Ustaz Noor Deros. — Ustaz **Noor Deros**.

Noor Deros is the Islamic religious teacher who founded the Wear White anti-LGBT movement in Singapore in 2014. However, he is not an accredited ustaz in Singapore and is therefore not allowed to preach in the country.

He moved his base of operation to Malaysia near the mid-2020s. As of 2025, his Facebook account states that he lives in Kuala Lumpur and is the second vice-president at MIASA Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation that raises awareness and supports persons with mental illnesses. According to Infaq.sg, a website listing Islamic events in Singapore, Noor graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt with a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Creed and Philosophy. In 2006 and 2007, he was also the president of PERKEMAS, a Singapore student welfare assembly in Egypt[1].

According to his biography on the International Mental Health Recovery Conference, at which he spoke in 2019, Noor teaches Islamic creeds, "especially on facing the challenges posed by Western philosophy", in Johor Bahru, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. However, Singapore's Asatizah Recognition Board (ARB) said Noor applied for recognition and accreditation under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), which certified Islamic teachers in the country in 2017, but his application was not successful because he refused to comply with the Asatizah Recognition Scheme Code of Ethics. This was despite being counselled by ARB, which consisted of 12 senior members of the asatizah fraternity representing various sectors and areas of expertise within the Muslim community. In a media statement issued in April 2025, the ARB said: "The (Code of Ethics) is a framework established to ensure accountability and integrity among religious teachers while safeguarding Singapore's unity, peace and harmony."

Launch of Wear White campaign[]

Main article: Wear White

On Friday, 20 June 2014, it was announced in The Straits Times that a 28 year-old Islamic religious teacher, Ustaz Noor Deros, had launched an online campaign called Wear White asking Muslims to don white clothes the following Saturday evening to protest against homosexuality and to defend traditional family values [2]. A Facebook page, website and YouTube channel[3] were set up urging Muslims to "return to fitrah" (the Arabic word for "natural") and to support "what is good and pure".

Wear_White_2014_-_Return_to_Fitrah — Wear White 2014 - Return to Fitrah

The Muslim month of Ramadan was due to start the following Sunday, 29 June 2014, and the first evening prayer to mark the fasting month would be held on Saturday evening, 28 June 2014, the same day that Pink Dot 2014 was due to be held at Hong Lim Park.

Noor, who taught religious classes at Hajar Consultancy Services in Joo Chiat, writing on the campaign website, said: "The natural state of human relationships is now under sustained attack by LGBT activists." He said that holding the Pink Dot 2014 event on the eve of Ramadan showed their "disdain for Islam and the family". He urged Muslims to "stand up and defend the sanctity of family" and wear white to the first terawih prayers that day.

His was not the first group to attempt a protest against Pink Dot that year. Non-profit organisation Touch Family Services wanted to hold a family picnic on the same day, 28 June 2014, but cancelled the event after the Urban Redevelopment Authority rejected its application to hold it at The Padang.

According to the Facebook pages of the Wear White community and Noor, the campaign was launched two weeks before and discussions took place at the Hasanah Mosque in Jurong East. The campaign symbol was a white droplet against a black background, which some supporters had started to use as their Facebook profile picture. They included National University of Singapore Malay Studies professor Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, who drew flak earlier in 2014 for describing lesbianism as "cancers"; and Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, who in 2002 helped four Muslim parents mount a legal challenge against the Government's decision to suspend their daughters for wearing the Islamic headscarf to national schools.

The Wear White campaign video, presented in English, featured several Muslim men and women dressed in white and describing what is sunnah, or according to Prophetic tradition. These included, for example, playing with children caring for the elderly tending to the poor, travellers, orphans and widows, and being fair in business dealings. Noor appeared holding a baby, and said: "It is sunnah to marry and raise families."

The video was changed on 19 June 2014 after theatre actor Najib Soiman, 36, asked to be removed from it, saying he had been misled about its purpose. Najid said that when Noor invited him to be featured, he thought it was meant to celebrate Ramadan. He had agreed because the community was trying to encourage young people to return to the mosques. It was only on Wednesday, 18 June 2014 that he discovered it was for the Wear White campaign, with its clear anti-homosexuality stance. He said people began calling him and he was shocked to see how it was being used. He called Noor, who said there had been a miscommunication. The video was then edited to leave out Najib.

