Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap (
Jawi: ; born 1975)
is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Vice-Chairman of the
Worker's Party since 2016. He has been the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) representing the
Kaki Bukit
Kaki Bukit ( Jawi: كاكي بوكيت; ) is a small town in Perlis, Malaysia. It has an estimated population of 3,000. Kaki Bukit is located 26 kilometres (16 miles) north of the state capital, Kangar and a few miles away from Padang Besar, the ...
division of
Aljunied GRC
The Aljunied Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern and eastern region of Singapore. The GRC consists of five divisions: Eunos, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Kaki Bukit, Sera ...
since 2011.
Education
Faisal attended Eunos Primary School and
Telok Kurau Secondary School before graduating from
Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...
in 1995 with a
diploma in
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and
structural engineering
Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...
.
He subsequently went on to complete a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
at
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
in 2005.
Political career
![Faisal Manap 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Faisal_Manap_1.jpg)
Faisal first entered politics during the
2011 general election as the ethnic minority candidate in a five-member
Workers' Party team contesting in
Aljunied GRC
The Aljunied Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern and eastern region of Singapore. The GRC consists of five divisions: Eunos, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Kaki Bukit, Sera ...
against the governing
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
(PAP). The Workers' Party team won with 54.72% of the vote, making it the first time in Singapore's electoral history an opposition party had won a general election in a GRC. Faisal thus became a Member of Parliament representing the
Kaki Bukit
Kaki Bukit ( Jawi: كاكي بوكيت; ) is a small town in Perlis, Malaysia. It has an estimated population of 3,000. Kaki Bukit is located 26 kilometres (16 miles) north of the state capital, Kangar and a few miles away from Padang Besar, the ...
ward of Aljunied GRC in the
12th Parliament on 9 May 2011. The Workers' Party has since retained its parliamentary seats in Aljunied GRC in the subsequent general elections and Faisal has continued serving as the Member of Parliament representing Kaki Bukit. Within the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, Faisal has served as chairman of the Estate and Liaison Committee (2013—2018), overall Council chairman (2018—2021), and Council vice-chairman (2021—2022).
Faisal is one of the party's five-member
Worker's Party team along with
Pritam Singh,
Sylvia Lim,
Gerald Giam
Gerald Giam Yean Song ( zh, s=严燕松, p=Yán Yànsōng; born 1977) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bedok Reservoir– Punggol division of ...
and
Leon Perera
Leon Perera (born 1970) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Serangoon division of Aljunied GRC since 2020.
Education
Perera was educated at the A ...
contesting the
Aljunied GRC
The Aljunied Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern and eastern region of Singapore. The GRC consists of five divisions: Eunos, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Kaki Bukit, Sera ...
in the
2020 general election and retain back with 59.95% of the votes.
Parliamentary representation
Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act
During the debate over a parliamentary bill to amend the
Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act
The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act 1990 ("MRHA") is a Singapore statute which, according to its long title, provides for the maintenance of religious harmony, for the establishment of a Presidential Council for Religious Harmony ("PCRH") ...
, Faisal had a heated exchange with Home Affairs and Law Minister
K. Shanmugam
Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam ( ta, காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 ...
over the separation of religion from politics. Faisal stated that he did not fully agree with the principle of the separation of religion from politics. He argued that while people "shouldn't use religion for the benefit of politics", it is inevitable that religion and politics are intertwined in the formulation of policies.
Tudong issue
Since he had been elected to Parliament in 2011, Faisal had persistently raised the issue of allowing Muslim nurses and women in uniformed services to don the
tudong
The tudong ( Indonesian: ''tudung'', Jawi: تودوڠ) is a style of headscarf, worn as interpretation of the Islamic hijab, prevalent amongst many Muslim women in the Malay-speaking world; Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. Today, the ...
in the course of their duty. In 2017, Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs
Masagos Zulkifli
Masagos Zulkifli bin Masagos Mohamad ( Jawi: ماسڬوس ذوالكفل; born 1963) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Health since 2020, Minister-in-charge ...
rebuked Faisal for "subtly and frequently needling" the Malay-Muslim community with this issue. Masagos said that such issues should not be discussed in Parliament since it has the potential to disrupt Singapore’s racial and religious harmony and that should be resolved behind closed doors instead. In 2021, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...
announced that Muslim nurses in Singapore's public healthcare sector will be allowed to wear a tudung with their uniforms if they wish to.
Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party
Faisal was elected Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party central executive committee (CEC) on 29 May 2016, taking over the position from Mohammed Rahizan Yaacob. His two-year term has been continuously renewed in subsequent CEC elections, with the last election held on 27 December 2020.
Views on homosexuality
In June 2014, Faisal was seen alongside campaign organisers and supporters at a Wear White campaign, an anti-LGBT movement in Singapore. Faisal clarified that he opposes homosexuality and
Pink Dot SG
Pink Dot SG, known exonymously as Pink Dot, is an event that has occurred annually since 2009 in support of the LGBT community in Singapore. Attendees of Pink Dot events gather to form a "pink dot" to show support for inclusiveness, diversity ...
and that he backed the movement in his personal capacity "as a Muslim individual".
References
External links
Muhamad Faisal Manapon
Parliament of Singapore
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{{Authority control
Members of the Parliament of Singapore
Workers' Party (Singapore) politicians
Monash University alumni
Living people
1975 births
Singaporean people of Malay descent
Singaporean Muslims