Before Singapore’s general election on May 3, graphic spread on social media falsely claimed that the opposition Workers’ Party candidate said “the Israel-Palestinian conflict is more important than the bread and butter issues”. In fact, Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar said at a rally that Singaporeans want to meet with their parliamentarians to discuss local affairs and the government’s position on global issues.
“Are you voting for someone to speak to Palestinians in Parliament? Or are you voting for the voice of speaking to you on bread and butter so close to you?” Read the graphic title shared on Facebook on May 1, 2025.
The chart features photos of opposition Workers’ Party candidate Siti Alia Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar, who stood in the newly created Punggol constituency and attributed to her.
“The decisive factor in joining the election is the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” it wrote. “The Israel-Palestinian conflict is more important than the bread and butter issues.”
The graph surfaces (archive link) when the election campaign must be stopped under Singapore’s “cooling period”.
Screenshot of Facebook post captured on May 5, 2025
The May 3 election allowed voters to defeat Prime Minister Lawrence Wong Wong's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in a landslide victory, taking all seats in the 97-seat Unicameral legislature (archived link) in the Fuku Island state.
While taking power for decades, while being criticized for suppressing dissent, the country's Pap has always been expected to easily retain a significant majority in the legislature.
Siti Alia's party was unable to declare the Punggol constituency, with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong leading his deputy coaching team to a victory with 55.17% of the vote (archive link).
The graphics are scattered elsewhere on Facebook in posts criticizing Siti Alia. However, it misunderstood her comment.
Keyword searches on Google led to videos of candidates giving a speech on April 24. The next day, the workers' party uploaded it to YouTube (archive link).
“The concern for the Palestinian humanitarian crisis has crossed the boundaries of race and religion,” Siti Alia began his speech.
She continued to question why the Ministry of Education in Singapore added courses on conflict without consulting parents, prompting many to raise questions with members of parliament.
“The voices we hear are important to us because Singaporeans, from local issues such as upgrading communities to more major issues affecting Singaporeans as global citizens.
“We meet with members of Congress on bread and butter, but we also want to meet with our members of Congress on the impact of certain laws or government positions on certain global issues.”
She never said that conflict is “significant” than the local Singapore issue. AFP cannot find other evidence of Siti Alia's claim.
Singapore online media Asiaone also introduced the claims and the online debate that followed (archive link).
