Maintaining Racial and Religious Harmony

MHA strengthens racial and religious harmony and ensures social cohesion through various means, including legislation and community engagements.

Last updated 16 September 2026

Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious society. Therefore, racial and religious harmony is vital for Singapore’s social cohesion. This harmony does not come naturally – we need to take the effort to build trust, and acceptance between different races and religions, and protect the common space that we have.

Through our legal framework comprising laws such as the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA), the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act (RHA), as well as partnerships and engagements with various stakeholders and the community, we will continue to ensure harmony, peace and security in our multi-racial, multi-religious society.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) takes a strong stance against threats to Singapore’s racial and religious harmony. Legislation, such as the MRHA and the RHA, empower the Government to take pre-emptive action to maintain social cohesion in Singapore, as well as provide for offences against acts that threaten our racial and religious harmony.

Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act

The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA) (opens in new tab) was enacted in 1990 to provide for powers to maintain religious harmony in Singapore.

It is based on two principles:

Followers of different religions should exercise moderation and tolerance towards each other and their beliefs, and not instigate religious enmity or hatred
Religion and politics should be kept separate

These principles remain relevant today. The MRHA was updated on 7 October 2019 (opens in new tab) to help MHA respond more effectively to incidents of religious disharmony, and strengthen our safeguards against foreign influence that threaten our religious harmony.

Here are the four key amendments to the MHRA in 2019:

Safeguards against foreign influence

To safeguard our religious groups^[1] against malicious foreign influence that affect religious harmony, religious groups are now required to comply with the following requirements:

Leadership Composition

Key administrative leadership positions^[2] must be held by a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, and the majority of the governing body has to be Singapore Citizens. The requirement does not apply to spiritual leaders who are foreigners, and do not hold key administrative leadership positions. MHA will consider request for exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

[1] Religious groups include registered societies, companies, partnerships, or any other body of persons that promotes religion or religious worship, or deals with religious affairs of the practice, conduct, teaching or propagation of any religious beliefs.

[2] If the religious group is a company or a partnership, the key leadership requirements are imposed on the persons in the entity group that hold positions analogous to the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, such as the Chairman, Managing Director, and Company Secretary (in the case of a company) or partners (in the case of a partnership).

Donations

In general, religious groups can still accept donations from foreign sources. However, there are disclosure requirements. Single monetary donations of S$10,000 or more from foreign and/or anonymous sources must be declared.

Donations from the following foreign sources do not need to be declared, even if it is S$10,000 or more:

Singapore Permanent Residents;
Foreigners residing in Singapore on valid Employment passes or Immigration Passes issued by the relevant authorities in Singapore;
Anonymous donations received through donation boxes placed at religious sites;
Proceeds collected during collective worship or religious rites/ceremonies;
Non-cash donations (such as statues or ritual items); and
Zakat and Fitrah.

Foreign Affiliations

Religious groups must declare any affiliations to foreign persons or organisations in a position of control or power over the local religious group. This is purely disclosure, and the MRHA will not be able to compel religious groups to dissociate from their foreign affiliations.

Further Restrictions to counter Malicious Foreign Influence

Where there is foreign influence in the religious group which undermines religious harmony and is a threat to Singapore’s peace, Restraining Orders (ROs) can be further issued to religious groups to stop them from receiving donations from foreign sources, or impose further leadership requirements.

Please refer to the MRHA FAQ [PDF, 446.07 KB] (opens in new tab) under “Registry of Foreign and Political Disclosures” for more information.

Community remedial initiative for religion-related offences

Under the Community Remedial Initiative (CRI), the Minister for Home Affairs may offer a person who has wounded the feelings of another religious community an opportunity to perform activities to help him better understand the affected religious community, and mend ties with them. Examples of remedial actions may include a public or private apology to the aggrieved parties, or participation in inter-religious events.

The CRI is not mandatory. The alleged offender can refuse to take up this offer, and the non-completion or refusal of the CRI will not be a criminal offence. However, if the offender agrees to complete the remedial actions in the CRI and does so, the Minister undertakes not to refer the case for criminal prosecution.

That said, the CRI will not be offered if the offence is egregious. In such a case, the alleged offender will be recommended for criminal prosecution, to send the right signal that such conduct will not be tolerated.

Restraining orders against content prejudicial to religious harmony

With the Internet, offensive content can circulate much faster and wider. The updated Restraining Order (RO) now enables the Government to swiftly and effectively respond to offensive online content that might cause widespread religious disharmony.

Firstly, the scope of the RO has been expanded to require the offender to remove the offensive online content.

Secondly, the 14-day notice period for the issuance of ROs has been removed.

The safeguards remain unchanged. The individual on which the RO is served, and the religious group which the individual belongs to, will still be able to make representations to the Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony (PCRRH). The RO will still be reviewed by the PCRRH, and the President will still have the powers to confirm, cancel or vary the RO.

