The head of the Catholic Church in Singapore has confirmed that he wrote to an activist group backing its call to abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) - but withdrew the letter later fearing it could affect the country's social harmony.
Archbishop Nicholas Chia, 73, on Wednesday said he had retracted the letter to Function 8 after he reflected on it and became concerned it could be used "in a manner that I did not intend".
The response came a day after blogger Alex Au wrote on his site Yawning Bread that the Archbishop had written to Function8 ahead of an anti-ISA rally in June.
Mr Au said he had not seen the letter, but heard it was "warmly-worded" and that it expressed support for the rally and the call for the ISA to be abolished.