Community support key to dealing with roots of terror threats in Singapore: SM Teo

SINGAPORE – A whole-of-society approach to combating terrorism and extremism has been made possible with community support, said Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on Sept 28.

This has allowed Singapore to effectively deal with the root of terror threats within society, including safeguarding the broader community from extremist ideology, early detection of radicalised individuals, and rehabilitation and reintegration support given to the affected individuals and their families.

Speaking to community volunteers at an appreciation lunch hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Parkroyal Collection at Marina Bay, SM Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said: “Your contributions have been critical to keeping Singapore and Singaporeans safe and secure. This support will remain critical as the threat landscape evolves in form and intensity.”

Among those spearheading community efforts are the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group (ACG) and the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), which comprises scholars and teachers of Islam who now help to counsel and rehabilitate self-radicalised individuals.

The RRG was initially formed in 2003 to rehabilitate detained Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members and their families through counselling. JI had been planning to attack Singapore since the mid-1990s, according to the Internal Security Department (ISD), Singapore’s counterterrorism agency.

SM Teo said the RRG had recently expanded its efforts to reach a wider and younger audience by using social media platforms such as TikTok. More than 2,500 people have also visited RRG’s Majulah Gallery at Khadijah Mosque in Geylang, launched in 2023 to aid public education.

SM Teo said the ACG’s work has been critical in Singapore’s fight against terror, pointing out that the group has helped more than 90 affected youth continue their education from the primary level to tertiary level.

He said: “A feeling of alienation and separation from one’s immediate community, or even family, is often at the root of radicalisation. You feel you do not belong, so you search for belonging somewhere else. The ACG has played a critical role in providing the social rehabilitation that is so necessary for radicalised individuals and their families. This support for their reintegration into society is what completes the process of deradicalisation.”

SM Teo said such community efforts will remain crucial as Singaporeans face a troubled global security landscape, including the ongoing war in Gaza.

“The wars in the Middle East have inflamed passions and radicalisation by extremists from both ends of the spectrum,” he said, adding that this has provided fuel for people to develop and follow extremist ideology.

The Israel-Hamas war started after the Palestinian militant group

attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023,

killing over 1,100 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Israel responded with air strikes and an invasion of Gaza, which have killed more than 41,000 people there, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Two Singaporeans were

found to have been self-radicalised online due to the conflict,

according to a July report by the ISD. One was a woman who was a former public servant and the other a 14-year-old student.

The student, who is the youngest person to be issued a restriction order under the Internal Security Act (ISA), considered carrying out attacks in Singapore, and started an online chat group hoping to recruit 60 to 100 people. He also tried to radicalise his schoolmates but failed.

SM Teo said: “Both were influenced by radical materials they encountered online. It is particularly worrying that they were self-radicalised within just a few short months.”

The report said that since 2015, Singapore has had to deal with 40 self-radicalised Singaporeans under the ISA. Of those, 13 were aged 20 or younger.

SM Teo pointed to the community efforts needed more than two decades ago, when Singapore thwarted the

plans of JI members in 2001.

After the ISD had launched its security operation against JI, it discovered that the group had identified close to 80 targets to attack in Singapore, including Yishun MRT station and the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Bukit Gombak.

“As a nation we have learnt and grown from that difficult episode. Our religious groups and communities came together during a challenging time to take ownership of the issue and support one another. As a result, instead of becoming a more tense and divided society, we have become a more united society,” he said.

He added that Singapore has so far managed to maintain itself as an oasis of peace even amid the conflict and turmoil in other regions.

Said SM Teo: “These are also challenging times, but we can continue to be successful as long as this strong partnership with the community remains. The Government will give you our full support in this collective effort to keep Singapore safe and secure.”