Indranee Rajah & Pritam Singh spar over comments on Noor Deros presence at meeting & use of 'gatecrash'

Comments made by the Leader of the Opposition and Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh came under scrutiny in parliament on Nov. 4 over controversial figure Noor Deros's presence at a WP meeting during the 2025 General Election.

In a surprise ministerial statement made by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, she sought clarification over responses made by Pritam on Oct. 14 to Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam's ministerial statement on race and religion.

Indranee: Conflicting statements

On Oct. 14, Singh said that Deros had "gatecrashed" an event led by former Aljunied MP Faisal Manap and attended by Malay-Muslim WP candidates.

He also echoed his remarks made on Apr. 26 at an interview that there was no indication that Deros would be joining the meeting.

Deros rejected these claims in a YouTube video released on Oct. 18, where he called Pritam's words "irresponsible".

He added that a list of the attendees of the event was sent to Faisal beforehand, thus alluding that Faisal was well aware that he would be present.

These facts could be verified by Faisal, Deros said.

In light of the conflicting statements made by all involved parties, Indranee called the issue "serious" and suggested that someone had lied.

Apr. 20 meeting

In response, Singh said that before Indranee's statement, he told the Speaker of the House that he would seek to clarify certain things he said in Parliament that were incorrect and had to be clarified for the record.

Singh said he was not aware of Faisal's knowledge of Deros' inclusion in the list of attendees, prior to the comments he made both on Apr. 26 and Oct. 14.

He highlighted a WhatsApp message shared with him by Faisal on Oct. 21, where exchanges between Faisal and an ustaz (Islamic religious teacher) indicated that Deros was invited to the meeting.

The messages also confirmed that Deros had been invited by the ustaz, and not by Faisal or any other member of WP, Pritam said.

"Neither Mr Faisal nor the Malay WP candidates arranged to meet Mr Noor Deros, or specifically sought him out for his views," Singh said.

The ustaz is said to have been known to Faisal since GE2011, where he provided guidance to Faisal on his role as a Malay Muslim MP.

On Apr. 12, before Parliament was dissolved, the ustaz who invited Deros reached out to Faisal, and said he was planning to engage with a group of asatizah (religious teachers) friends, to meet him and exchange ideas and thoughts.

In response, Faisal said he planned to engage with the ustaz for a sharing session with other WP Malay candidates in the lead-up to GE2025.

The Apr. 20 meeting did not include any "promises or undertakings" by any of the WP members present in exchange for political support from Deros, Singh confirmed.

Pritam clarifies 'gatecrashing' term

During the Parliamentary exchange in Oct. 2025, Singh said Deros "gatecrashed" the meeting.

The term "gatecrashing" may have given the wrong impression that Deros was not invited by anyone at the meeting, Pritam said.

"This would be an incorrect impression, since I had confirmed later in the course of my response in this House...that Mr Noor Deros's presence at the meeting was at the invitation of an ustaz delegated by Mr Faisal."

A 'nobody'?

Indranee also asked about Singh using the term "nobody whom no one really knows" to refer to Deros, and said it gives the impression that Deros was not known to the WP, Faisal or the other candidates at the meeting.

However, Deros founded the "Wear White" movement in 2014, and members of the movement gathered for prayers at a mosque in Jun. 2014, which Faisal also attended.

In light of this, Indranee asked if it was Singh's position that Deros was unknown to Faisal or other WP candidates before the Apr. 2025 meeting.

Singh said the other WP candidates did not know who Deros was, but Faisal "must have been known" to Deros, and Faisal "would have known of who Mr Noor Deros was."

Indranee asked if this means that the statement that Deros is somebody who "really nobody knows" is not accurate.

Did not want to "import" Faisal's knowledge

Singh said that Faisal may have known of Deros, but the other WP candidates did not, and neither did Singh himself. "So in that context, that's what I mean when I say that Mr Noor Deros is a nobody."

"There is a distinction between saying Mr Faisal Manap would have known of Mr Deros and Mr Faisal Manap would have known Mr Deros," Indranee countered.

She gave the example that she knew of many world leaders, but she doesn't know them personally.

Singh acknowledged that Faisal and Deros were at a common platform, and at the same event together.

However, he could not suggest or even imply the extent of how well they knew each other.

"I want to be careful in not trying to import Mr Faisal's knowledge and make a representation which may not be correct as to the degree of which he knew him," he said.

Why did Pritam Singh use the word 'gatecrash'?

Indranee said it was "quite clear", after Singh's clarification, that the knowledge that Deros was invited to the Apr. 2025 meeting was only given to Singh on Oct. 21.

But she asked on what basis that Singh used the term "gatecrash" before then.

Singh responded that Deros was not invited by Faisal, so his impression was that there was no WP member who specifically sought out Deros, and that understanding led him to use the term "gatecrash".

However, Singh repeated that it would not be the correct word to use, as Deros had indeed been invited by the ustaz.

Indranee said there's a difference between saying "not specifically sought out" and "gatecrash", which implies that he was not even supposed to be there or invited.

However, the fact is that he was invited by the ustaz, and that ustaz informed Faisal.

"Had this been known in April during the election, and made known to the voters. I think it might have put a different colour on the circumstances. Also it's an odd word to use, "gatecrash", if you haven't actually verified that. I am not sure that the statement that 'gatecrash' means 'did not seek out' actually makes sense, but I leave it there."

Top images via MDDI/YouTube