Singapore’s ex-president slams suffering in Israel-Gaza war as ‘degradation of soul’ amid debate over teaching about conflict

Halimah Yacob laments world’s ‘dithering’ over ceasefire efforts, urging people to ‘stand on the side of humanity’ in Facebook post shared by law minister K. Shanmugam

Analysts say their remarks are a bid by the government to ‘calibrate and humanise their messaging’ after the education ministry was criticised over how the war is discussed in schools

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Singapore’s former president Halimah Yacob. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:14pm, 26 Feb 2024Updated: 11:48pm, 26 Feb 2024

Singapore’s former president on Monday said the ceaseless suffering in Gaza represented “the degradation of the human soul” and called on people to “stand on the side of humanity”, in a show of emotion atypical for politicians from the city state.

In a strongly-worded statement on Facebook, Halimah Yacob also lamented that as the world “dithered” on agreeing to a ceasefire, “international laws and international bodies are rendered irrelevant”.

The post by Halimah, a former unionist and lawyer who was Singapore’s president from 2017 to 2023, received the support of Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam, who reposted her message and said she had “spoken powerfully”.

Palestinians visit a cemetery in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 26, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Photo: Reuters

Analysts say the political figures were seeking to “calibrate and humanise their messaging” about the plight of Palestinians, as they point to a sharp contrast with efforts by the education ministry to teach primary and secondary students about the war, a move that had gone down poorly with segments of parents over the past few days.

The parents had sent an open letter urging the authorities to not ignore the wider context of the decades-long conflict and to deplore the loss of innocent lives. Some even expressed shock that students were discussing such a complex topic when adults felt they did not have enough room to express their sentiments about the war.

“The degradation of the human soul is so apparent when food trucks promised safe passage into Gaza were bombed. Images of IDF soldiers taking selfies, dancing, laughing and exchanging toasts after blasting to smithereens Palestinian homes are seared into our collective memories,” wrote Halimah, the city state’s first woman president, in the Facebook post.

Expressing her disappointment at the lack of progress in international efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, she said: “The degradation of the human soul is obvious as the world dithers in ceasefire efforts. International laws and international bodies are rendered irrelevant. The consensus built after the horrors of [World War II] to protect the innocents during wars has been severely compromised.”