Pink Dot had been held on the last Saturday of June for the previous three years. A spokesman for the organisers said they decided to hold that year's event on 28 June after checking with the MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore) website that Ramadan would on 29 June 2014. They also checked with "friends from the Muslim community" before proceeding with the event to be held at Hong Lim Park.

Ustaz Khair Rahmat from Sultan Mosque, who was not involved in the Wear White campaign but learnt about it from his daughter said: "My impression is that it is trying to rebut some of the things gay activists and Pink Dot have put out. I thought this was achieved in a non-accusatory manner. I don't know if it's the correct way to do it but it's a gentle way to remind Muslims that family is between a man and a woman."

On Sunday, 22 June 2014, in response to questions from the media about the Wear White campaign, then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said: "All these matters, we just have to exercise a sense of balance and restraint, especially when it comes to matters that have to do with religion and personal preferences." He added that Singaporeans were "very moderate people" and he did not think the situation would escalate[4],[5],[6],[7].

Ministers_Tharman_&_Yaacob_urge_restraint_in_religious_homophobia — Ministers Tharman & Yaacob urge restraint in religious homophobia

Trying to influence 2025 General Election along racial and religious lines[]

Demands to all political parties[]

On 19 April 2025, even before the fervent election campaign period began for the 2025 General Election, Noor, then based in Malaysia, published on Facebook a list of demands to all the political parties contesting in the 2025 General Election and encouraged people who "resonate with these ideals, whether wholly or partially", to read and share the demands. Some of these demands were to:

Give the Muslim community the right to vote for their Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs
Make the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) an independent body
Ensure the MUIS council is composed of ulama from PERGAS, an association for Asatizah in Singapore, and qualified Muslim professionals
Have the MUIS Council elect the Mufti and President of MUIS
Create spaces within mosques and madrasahs for Islamic perspectives to contribute to national discourse and development
Have MHA and the Religious Rehabilitation Group handle radicalisation by acknowledging and addressing the "real cause of political grievances of Muslims globally"
Recognise the state of Palestine and sever ties with Israel
End "race-based demographic engineering"
Put in place legal reforms that uphold the "sanctity of marriage and family life", including possibly criminalising adultery
Protect the family institution from "ideologies that undermine it ... particularly LGBTQ advocacy and radical feminist enculturation"
Abolish the Internal Security Act

Endorsement of Workers' Party's Malay candidates, especially, Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap[]

Soon after Nomination Day on 23 April 2025, which marked the start of the electioneering period, Noor made several social media posts mixing religion with politics which were widely circulated online. He stated that he had spoken with Workers' Party candidates contesting the upcoming 2025 General Election and urged the opposition party to prioritise the rights and concerns of the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore[8],[9]. Malay-language newspaper Berita Harian reported on 26 April 2025 that in a series of Facebook posts, Noor claimed that he had spoken to all the Malay candidates from the WP, in particular Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap who was running in Tampines GRC and urged his followers to vote for him. He also claimed that the Workers' Party had agreed to take up the concerns raised by the asatizah, or religious teachers, regarding the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore. He said the WP had heeded seriously his call for the party to raise in Parliament issues surrounding the control and regulation of Islam’s practice in Singapore, citing the Administration of Muslim Law Act and institutions such as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. Noor also claimed that he had urged WP and other election candidates to reject the normalisation of LGBTQ+ issues, take a strong stance against Israel, and recognise the state of Palestine.

Noor claimed in one post that the WP was the only party that had responded to his demands, but added that they had not made a "concrete promise". He also issued four additional demands to the WP in this post. They were:

To raise in parliament the issue of how the administration and practice of Islam in Singapore is restricted and guarded through the Administration of Muslim Law Act and related institutions such as MUIS.
Not to advocate or defend anything related to the normalisation of LGBTQ+.
To "bring a new narrative" to efforts against radicalisation by "acknowledging the US and Israel as the real masterminds of terrorism", and that the War on Terror campaign by the US is a false campaign to destabilise the Middle East for Israel's prosperity.
To cut ties with Israel and recognise Palestine as a state.

A of a post made by Noor Deros, in which he listed four further demands for the . — A screenshot of a Facebook post made by **Noor Deros**, in which he listed four further demands for the Workers' Party.

When asked in a Facebook comment who in the WP he had spoken to, Noor replied: "All of the Malay candidates."

