TAKING a non-violent approach to bring political and other changes may appear fashionable, but Singaporeans must be cautious about falling for such concepts, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.

He underlined several fundamentals which have accounted for Singapore being a peaceful and stable society.

These include respecting ethnic and religious sensitivities; not undermining the rule of law and institutions; and effecting political change through constitutional and lawful means.

Speaking at a National Day observance ceremony at the Home Affairs Ministry, Mr Wong recognised that, as society develops and becomes more confident, the boundaries of the old and familiar will be tested.

Even so, 'we need to steer by these basic principles which have served as our moral compass which has and will continue to keep us afloat as a multi-ethnic nation'.

What appears to have caught the attention of Mr Wong and the authorities is the ways which some here and abroad have advocated for change in society.

'Singaporeans should be savvy enough to read the fine print when local elements working with foreigners assert the fashionable politics of non-violent law-breaking,' he said.

'The non-violence part is usually boldly asserted and the breaking of the law part is quietly disguised or dishonestly omitted from view.'

Mr Wong made it clear that when anyone pushes for the wilful breaking of any law, 'regardless of whether you think it is a silly law or not, he does violence to the rule of law even if his actions are peaceful'.

'If every group or individual decides to break a law it doesn't like, then we have an erosion of the rule of law.'

There was also a reminder to foreigners who live here, or who just visit Singapore: They are welcome to practise or hold beliefs so long as their actions do not break the law.

'Such persons may be convinced about the righteousness of their cause, but that does not justify taking the law into their own hands or to expect to be exempt from or be above the laws which govern Singaporeans,' he said.

If Government and Parliament are to be truly accountable to citizens, then the integrity of the political processes here 'must be robustly preserved'.

Singapore welcomes foreign talent and is open to views and ideas, but one of the fundamentals here is that Singapore's politics is for Singaporeans.

'We have been independent for 40 years. It would be perverse to think we should lose our self-confidence now and start letting ourselves be colonised by others who have no stake in our future but who believe they know how we should live and what Singapore should be,' Mr Wong asserted. 'We do not welcome foreigners who try to interfere with our politics.'

He did not identify any particular group or individual in his speech.

But his remarks follow developments in May, when the Home Affairs Ministry barred foreign activist Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan from entering the country indefinitely after it found he had interfered in Singapore's domestic politics.

The United States passport holder had also conducted a workshop to promote civil disobedience activities when he was here in January.

On both occasions, he was invited by the Singapore Democratic Party, whose leader Chee Soon Juan launched a book last month advocating the use of non-violent protests to effect political change in Singapore.

Ms Indranee Rajah, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, backed Mr Wong, reiterating that politics here is for Singaporeans.

'The bottom line is that Singapore is for Singaporeans and we are the ones who should be determing our future,' she said at the ceremony, which was also attended by 500 members of the ministry's staff. 'Singaporeans ought to be accountable to the State, the foreigner can run away.'

A special treat for all included Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah, who is a full-time police national serviceman, belting out National Day songs.

mnirmala@sph.com.sg