Some movements deemed controversial have been de-registered, but not banned, by the government, most notably the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) in 1972 because of their opposition to military service which is obligatory for all male citizens.

The Constitution acknowledges Malay/Muslims to be "the indigenous people of Singapore" and charges the Government specifically to promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social, cultural, and language interests.

The goal of the CEP is to promote multiracial and interreligious harmony, in part so that a strong foundation would be in place should an incident that could provoke ethnic/religious discord, such as a religiously related terrorist attack, occur in the country.

[citation needed] A statutory counterpart to the Sedition Act is section 298A of the Penal Code, which was introduced in 2007 to "criminalise the deliberate promotion by someone of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different racial and religious groups on grounds of race or religion.

[citation needed] The overlapping array of the above legislative arrangements is designed to leave the choice of a suitable response to prosecutorial discretion when faced with potential mischiefs of a religious nature.

[citation needed] In 1972, the government revoked the registration of the Singapore Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, stating that its presence posed a risk to public welfare and order.

This was due to the group's refusal to perform mandatory military service (required of all male citizens),[3] salute the flag, or take oaths of allegiance to the state.

[citation needed] Missionaries, with the exception of members of Jehovah's Witnesses and representatives of the Unification Church, are permitted to work and to publish and distribute religious texts.

[3] There were reports in the early 2000s of Jehovah's Witnesses students being suspended from school for refusing to sing the national anthem or participate in the flag ceremony.

Foreign ISKCON monks as well as Srila Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna movement, were barred from entering Singapore, and all attempts by followers to officially register the society failed.

[8][9] ISKCON activities are now permitted in Singapore,[10] and the movement operates within the legal framework, conducting devotional programs and festivals while adhering to the guidelines established by the government.

The Ministry of Home Affairs accused the CCA of backing liberation movements and financing pro-communist movements in other countries, and giving financial support to Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan, a full-time Catholic Church worker, one of 22 people detained under the Internal Security Act, allowing detention without trial, for taking part in an alleged "Marxist Conspiracy" to overthrow the government.

CCA general secretary Reverend Kenichi Otsu of Japan, Park Sang-jung of South Korea, Pura Calo of the Philippines and Nelun Gunasekara of Sri Lanka were expelled from Singapore and ordered to leave with their families.

While defendants argued that their actions were meant to further a religious cause, namely evangelism through Ho's entry into the world of pop music, the trial ended with all six convicted, jailed and permanently barred from having overall administrative control of any charity.

[14] In February 2020, Singapore began a probe into the unregistered local chapter of the South Korean new religious movement Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said the group had earlier tried, and failed, to register a company under the name of Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light.

[16] In February 2010, online videos posted on the website of Lighthouse Evangelism of sermons by then-senior pastor Rony Tan who suggested that Buddhism and Taoism were Satanic that caused a public uproar in Singapore, prompting a visit by the government's Internal Security Department.

[19] In April 2017, Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel, the chief imam at Jamae Chulia Mosque for over seven years, was fined S$4,000 and repatriated to India after pleading guilty to "promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion", and committing an "act prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony".

He later apologised to Jewish and Christian leaders in closed-door meetings, saying that the additional supplication he read was not from the Quran, but an old Arabic text originating from his village in India.

The other, a Malay studies associate professor at the National University of Singapore, faced a warning for a Facebook post that was interpreted as expressing support for the imam.

[citation needed] In September 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs said two foreign Christian preachers had been denied short term work passes to speak in the country.

One of them was identified by The Straits Times as American preacher Dutch Sheets who had allegedly described Allah as "a false god", and called for prayers for those "held captive in the darkness of Islam".

[24] Mufti Menk had previously described LGBT people as being "worse than animals", and put forward the view that wishing non-Muslims "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Deepavali" was "the highest form of blasphemy".

[citation needed] Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Ismail in neighbouring Malaysia followed suit by issuing a decree to ban the pair from the state.

[25] In March 2018, remarks by fundamentalist American preacher Lou Engle that were made at a three-day conference organised by Cornerstone Community Church created an uproar.