In yet another post, Noor criticised Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, accusing him of failing to defend the rights and aspirations of the Malay-Muslim community, and called on Tampines residents to "do the right thing". He compared Masagos with WP vice chairman Faisal Manap, pointing to Faisal’s efforts in raising the tudung (headscarf) issue in Parliament – referring to how in 2021, the Government had lifted former restrictions on the headgear for Muslim staff in healthcare settings. Noor called on his followers, particularly those in Tampines GRC, to vote for Faisal, who was contesting the constituency, in the 3 May 2025 General Election.

Subsequently, on 24 April 2025, he warned that if the WP "does not respond to the widespread demands of the Muslim community to reject the normalisation of LGBTQ+ and address other major concerns, then I urge that we vote for the candidate, not the party".

A of a 24 April 2025 post made by Noor Deros, in which he said that if the WP does not reject "the normalisation of and address other major concerns", he would then urge his followers to "vote for the candidate, not the party". — A screenshot of a 24 April 2025 Facebook post made by **Noor Deros**, in which he said that if the WP does not reject "the normalisation of LGBTQ+ and address other major concerns", he would then urge his followers to "vote for the candidate, not the party".

At around midnight on 26 April 2025, Noor made another Facebook post where he clarified that the WP had "accepted" his requests, but that it was not the same as "agreeing" to his requests. "'Taking seriously' does not necessarily mean 'agree and promise to deliver'," he added, in reference to his earlier post that the WP was the only party that had taken his demands seriously.

Warning by Government[]

On 25 April 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Elections Department issued a statement warning that foreigners must not direct, fund or in any way influence Singapore’s elections. The statement said: “Singapore’s politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.” This was after three foreigners, including a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee, were found to be attempting to interfere in the election.

One of them was a Facebook user who went by the name of "Zai Nal". He had shared Noor’s posts and accused Malay-Muslim MPs of failing to represent the interests of the Muslim community. He said the community did not need “another Malay MP who does not represent their views”. The user was identified as Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, an Australian citizen who renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020. Zulfikar was previously detained under the ISA in 2016 for promoting terrorism and praising militant group ISIS online. He had also posted criticisms of Malay-Muslim MPs regarding the tudung issue. His posts were subsequently reshared by Mohamed Sukri Omar, the Selangor Youth chief of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).The other two foreigners identified were Mohamed Sukri Omar and Iskandar Abdul Samad, national treasurer of PAS. On 25 April 2025, the Infocomm Media Development Authority issued a correction direction to Meta, requiring the tech giant to disable access for Singapore users to several of these Facebook posts. The posts have since been blocked.

Clarification by Workers' Party[]

A of the 's post showing its statement on 26 April 2025. — A screengrab of the Worker's Party's Instagram post showing its statement on 26 April 2025.

In a statement issued on 26 April 2025, the WP said that it met with various members of Singapore's religious communities, regardless of race or religion. "At a meeting with other religious leaders where Mr Noor was present, the Party confirms there were no promises, commitments or agreements made to any individual, including Mr Noor, in exchange for political support for WP candidates." It also highlighted speeches made in parliament by party chief Pritam Singh and vice chairman Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap about separating religion and politics. "We remain firmly committed to Singapore’s secular, multi-racial, multi-religious society, and to protecting the integrity of our electoral process." Noor had turned up at a meeting the party held with Malay-Muslim religious leaders but there was no prior indication that he would be at the event.

Clarification by Faisal Manap[]

On Monday, 28 April 2025, Faisal Manap was asked by the press about Noor Deros. Faisal replied that he was open to meeting “everyone for the sake of listening”. He had always pressed for open conversations and not shied away from bringing up “sensitive” topics in parliament. "That is the right way to move forward. We must believe in the value and beauty of diversity,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that when we listen to people, we agree with them.” This was the first time that Faisal had addressed the posts made by Noor.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had said on Saturday, 26 April 2025 that foreigners urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines had "crossed the line" and that Singaporeans alone should decide on Singapore politics. Several opposition parties, including the WP, followed suit in speaking out against foreign interference in the upcoming General Election. When asked about voters who may vote for him because of Noor, Faisal said “all voters are smart enough to consider...to weigh the different arguments. I leave it to the intelligence of the voters, and I respect the voters' decision to vote whoever they want to vote.”

References[]

Acknowledgements[]

This article was written by Roy Tan.

Noor Deros

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