Ariffin Sha (Singapore Politician)
Ariffin Iskandar Sha bin Ali Akbar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1997 |
| Education | Bachelor of Laws |
| Alma mater | First Toa Payoh Secondary School Victoria University of Wellington |
Ariffin Iskandar Sha bin Ali Akbar (Born 1997), commonly known as Ariffin Sha, is a Singaporean politician, activist, legal executive, and founder of the alternative news platform Wake Up Singapore.[1] Ariffin is a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and contested Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2025 General Election as part of the SDP team challenging Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's electoral debut as party leader.[2]
Known for his passionate advocacy for youth issues, mental health awareness, and social justice, Ariffin has been writing and speaking on socio-political issues since he was 16 years old in 2013.[3]
Early life and education
Ariffin Sha completed his O'Levels at First Toa Payoh Secondary School.[3] He subsequently received the ASEAN Scholarship for his undergraduate law studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.[3]
While studying in New Zealand, Ariffin demonstrated leadership abilities by founding and serving as President of the Wellington Singaporean Students' Association (WESSA) for three years starting in 2018.[3] He described WESSA as "a home away from home for Singaporeans in New Zealand."[1][3]
Ariffin’s platform emphasised inter‑generational fairness, youth socioeconomic challenges and digital transformation. He positioned himself as bridging media advocacy and grassroots political mobilisation. Profile pieces note his personal interests include music (he cites Pink Floyd and Eminem), hiking and languages.[1]
Career
Career history
According to his LinkedIn profile, Ariffin spent five years at Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, where he progressed from an intern to a Legal Executive. He later joined Abbots Chambers LLC, also as a Legal Executive, and remained there for two years before being admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor in August 2025.[4]
Wake Up Singapore
At the age of 16 in September 2013, Ariffin founded Wake Up Singapore, an independent media platform focusing on socio-political issues in Singapore.[3] The platform has become known for amplifying marginalised voices, surfacing overlooked stories, and sometimes facing legal consequences for its reporting.[1]
As founder and editor-in-chief of Wake Up Singapore, Ariffin has positioned the platform as one that gives voice to communities often unheard in mainstream discourse. Wake Up Singapore rarely publishes long-form investigations; most of its work focuses on surfacing voices and stories that often go unheard.[1]
2022 Criminal defamation case
In March 2022, while Ariffin was the sole administrator of Wake Up Singapore, the platform published an article alleging, falsely, that a pregnant woman miscarried at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) after being made to wait for hours without treatment.[5] The claim, supplied by a source later found to have fabricated the story, went viral and was republished by other media outlets.[5]
KKH lodged a police report, and Ariffin removed the story the same day, apologising privately to the hospital and publicly retracting the article. He published a detailed account of events and complied with a correction direction issued under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).[5]
On August 26, 2024, Ariffin was convicted of criminal defamation under section 500 of the Penal Code and fined S$8,000.[5] While he avoids rehashing the details, he has called it a turning point, stating: "People can lie or mislead about literally anything. So now we have SOPs. We're more careful."[1]
Legal practice and bar admission
Despite the criminal defamation conviction, Ariffin successfully sought admission to the Singapore Bar. On July 1, 2025, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon ruled that Ariffin was a fit and proper person for admission and that no deferment was necessary.[5]
During the Bar admission process, Ariffin fully disclosed the criminal defamation offence, as well as two prior conditional warnings for unrelated public order offences in 2014 and 2018.[5] The Attorney-General and the Singapore Institute of Legal Education argued that admitting him so soon after conviction might harm public confidence, but the Law Society of Singapore did not object, noting the absence of dishonesty and his full cooperation.[5]
In his decision, the Chief Justice found that the "Protective Principle" applied in cases where public confidence may be harmed by an admission, did not apply. He noted there was no evidence that Ariffin knew the story was false when he published it, distinguishing his case from that of lawyer M Ravi, who had made reckless statements knowing them to be untrue.[5]
The court stressed that the offence arose from a lack of care, not dishonesty or indifference to the truth. Ariffin's prompt retraction, public accountability, and subsequent work in pro bono legal matters showed rehabilitation.[5]
Upon receiving the court's decision, Ariffin said he was "humbled and honoured" and expressed hope "to use this privilege of practice to serve the community and help those in need."[5]
Political career
Singapore People's Party (2019-2020)
Ariffin first entered organized politics when he was elected to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) during the party's biennial Ordinary Party Conference on October 16, 2019.[6] At 22 years old at the time, he was described as a Victoria University of Wellington law student and contributor to The Online Citizen.[7]
On November 5, 2019, following the election of Steve Chia as Secretary-General, Ariffin was appointed Assistant Secretary-General of the SPP.[7] In January 2020, as the newly-minted Assistant Secretary-General, Ariffin told the media that the party leadership was "unanimous in its decision to decline the proposal to join the alliance" when approached by fringe opposition parties forming a coalition.[8]
However, Ariffin resigned from the SPP in August 2020, just months after the 2020 General Election.[9] The resignation was announced publicly by SPP Chairman Jose Raymond on December 22, 2020, along with Raymond's own retirement from politics.[9] The position of Assistant Secretary-General was not filled following Ariffin's departure.[9]
Singapore Democratic Party (2025-Present)
Ariffin joined the Singapore Democratic Party and became one of its most prominent young voices. He had first met SDP leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan in 2014 when he was 17 years old.[1]
According to party materials, Ariffin has been involved in political advocacy for more than a decade, including writing speeches for a former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.[3]
2025 General Election Campaign
On April 13, 2025, the SDP announced Ariffin as part of its four-member team contesting Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, alongside Jufri Salim, Alec Tok, and Dr. Gigene Wong.[2]
During the campaign, Ariffin focused heavily on issues affecting young Singaporeans, particularly mental health and cost of living pressures. Citing a study by the Institute of Mental Health, he noted that one in three youths report severe symptoms of depression or stress.[2] He linked the mental health crisis to broader socio-economic pressures, including the rising cost of housing and education, and a perceived lack of opportunity for upward mobility:[2]
"We are no longer dreaming about the five Cs. Now we're asking whether we can afford to start a family at all."
