Second Reading of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill – Opening Speech by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Introduction

1. Mr Speaker, the Minister for Home Affairs has provided the context and set out the broad rationale for the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill. He also explained two of the five proposals, on Race-Related Offences and the Community Remedial Initiative.

2. In my speech, I will provide details on the remaining three proposals.

(a) First, establishing a Restraining Order regime to enable the Government to act quickly and pre-emptively against content that threatens racial harmony;

(b) Second, establishing the Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony to advise on matters relating to the maintenance of racial and religious harmony in Singapore; and

(c) Third, introducing safeguards against malicious foreign influence, for race-based entities .

Restraining Order Regime

3. I will start with the Restraining Order (“RO”) regime .

4. This lever is not new in our statutes . The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA) already has an RO regime, against content that threatens religious harmony. This was deemed necessary because the Internet, social media and smart phones can enable offensive content to go viral very quickly. A 2024 poll conducted by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), involving more than 1,000 Singapore residents, provided three insights:

(a) First, 1 in 2 respondents have encountered content in the online space that might be considered racist or racially insensitive;

(b) Second, 2 in 3 agreed that allowing racially offensive content to spread could threaten racial harmony; and

(c) Third, 7 in 10 agreed with the need for racially offensive content to be removed as quickly as possible.

5. The Government shares the view that there should be levers to quickly remove content that could undermine our racial harmony, and prevent such content from being further disseminated.

6. Therefore, Clause 8 of the Bill will enable the Minister for Home Affairs to make ROs against persons involved in the communication, production or distribution of content that prejudices the maintenance of racial harmony in Singapore. This will complement existing levers such as the Broadcasting Act and Online Criminal Harms Act, which provide ex-post powers against egregious race-related content on platforms such as social media services.

7. Specifically, a racial content RO under the Bill may do one or more of the following:

(a) Prohibit a person from communicating or distributing specified information or material;

(b) Prohibit a person from addressing a specified audience on a specified subject;

(c) Require a person to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that any specified information or materials are no longer available to the general public in Singapore;

(d) Prohibit a person from printing, editing, assisting, or contributing to, any publication or a specified publication; and

(e) Prohibit a person from holding office in an editorial board or committee of any publication.

8. There is one area where Race is in a slightly different position, as compared with Religion, with regard to their respective roles in politics in Singapore. That difference is reflected in the difference between the RO regime under the Bill, and that in the MRHA.

(a) Religion is a deeply personal issue. We have as a society, emphasised that, as a multi-religious, but secular state, religion should not be mixed with politics. This is a foundational principle of our society.

(b) In the context of race – we have laws which deal with communal politics. But given our multi-racial community, race features in some of our political structures. For example, we have the Group Representation Constituencies. We also have Constitutional provisions to ensure that a President from a minority race will be elected, periodically. Good faith discussions about race have always been an important part of our political discourse and will continue to be so. It would therefore not be right or possible to completely disallow racial discourse in politics. Thus, this will not be one of the grounds for the issuance of a racial content RO in this Bill. However, any behaviour that creates enmity between races such as whipping up of communal feelings, denigration of a person’s race, encouragement of violence, have been and will continue to be prohibited by the law.

9. The RO takes immediate effect once issued , and this mirrors the amended RO process when the MRHA was amended in 2019. There is no need to first establish that the person is engaging in criminal conduct, as the intent is to quickly stop the spread of content that could potentially undermine social cohesion. Failure to comply with the RO will be an offence.

10. The Government will be very careful when exercising its power to issue ROs. The fact that no ROs have been issued to date, since the MRHA was introduced in 1990, is reflective of this. But neither is this an indication that the RO regime is not necessary. On the contrary, the mere existence of the regime is a deterrent against conduct that disrupts religious harmony. The same logic applies to the RO regime under this Bill.

11. The issuance of ROs will be subject to stringent safeguards. All ROs will be reviewed by a Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony (“PCRRH”) , which I will elaborate on in the next proposal. The person who is issued a racial content RO will be able to make representations to the PCRRH. The PCRRH’s independent recommendation on the RO will thereafter be sent to the President, followed by the Cabinet’s advice to the President. If the Cabinet’s advice is different from the PCRRH’s recommendation, the President will be able to act in his discretion to confirm, cancel, or vary the RO.

Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony

12. Moving to the next proposal, Clause 3 in this Bill will establish the PCRRH, which will replace the existing Presidential Council for Religious Harmony (“PCRH”). The PCRRH will comprise representatives from the major racial and religious communities in Singapore, and those who have distinguished themselves in public service or community relations in Singapore. As with the existing PCRH, our intent is to ensure that the new PCRRH adequately represents the racial and religious diversity in our society.

13. The proposal to replace the existing PCRH with the PCRRH recognises that issues of race may have religious dimensions and vice versa. Therefore, having a single Council would facilitate consultation by the Minister or Parliament on issues given the close relationship between race and religion in Singapore.

14. To this end, the PCRRH will have the following functions:

(a) One, to consider and report to the Minister or Parliament on matters affecting the maintenance of racial and religious harmony in Singapore which are referred to the PCRRH by the Minister or by Parliament; and

(b) Two, to consider and make recommendations to the President on Restraining Orders.

15. In the context of this proposal, we will be introducing the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill. The Bill comprises amendments to the Constitution to enable the President to act in his discretion:

(a) In deciding whether to act on the Presidential Council for Minority Rights’ advice on PCRRH appointments; and

(b) In confirming, cancelling, or varying a RO in cases where the Cabinet’s advice is different from the PCRRH’s recommendation.

16. These are the same powers that the President has today in relation to the PCRH, and we are extending it to the new PCRRH.

17. We have consulted the President on these amendments as they pertain to his discretionary powers. The President supports the amendments.

Safeguards Against Malicious Foreign Influence for Race-Based Entities

18. Moving to the last proposal, we want to safeguard our racial harmony from malicious foreign influence. Our starting point is this – as a small, open, and digitally inclusive society, Singapore is vulnerable to external actors exerting malicious foreign influence to achieve their own agenda. We had thus introduced safeguards against malicious foreign influence for religious groups under the MRHA in 2019. Similarly, entities that promote the interests of a racial group or discuss issues relating to race are potential entry points for malicious foreign influence, which may seek to exploit race for their own agenda and undermine our racial harmony .

19. Singaporeans understand the foreign influence risks. The same MDDI poll I mentioned earlier provided the following insights:

(a) Nearly 7 in 10 respondents agreed that Singapore’s racial harmony could be threatened by malicious foreign influence;

(b) And more than 7 in 10 respondents agreed that there should be laws to protect race-based entities from malicious foreign actors.

Designated Race-Based Entities

20. Clause 15 empowers a competent authority to designate a race-based entity if considered necessary or expedient to pre-empt, prevent or reduce any foreign influence that may undermine racial harmony in Singapore. An entity may be designated by the competent authority if it – (i) represents or promotes the social, economic, political, educational, linguistic, cultural, or other interests of any race; or (ii) discusses any issue relating to any race.

21. We recognise that there is a wide range of entities that engage with race-related issues. As a policy stance, we will start off in a practical and measured manner by only designating race-based entities assessed to have a higher potential of being vectors for malicious foreign influence, rather than subjecting all race-based entities to the measures.

22. In the first instance, we will designate clan associations and business associations linked to the Chinese, Malay and Indian races . We will need time to assess the entities in these categories before we can inform them whether they will be designated. Clans and business associations, including those focused on trade promotion, that are assessed not to be linked to the Chinese, Malay and Indian races, will not be designated at this juncture. However, we do not preclude designating such entities in the future, as the foreign influence landscape evolves.

23. I understand that there may be some anxiety amongst business associations as to whether they will be designated. I will make two points. First, designation is not a reflection of any wrongdoing by the entity and should not be perceived as such. Second, business associations and organisations whose objects, purposes or activities do not relate to any race, will not be designated.

24. Each designation decision will be made holistically and on its own merits. The list of designated entities will be made public to promote transparency.

