who had concerns about it have their concerns put to rest."

What fake quote said

Her post linked to an AFP Fact Check article calling out the fake quote circulated by the Singapore Matters Facebook page.

It was falsely claimed on May 1 in the now-deleted post that Alia said during the hustings: "The deciding factor for me joining the election was the Israel-Palestine conflict."

"The Israel-Palestine conflict is more important than bread and butter issues," the fake quote added, which was superimposed on a photo of Alia.

May 1 was two days before the Cooling-off Day on May 2.

What she really said

Contrary to what the fake post claimed, Alia said during her Apr. 24 rally that Singaporeans wanted to meet their members of parliament to discuss both local matters and the government's position on global issues.

She did not say the conflict is "more important" than local Singapore issues.

Alia said in her rally speech: "The concern for the humanitarian crisis in Palestine crosses the boundaries of race and religion."

She then asked why the Ministry of Education had added a course on the conflict without parents being consulted.

Parents then raised the issue with members of parliament.

"To have our voices heard is important to us as Singaporeans, ranging from local issues such as lift upgrading in the neighbourhood, to more major issues that affect Singaporeans as global citizens," Alia said.

"We meet our MPs to discuss bread and butter issues, yes, but we would also like to meet our MPs to discuss the effects of certain laws or the government's positions on certain global issues."

The contest for Punggol GRC was won by the People's Action Party (PAP) team comprising Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary, Minister of State Sun Xueling, and Yeo Wan Ling.

They beat the WP team with 55.17 per cent of the vote.

Top photos via Singapore Matters & Alia Mattar