News
"This is more of a team versus another team. So I don't see myself as going against Masagos," said Faisal.
Keyla Supharta
April 28, 2025, 02:17 PM
Workers' Party (WP) Faisal Manap said during a media doorstop on Apr. 28 that he views the general election as a competition between teams, rather than individuals pitting against each other.
He was answering a question about sentiment that the contest in Tampines GRC is being viewed as a battle between himself and the People's Action Party (PAP) Tampines GRC team anchor ministerMasagos Zulkifli.
Masagos is also the Minister for Social and Family Development and the Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs.
Faisal said that the Tampines GRC is a five-person group representation constituency, and that he will be contesting the GRC with his other team mates.
"This is more of a team versus another team. So I don't see myself as going against Masagos," he said.
Four-cornered fight
Tampines GRC, which will see a four-cornered fight, is one of the hotly contested constituencies in this election.
PAP, WP, National Solidarity Party (NSP), and People's Power Party (PPP) will be contesting in the constituency.
According to WP chief Pritam Singh, Faisal has been wanting to contest in Tampines for a long time.
"I've mentioned to Pritam about Tampines for a while," Faisal said, in response to the media.
The three-term MP who had served the Kaki Bukit ward of Aljunied GRC said that it was just him sharing his feelings without much thought at first, but the feeling to contest Tampines GRC became stronger recently.
"The power lies with all the voters"
A member of the media mentioned that while the Tampines GRC is a team fight, this election is particularly important for the Malay-Muslim communities as they might either be getting a new Minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs, or losing the first Malay opposition Member of Parliament (MP).
In response, Faisal said that the election is a "democratic system" where "all voters are given a choice".
"What's important is that I do my best... and the power lies with all the voters."
Respecting voters' decision
When asked about his thoughts on voters who might be influenced by Noor Deros's comments on the general election, Faisal said he "respects the voters' decision to vote for whoever they want to vote".
Noor Deros is a Singaporean self-identified religious teacher based in Malaysia. He previously madeheadlinesafter he listed several demands on Facebook for political parties competing in the 2025 general election, in exchange for his vote and his "limited capacity" to campaign for them.
"I believe that all voters are smart enough to consider, to weigh the different practices and to weigh the different arguments. So I leave it to the intelligence of the voters," Faisal said.
Previously, Singh said that Noor Deros is "sadly mistaken" to think that the WP will push forth his agenda in Parliament.
The self-identified religious teacher, who has never received recognition under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), reportedly made a surprise appearance at a meeting between WP members and religious leaders with a list of demands in exchange for political support.
On the meeting with Noor Deros, Faisal said that he's open to meeting anyone from different groups to listen. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that he would agree with them.
He added that he always "pressed for an open conversation, especially in Parliament", even on topics that are deemed as sensitive.
On WP's response to foreign interference issue
As for Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's comment about opposition parties' delayed response to the issue of foreign interference, Faisal said that the delay was "really, really brief".
"We have been campaigning. I don't even know what's going on until I look at my phone," said Faisal.
However, Faisal said that the word "brief" in this period of campaigning is subjective.
"I don't think that it's appropriate to say brief, [during] this period where everybody's focusing on campaigning."
He said that PAP has the resources and the people to push out information.
"But for the Workers' Party, we are a small party, but we are still doing our best, with the constraints that we have."
Top image via Mothership