Baseline Measures

25. Clauses 18, 19, 20, 23, and 24 of the Bill will introduce baseline measures against malicious foreign influence that designated race-based entities will have to comply with . These baseline measures are similar to those that all religious groups under the MRHA have to comply with:

(a) First, designated entities will need to disclose donations accepted from foreign or anonymous sources . The disclosure requirements will be set out in the subsidiary legislation and will take reference from the MRHA as much as possible.

(b) Second, designated entities will need to disclose foreign affiliations . This refers to arrangements or agreements where foreign persons or organisations have a position of control or power over the race-based entity.

(c) Third, designated entities will need to disclose the leadership composition of their governing body .

(d) Fourth, designated entities will need to comply with the following leadership requirements :

(i) Their responsible officers must be Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents. Responsible officers include the chairperson of the board of directors, the chief executive officer, or the company secretary of a company; or the president, secretary and treasurer of a society; and

(ii) The majority of the governing body, or anyone exercising functions analogous to a governing body member, are required to be Singapore Citizens.

26. For the first three measures, I wish to highlight that the focus is on disclosure. There will not be a blanket prohibition for designated entities to stop accepting foreign donations or to end foreign affiliations. They just need to disclose these matters on an annual basis to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Exemptions and Cancellation of Designation

27. The Government is prepared to grant exemptions to specific baseline measures on a case-by-case basis.

28. Clause 32 provides an avenue for designated entities to apply to the Minister for exemption from some or all of the baseline measures. There is a similar process for religious groups under the MRHA. All entities will be notified ahead of being designated and will be provided time to submit their representations.

Stepped-up Measures

29. Clause 27 empowers the Minister to issue foreign influence ROs to impose stepped-up measures on a specific race-based entity. The intent is to pre-empt, prevent or reduce any malicious foreign influence affecting the entity which may undermine racial harmony, and present a threat to public peace and public order. This is the same threshold for a foreign influence RO to be issued under the MRHA.

30. These stepped-up measures against a designated entity may do one or more of the following:

(a) One, prohibit the entity from accepting any donation from a specified foreign principal or any anonymous donation;

(b) Two, require the entity to return or dispose of any donation from a specified foreign principal or any anonymous donation;

(c) Three, prohibit the entity from forming or maintaining a specified foreign affiliation; and/or

(d) Four, prohibit the entity from appointing, admitting or retaining a specified individual – whether or not the individual is a Singapore Citizen – as a member of its governing body, or require the entity to remove any individual who is not or who ceases to be a Singapore Citizen as a member of its governing body. These powers will amongst others, mitigate the risk of Singapore Citizens becoming proxies for a foreign principal to exert influence over the race-related entity. Of note, while this policy intent is also relevant for religious groups, such a lever is not currently present in the MRHA. Therefore, the MRHA will be amended to introduce a similar provision.

31. Foreign influence ROs will also be reviewed by the PCRRH and must be confirmed by the President, similar to the racial content ROs I spoke about earlier.

Mandarin Portion of the Speech

32. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please.

33. Today, we are introducing the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill. This Bill was announced by then-PM Lee in his 2021 National Day Rally Speech. At that time, we were in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, and you several racist incidents were widely publicised on social media. It reminds us that although Singapore has come a long way in our race relations since our early years, racial harmony is not the natural order of things. We have to continue working at it.

我们现在提呈的《维持种族和谐法案》，早在2021年国庆群众大会上，时任总理李显龙先生就已透露制订的意向。当时，我国正处于冠病疫情最严重的时期，社交媒体上流传着几起种族事件。这提醒我们，尽管新加坡的种族关系相比早年已有显著改善，但种族和谐是来之不易的，而且是需要我们不断努力维护的。

34. This Bill is thus, the latest in our suite of measures to strengthen social cohesion and safeguard racial harmony in Singapore.

因此，该法案是加强社会凝聚力及维护种族和谐一系列措施中的最新举措。

35. This is a new Bill, but in fact, much of what is in this Bill is not new. Similar provisions already exist in the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA), which was enacted in 1990 and amended in 2019. This Bill aligns what we have for both race and religion, since the objectives of the MRHA also apply in the context of racial harmony.

