Malaysian activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri has been refused entry into Singapore, with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) saying that she had encouraged youths here to “undertake disruptive and violent actions” in the name of their causes.
In a post on X on 22 March, she said she had been deported to Malaysia on the same day.
Source: Fadiah Nadwa on X
Sharing a photo of a Notice of Refusal of Entry from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Ms Fadiah said she had been banned from entering Singapore.
She had asked ICA to provide reasons for this, but they said they could not disclose them, she claimed, adding:
It’s stunning bcs I stayed there for 5 years & was conferred a doctoral degree on 31 January.
According to the notice, dated 22 March, she was deemed to be “ineligible for the issue of a pass under current immigration policies”.
Source: Fadiah Nadwa on X
In a statement on Friday (27 March), Ms Fadiah elaborated that she had failed to get through the autogate at Woodlands Checkpoint.
She was then told that she was not allowed to enter Singapore and would be deported, with no reasons given despite her repeated requests, she claimed.
Her fingerprints and photo were taken before she was deported, she added.
Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook
In a series of posts on 23 March, Ms Fadiah said she had gone to Singapore as she was invited by her former supervisor to give a guest lecture.
She was also planning to take care of her friend’s cat, and collect books and her degree certificate.
The deportation was “extremely distressing and outrageous”, she added, describing it as “tantamount to a deliberate attack on my scholarly work”.
According to the National University of Singapore (NUS) website, Ms Fadiah is a lawyer and alumna of the Department of Southeast Asian Studies.
Her work examines the intellectual history of decolonisation, Malay radical politics, and the British racialising project, with a focus on Malaya and Singapore
She said she left legal practise in 2020 to pursue a PhD at NUS, receiving two graduate teaching awards and sharing her scholarly work at academic institutions worldwide.
In her final year at NUS, she was awarded a teaching fellowship by the College of Humanities and Sciences and was conferred a doctoral degree on 31 Jan 2026.
Source: Google Maps
In response to queries from The Straits Times (ST), MHA said Ms Fadiah had engaged in political activism in Singapore.
She had encouraged some youths to “adopt her brand of radical advocacy”, including:
MHA thus described her as “an undesirable visitor”, adding:
We will not tolerate foreigners getting involved in our domestic politics, nor the promotion of unlawful, violent and disruptive methods of civil protest.
However, Ms Fadiah disputed MHA’s statement on Friday night, calling it “malicious, false and defamatory”.
In her post on X, she claimed the ministry had provided “no evidence to support these allegations”.
She also pointed out that during her time at NUS she had presented her scholarly work on various public platforms, including a column published by Medicorp’s Malay-language outlet Berita.
MS News has reached out to MHA for more information.
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Featured image adapted from Fadiah Nadwa on X and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook.