New SGSecure campaign challenges Singaporeans to identify terror threats beyond stereotypes
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The Play Your Role campaign under SGSecure, launched at Bishan Junction 8 mall on March 5, encourages Singaporeans to be proactive before, during and after a terror attack.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
- MHA launched a new SGSecure "Play Your Role" campaign urging Singaporeans to prevent, detect, and respond to terrorism.
- The campaign highlights anyone can be self-radicalised online, stressing vigilance and early reporting of warning signs.
- Minister Edwin Tong said a terror attack is "not a question of 'if', but 'when'", urging proactiveness to keep Singapore safe.
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SINGAPORE – For possibly the first time in its anti-terror messaging, the authorities have portrayed a woman as a terrorist to drive home the point that anyone can be susceptible to radicalisation.
In launching the new SGSecure campaign on March 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is calling on Singaporeans to examine how they can do more to prevent, detect and respond to the threat of terrorism.
The Play Your Role campaign under SGSecure, launched at Bishan Junction 8 mall, encourages Singaporeans to be proactive before, during and after a terror attack.
The campaign is the first in a new series of the SGSecure Roadshow, which will be held across the island in 2026.
MHA said the terrorism threat to Singapore remains high, with online self-radicalisation continuing to be the primary driver. Youth radicalisation is of particular concern.
The campaign includes a short film titled Closer Than We Think, which depicts a terrorist attack in reverse chronology.
It opens with a woman detonating a bomb in an HDB estate and retraces the events leading up to it, such as the missed opportunities for her family members and those around her to intervene.
Her self-radicalisation online is revealed, along with the unnoticed warning signs.
Referring to the female terrorist in the film, Mr Matthias Chew, director of the SGSecure programme office, told The Straits Times: “We’ve chosen an unlikely profile because the message we want to send is anybody can be radicalised, and therefore everybody’s got to be vigilant.”
MHA said the core message is that anyone, regardless of age, gender, religion or profession, can be susceptible to radicalisation.
It added that early reporting of suspected radicalised behaviours to the authorities will allow that person to receive timely help.
The event was attended by Second Minister for Home Affairs and Law Minister Edwin Tong and Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs.
Mr Tong said: “The SGSecure social experiments conducted last year showed that many of us are not as vigilant as we think, perhaps because many Singaporeans don’t think that a terrorist attack is likely to happen in Singapore.
“So through the new Play Your Role campaign, we hope to shift the focus from mere awareness to encouraging Singaporeans to take action and to keep Singapore safe from terrorism.
“A terror attack in Singapore is not unimaginable. With the new series of the SGSecure Roadshow, we hope to drive home the point that terrorism is perhaps closer than we think, and it is really not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’.”
Second Minister for Home Affairs and Law Minister Edwin Tong at the launch of the new SGSecure campaign at Bishan Junction 8, on March 6.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
The SGSecure movement has been engaging the community since 2016 – to sensitise, train and mobilise Singaporeans to play a part to prevent and deal with a terrorist attack.
The new campaign highlights six roles Singaporeans can play in different scenarios, to keep Singapore safe and secure.
They include being a guardian who is calm and quick to lead others out of danger; a fact checker who debunks fake news to stop their spread; and a lifesaver trained to respond with emergency preparedness skills.
