Petition urging PM Wong reject Faishal Ibrahim's resignation gets over 390 signatures

A petition calling for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to reject the resignation of Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, former Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs and Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, has appeared online.

The petition, titled "Urge the Prime Minister of Singapore to reject Assoc Prof Faishal Ibrahim's resignation", has accumulated 390 signatures within a day after Faishal resigned from public office.

He relinquished his roles as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, and People's Action Party member, as a result of resigning from political office.

Resignation

In his Jul. 20 resignation letter to PM Wong, Faishal said his decision followed a situation involving his conduct with a female member of the public.

He also said there was no physical relationship between them and that he had not intended for their interactions to develop into one.

Petition

The petition called on disallowing Faishal's resignation so that he can continue serving the people of Singapore.

“His work matters because Singapore needs experienced, steady public leaders who understand the realities people face and can keep serving without disruption,” the petition read.

The petition starter also argued that Faishal was a capable leader whose departure would result in the loss of the relationships and ongoing work that Singapore residents rely on.

The goal is 10,000 signatures.

It does not appear that those who log in and sign the petition need to verify that they are from Singapore.

Support after resignation

After Faishal resigned, former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng defended the former MP in a Jul. 20 Facebook post, saying the public can decide on how to deal with Faishal's admission.

Cheng wrote:

“A good man should not have his whole career and life destroyed for something like this. How should this be handled?

Let him apologise and be transparent.

Then for his Muslim affairs position, let the community leaders decide.

For his MP position, carve his ward out as an SMC. Call a by-election. Let the people decide.

We don’t live in 17th century Puritan England. The people will understand.”

Faishal's work has also been lauded following his resignation.

Zaqy Mohamad, who is appointed Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, said in a Jul. 20 Facebook post that he has "great respect" for Faishal as a colleague.

Zaqy added that he had seen firsthand Faishal's dedication to the development of the Muslim community.