We refer to the comments by Ms Florence Veronica Minjoot (Why not show photos of radicalised three, July 1) and several others on whether to publish photographs of persons in response to the recent announcement of three radicalised persons dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Since 2003, the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) has been working with the local authorities to rehabilitate individuals detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities.
Our experience in counselling detainees, radicalised individuals and their families suggests that the benefits of protecting the identity of our clients far outweigh any good "naming and shaming" (with photos) has on these individuals' rehabilitation.
In counselling the families of detainees, our first concern is the well-being of the children of detainees. Especially in our media-savvy world today, we expect visual identification of their parents could potentially lead to negative implications: stigmatisation, bullying and depression for these vulnerable children.
There is also the danger that these children grow up to avenge their parents' plight if their psychological well-being is not supported.
Also, not all these individuals are hardened extremists. Rather, many of them were misguided. Hence, the right thing to do would be to address the underlying issue - ideological misguidance - while working on their smooth return to society.
Over the years, Singapore's terrorist rehabilitation programme has enabled many detainees to smoothly reintegrate into society once the authorities assess that they no longer pose a security risk.
The RRG has been actively reaching out to the community through ground and online initiatives.
One critical effort is to raise public awareness of the threat, including recognising the telltale signs of radicalisation.
We believe this knowledge will be more effective to protect the community against the radical influences, rather than knowledge of how the radicalised individuals look like.
Public displays of photos may serve to create a backlash for the community in terms of stereotyping based on a person's looks.
Finally, we always encourage the public to report anything unusual concerning their loved ones, colleagues or friends.
Knowing that we have a Singaporean community willing to forgive these misguided individuals and support their reintegration will definitely enhance the security of our nation.
Ustaz Dr Mohamed Ali
Vice-Chairman
Religious Rehabilitation Group
