'What happened?' Shanmugam sheds light on Faishal Ibrahim's resignation

"What happened in Faishal's case?"

That question has been on many Singaporeans' minds after former Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim resigned from politics on Monday (July 20) over his conduct when interacting with a woman online.

Assoc Prof Faishal and the female member of the public had accused each other of harassment over their "interactions", and the woman later wrote to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) about the matter.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam shed further light on the said interactions — which included messages and pictures — in a Facebook post on Wednesday (July 22).

According to Shanmugam, Assoc Prof Faishal had continued responding to the woman because he was concerned she "might react negatively if he abruptly cut her off".

"Nevertheless, his responses were, objectively, inappropriate and questionable. They come across as engaging with her," said Shanmugam, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security.

Shanmugam said the woman interpreted Assoc Prof Faishal's responses as encouragement to continue and became angry when Assoc Prof Faishal later tried to end their correspondence.

"She emailed PM [Lawrence Wong], sent some of the messages and pictures and alleged harassment by Faishal. Faishal too alleged the lady had harassed him," he revealed.

The matter was subsequently referred to the police to investigate.

The police, in consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers, assessed that "no criminal offence" had been committed by either party, said PM Wong on Monday.

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However, Shanmugam said on Wednesday that the matter "ceased being a purely private, consensual matter between two individuals" when the woman lodged a complaint with the PMO.

"It became necessary for PMO to consider the appropriateness of Faishal's interactions," he said, noting that the former minster had "a fair hearing".

"Regardless of his intentions, one has to look at the evidence and facts.

"Faishal himself reflected on the matter and acknowledged that he should not have allowed his exchanges with the lady to carry on, and he should have established clear boundaries from the start."

Calling the situation "very sad", Shanmugam said he was saddened by Assoc Prof Faishal's resignation.

"He is a true gem," he said of the former minister.

"His heart is in the right place — to serve the people. I haven't come across many people, in or out of government, better than Faishal."

On Monday, Assoc Prof Faishal apologised to his residents and supporters for letting them down.

He said he would not comment further on the matter to respect his family's privacy and will be spending more time with them after stepping down.

Zaqy Mohamad will be the new Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.

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