这虽然是一项新法案，但其中许多内容并非全新。1990年颁布并于2019年修订的《维持宗教和谐法令》已有类似条文。新法案的宗旨与《维持宗教和谐法令》相同，因此借鉴了相关条文，对涉及种族和宗教的不可接受行为作出统一的界定。

36. This Bill has five key proposals:

(a) Port over existing race-related offences in the Penal Code ;

(b) Introduce the Community Remedial Initiative ;

(c) Establish the Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony ;

(d) Establish the Restraining Order regime ; and

(e) Introduce safeguards against foreign influence for race-based entities .

I will further elaborate on the proposals dealing with the restraining order regime and safeguards against foreign influence for race-based entities.

《维持种族和谐法案》有五项主要提案：

(a) 第一, 将 《刑事法典》中与种族相关的现行罪行纳入其中 ；

(b) 第二, 推出 社区关系修复措施 ；

(c) 第三，成立 种族与宗教和谐总统理事会 ；

(d) 第四，制定 限制令机制 ；以及

(e) 第五，推出 防范外来势力影响种族组织的保障措施 ，

我将会陈叙最后两项提案。

37. The Bill will enable the Minister for Home Affairs to make restraining orders against persons involved in the communication, production or distribution of content that prejudices the maintenance of racial harmony in Singapore. The Restraining Order (RO) regime allows us to take action pre-emptively against conduct that has the potential to inflame tensions between racial groups, before it goes viral and causes irreparable damage to our social cohesion.

该法案将授权内政部长对参与传播、制作或分发有损于新加坡种族和谐内容的个人或组织发出种族内容限制令。限制令机制让政府能够对可能激起种族之间紧张关系的行为采取及时的措施，防止其蔓延开来，对我们的社会凝聚力造成无法弥补的损害。

38. This will complement existing levers such as the Broadcasting Act and Online Criminal Harms Act, which provide ex-post powers against egregious race-related content on platforms such as social media services.

该法案将为《广播法令》和《网络犯罪危害法令》等现行法律中的事后权力提供补充。

39. I wish to assure Members that the Government will be very careful when exercising its power to issue ROs. The fact that no ROs have been issued to date, since the MRHA was introduced in 1990, is reflective of this.

政府在动用发出限制令的权力时，会非常谨慎。自从 1990 年颁布《维持宗教和谐法令》以来，至今尚未发出任何限制令，就很好地反映了这一点。

40. ROs are also subject to a variety of safeguards, for instance, they must be reviewed by the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony (PCRH).

限制令也受到各种保障措施的约束，例如，限制令必须通过种族与宗教和谐总统理事会的审查。

41. The introduction of the RO regime is in line with the public’s views that racially offensive content should be removed quickly to prevent the erosion of racial harmony.

推出限制令机制符合公众的观点，以便迅速删除种族歧视内容，防止破坏种族和谐。

42. The RO is intended to provide more levers to preserve our social cohesion, not to silence legitimate opinions on race even if the Government may disagree with them.

限制令旨在提供更多法律手段来维护我们的社会凝聚力，而不是压制涉及种族的合法观点。

43. The last proposal in the Bill will introduce safeguards against malicious foreign influence . As we know, Singapore is vulnerable to external actors exerting malicious foreign influence to achieve their own agenda. They may do so in many ways, for instance by seeding ideas that are incompatible with our multi-racial society. Entities that promote the interests of a racial group or discuss issues relating to race are therefore potential entry points for such malicious foreign influence.

最后一项提案将推出防范恶意外来影响的保障措施。新加坡容易遭受恶意外来势力的影响。外来势力可能通过各种方式来实现不良意图，例如散播有悖于我国多元种族社会的思想。因此，那些专注于某种族群体利益或讨论种族相关课题的组织，可能会成为这些恶意外来势力的切入点。

44. We recognise that there is a wide range of entities that engage with race-related issues. As a policy stance, we will start off in a practical and measured manner by only designating race-based entities assessed to have a higher potential of being vectors for malicious foreign influence, rather than subjecting all race-based entities to the measures.

我们意识到，关注种族议题的组织较多。作为一项政策立场，我们会务实、慎重地指定那些更有可能成为外来势力恶意影响的种族组织，而不是对所有种族组织采取这些措施。

45. In the first instance, we will designate clan associations and business associations linked to the Chinese, Malay and Indian races . We will need time to assess the entities in these categories before we can inform them whether they will be designated. Clans and business associations, including those focused on trade promotion, that are assessed not to be linked to the Chinese, Malay and Indian races, will not be designated at this juncture. However, we do not preclude designating such entities in the future, as the foreign influence landscape evolves.

首先，我们将会把与华族、马来族和印度族有关的宗乡会馆和商会归类为指定种族组织。我们需要时间来评估，然后会通知哪些组织它们哪一些会被归类为指定种族组织。目前，经评估认定与华族、马来族和印度族无关的宗乡会馆和商会（包括专门做贸易促进的商会）将不会被归入指定种族组织。然而，随着外来势力影响的变化，我们不排除未来将这些组织也归入指定种族组织。

46. I understand that there may be some anxiety amongst business associations as to whether they will be designated. I will make two points. First, business associations and organisations whose objects, purposes or activities do not relate to any race, will not be designated. Second, designation is not a reflection of any wrongdoing by the entity and should not be perceived as such.

我理解有的商会可能对被归入指定种族组织感到担忧。对此我要说明两点。首先，如果一个组织的宗旨、目的和活动与种族无关，将不会被指定。其次，即使被指定，也并非意味着该组织存在任何不当行为。

47. Each designation decision will be made holistically and on its own merits. The list of designated entities will be made public to promote transparency. Our estimate is that the designations will cover more than 300 race-based entities in the first instance.

每一项指定决定都将根据整体情况和其自身情况进行综合考虑。同时，我们将公开指定组织名单，以提高透明度。初步估计将有300多个种族组织被指定为受监管组织。

48. The baseline measures for designated race-based entities are similar to those that all religious groups are currently required to comply with under the MRHA. Designated entities will need to disclose foreign donations and anonymous donations, foreign affiliations and their leadership compositions. They will also need to comply with certain leadership requirements, such as the requirement for their top office-bearers to be Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents.

针对指定种族组织的基本措施与目前所有宗教团体根据《维持宗教和谐法令》必须遵守的措施类似。指定组织需要披露外国捐款和匿名捐款、外国关系及其领导层的结构。它们还需要遵守某些领导层要求，例如要求其最高领导职位必须由新加坡公民或永久居民担任。

49. All entities will be informed of MHA’s intention to designate them, and will be given 14 days to make representations or seek clarifications before the designation takes place. The Government is also prepared to grant exemptions to specific baseline measures on a case-by-case basis.

所有种族组织都将事先收到内政部打算将其指定为受监管组织的通知，并在指定前有14天的时间提出陈述或寻求澄清。如果收到申请，政府有意根据具体的情况豁免种族组织遵守某些基本措施。

50. To be clear, the baseline measures for designated race-based entities are meant to be a preventive measure and being designated does not mean the entity is being targeted or has been compromised by a foreign actor. We are also not instructing designated race-based entities to stop receiving foreign donations or to end foreign affiliations. They just need to disclose these matters on an annual basis to MHA. When subsequently operationalising the Bill, MHA will provide an information kit to designated entities to guide them in complying with the requirements .

被指定并不意味着该组织成为了外来势力的目标，或已受到了不良影响。指定组织只需每年披露外国捐款和匿名捐款、外国关系及其领导层的结构，并非需要停止接受外国捐款或终止与外国的联系。在随后实施该法案时，内政部将向指定组织提供资讯包，指导它们遵守这些要求。

Conclusion

51. Mr Speaker, Sir, racial harmony will always remain a work-in-progress in Singapore. We build on efforts and learn from the lessons of the past. It is also our responsibility to plant new seeds in accordance with new circumstances and realities. This Bill does that.

52. The Government will continue to do our part, but it will take a whole of society effort to sustain the progress we have made, so that future generations of Singaporeans too, will enjoy the peace and harmony that we enjoy today.

53. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.