Consolidated offences related to Religious Harmony under the MRHA

Previously, both the Penal Code and the MRHA had provisions that safeguard religious harmony. With MRHA as the comprehensive act to safeguard religious harmony, the Penal Code offences that pertain to religion have been consolidated under the MRHA.

The offences cover acts that:

Urge force or violence on the basis of religion, or against a religious group or its members;
Incite feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility against a religious group; and
Insult the religion or wound the religious feelings of another person.

Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act

The Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act (RHA) was enacted in 2025 and came into operation on 15 September 2026. The RHA consolidates existing legislation that safeguards racial harmony, and strengthens Singapore’s legal framework to protect racial harmony in a single standalone Act. The RHA takes close reference from existing legislation like the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA) and the Penal Code 1871.

Here are the four key features of the RHA:

Safeguards against foreign influence

An entity may be designated if its objects, purposes or activities include representing or promoting the interests of, or discussing issues relating to, a race in Singapore, and where designation is necessary to pre-empt, prevent or reduce foreign influence that may undermine racial harmony in Singapore.

To safeguard designated entities against malicious foreign influence that affect racial harmony, designated entities are now required to comply with the following requirements:

Leadership Composition

All responsible officers^[1] must be held by a Singapore citizen or Singapore permanent resident, and the majority of the governing body^[2] has to be Singapore Citizens. Designated entities must declare their governing body composition within 60 days from designation date.

[1]If the entity is a company or a partnership, the responsible officers refer to the persons that hold positions analogous to the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, such as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, and Company Secretary (in the case of a company) or partners (in the case of a partnership).

[2]If the entity is a society, the governing body refers to the executive committee. If the entity is a company, the governing body refers to the board of directors. If the entity is a partnership (including a limited partnership and a limited liability partnership), the governing body refers to the partners.

Donations

In general, designated entities can still accept donations from foreign sources. However, there are disclosure requirements. Single monetary donations of S$10,000 or more from foreign and/or anonymous sources must be declared.

The following donations need not be declared:

any foreign or anonymous donations consisting of money that is less than $10,000 in value; and
any non-monetary donations (i.e. gifting, transfer of property, provision of services or facilities), unless additional reporting requirements apply to the entity.

Foreign Affiliations

Designated entities must declare any affiliations to foreign persons or organisations in a position of control, influence or power over the entity's activities in Singapore.

Further Restrictions to counter Malicious Foreign Influence

Where there is foreign influence in a designated entity which undermines racial harmony and is a threat to Singapore’s peace, Foreign Influence Restraining Orders (ROs) may be issued to impose additional measures. These may include measures relating to donations, foreign affiliations and leadership composition. Foreign Influence ROs are subject to the same safeguards as racial content ROs.

Please refer to the RHA FAQ [PDF, 262.61 KB] (opens in new tab) under “Registry of Foreign and Political Disclosures”for more information.

Community remedial initiative for race-related offences

Under the Community Remedial Initiative (CRI), the Minister for Home Affairs may offer a person who have engaged in conduct prejudicial to racial harmony to perform activities to help him better understand the affected community, and mend ties with them. Examples of remedial actions may include guided reflection sessions with the alleged offender and representatives from the aggrieved community.

Restraining orders against content prejudicial to racial harmony

With the Internet, offensive content can circulate much faster and wider. Similar to the RO regime in the MRHA, the RHA empowers 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 enables the Government to take swift and pre-emptive action against offensive content that can spread rapidly and may cause irreparable harm to social cohesion.

Safeguards remain in place. The individual on which the RO is served will be able to make representations to the Presidential Council for Racial and Religious Harmony (PCRRH). The RO will be reviewed by the PCRRH, and the President will have the powers to confirm, cancel or vary the RO.

Consolidated offences related to racial harmony under the RHA

Previously, offences relating to racial harmony were contained in the Penal Code. With RHA as the comprehensive act to safeguard racial harmony, the Penal Code offences that pertain to race have been consolidated under the RHA.

The offences cover conduct that:

(a) Incite feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility against, or contempt for or ridicule of, a racial group;

(b) Insult, vilify, denigrate, threaten or abuse another person on the basis of race; and

Resources

Information on MRHA

For more information on the MRHA, read:

Information on RHA

For more information on the RHA, read:

Speeches on race and religion

View speeches on race and religion in Singapore:

Surveys on race and religion

View surveys on race and religion in Singapore:

Registry of Foreign and Political Disclosures

The Registry of Foreign and Political Disclosures (RFPD) administers the new reporting requirements under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA). The role of RFPD is to ensure that local religious groups meet the statutory requirements and hence, safeguarding against malicious foreign influence undermining religious harmony in Singapore. For more information on RFPD and its e-services, you may wish to visit MHA e-Services.

MRHA: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [PDF, 446.07 KB] (opens in new tab)

RHA: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [PDF, 262.61 KB] (opens in new tab)