Ariffin challenged outdated narratives about young Singaporeans being soft or entitled, arguing instead that they face genuine structural challenges:[10]
"This is not about being a so-called 'strawberry generation', this is about facing the reality of our times. Life in Singapore today, you leave for work or school before the sun rises and by the time you return, it is dark again."
Challenging PM Wong's narrative
Ariffin delivered one of the campaign's most memorable moments when he rebutted Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's warnings that voting for the opposition would weaken the Cabinet. At an SDP rally at Woodlands Stadium, Ariffin accused Wong of resorting to "the politics of fear."[11]
"PM Wong started saying that if you vote for the opposition, we might lose a few good ministers like DPM Gan Kim Yong."
Ariffin reminded voters that Singapore had previously moved on from high-profile political losses and continued to function well. He pointed to former Foreign Minister George Yeo, who lost Aljunied GRC in 2011 and respected the outcome without seeking to "parachute in anywhere," and former Cabinet minister Ng Chee Meng, who lost Sengkang GRC in the 2020 General Election, yet "Sengkang is running fine."[11]
"Ladies and gentlemen, Singapore will be okay. The people will be okay."
Newsworthy incidents
The Gigene Wong racial slur incident (2025 General Election)
The SDP's campaign was severely disrupted on April 26, 2025, when Ariffin's teammate Dr. Gigene Wong used a racial slur while referring to him during a Hokkien speech at Evergreen Primary School.[12] The incident, in which Wong casually used a derogatory term for people of Indian descent to describe her own Indian running mate, became a major controversy.
Ariffin found himself in a uniquely difficult position as both the public victim of racism and a candidate who had to continue campaigning alongside the person who had offended him. As one observer noted, it was "a brutal position for any candidate, let alone the 28-year-old founder of Wake Up Singapore, a platform that would have rightly torched any racist remarks, had they come from anywhere else."[12]
At a rain-soaked rally in Sembawang, the SDP team addressed the incident. Gigene Wong was sternly counselled and made multiple public apologies to voters, to the party, and most importantly, to Ariffin. The party accepted that there was no malice behind her words, though acknowledged the severity of using such language.[12]
Ariffin handled the situation with grace, neither equivocating nor trying to lessen the impact. However, the moment was marred when an audience member yelled "shut up, let's move on" while Ariffin was addressing the racial slur.[12] The incident significantly damaged the SDP's momentum in what was already an uphill electoral battle.
References/Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Dudekula, Reema. “Ariffin Sha on Kopi and Moving the Needle” Tabla, 4 August, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 “SDP unveils Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidates, sets focus on cost of living and youth concerns” The Online Citizen, 13 April, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 “Ariffin Sha” Singapore Democratic Party. n.d. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ “Ariffin Sha” LinkedIn. n.d. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 “High Court allows Ariffin Sha to join Singapore Bar despite past defamation conviction” The Online Citizen, 8 August, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ “Singapore People's Party elects four new faces into its CEC as Mr Chiam steps down” The Online Citizen, 17 October, 2019. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ Anna Maria Romero. “Singapore People’s Party forges forward with new members in its central executive committee” The Independent, 18 October, 2019. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ Stolarchuk, Jewel. “New SPP leadership declines to join coalition of fringe opposition parties” The Independent, 4 January, 2020. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Wan Ahmad Atarmizi. “No time, no money, no life: SDP's Ariffin gets real about youth struggles in Singapore GE” Sinar Daily, 2 May, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ Lim, Prudence. “‘Do not hold S’poreans hostage’: SDP’s Ariffin Sha slams PM Wong’s claim that voting opposition weakens Cabinet” Must Share News, 29 April, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Sholihyn, Ilyas. “No, We Can’t Just ‘Move On’” Rice Media, 28 April, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Iso, Gemma. “Ariffin Sha asks: ‘Do million-dollar ministers understand what young Singaporeans are facing today?’” The Independent, 16 April, 2025. Accessed 24 February 2026.