‘Parents have reported their self-radicalised children to ISD’: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE - Several self-radicalised Singaporean youths have over the years been reported to the Internal Security Department (ISD) by their families and teachers.

It is this early reporting by the public that is critical in protecting society from terror attacks being carried out by self-radicalised people, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Oct 18.

He was speaking to the media at Tampines Street 81, after

a 17-year-old Singaporean youth was arrested

under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in August.

The youth had planned to kill non-Muslim men during the September school holidays in that area, which has supermarkets, provision shops, coffee shops, a children’s art school and a tuition centre.

Since 2015,

14 self-radicalised Singaporeans aged 20 and below

have been dealt with under ISA, including this 17-year-old.

On how the Ministry of Home Affairs could encourage the public to alert the authorities about self-radicalised youth, Mr Shanmugam said the community is a very important line of defence.

He said: “Parents will want their children to be safe. No parent really wants his child to go and do something, then die in the process – do something bad, kill others, then he himself, or she herself, is killed.

“Often, the people we have picked up are people who have been reported to us by parents, other family members, teachers.”

ISD said in a press statement that while the youth’s family and friends were unaware of his plans, his parents had noticed he was watching videos of foreign preachers. They advised him against consuming such materials as they were unacceptable here.

He ignored them and used code words and virtual private networks to hide his activities when discussing his radical beliefs online.

Mr Shanmugam said preventing this youth’s plans was a very close shave, as thousands of people and their families frequent the Tampines area.

He said if the authorities could pick up such people very early, they may not even need to be detained.

Because ISD may assess that they have not gone very far, they can be rehabilitated without detention, and are given religious counselling.

Mr Shanmugam added: “But if they’ve gone further down the road, and are a risk to themselves and to society, then we have to detain them... and in detention, they will receive religious counselling and a variety of help.”

Since 2020, ISD has detained five self-radicalised youths who wanted to carry out attacks in Singapore using easily available weapons like knives and scissors.

ISD said such attacks require little time and preparation to execute.

It added: “It is important that we remain vigilant to signs that someone around us may have become radicalised.

“Family members and friends are best placed to notice changes in behaviour and alert the authorities if they suspect their loved ones have been radicalised.

“Doing so would prevent these individuals from engaging in violence and harming themselves and others.”

ISD said possible signs of radicalisation include frequently surfing radical websites and posting extremist views on social media platforms.

Mr Shanmugam said there have been young people who continued their education and passed their exams while under detention.

He said: “So we try and rehabilitate, get them on to their life. And the aim is to have them released at some point, the sooner the better, go back into society, get a job, have a family, fulfil their potential, do whatever they want to do.”

Residents and people who frequent the area of the planned attack told The Straits Times that they were shocked when they heard about it.

Mr Bai Yufan, 20, a student at the nearby Temasek Polytechnic, said he visits the area three to four times a week and hangs out with his friends after his taekwondo co-curricular activity training.

“Hearing the news, I feel very shaken. I’m in this area often, especially during the September holidays.

“I could have been a victim of his attack. There are also many residents, students and children here. So many people could have been hurt,” he said.

Madam Norain Ahmad, 45, who has been living in Tampines West for the past 15 years, said this incident has reminded her that the safety enjoyed by those living in Singapore can be destroyed in a split second.

The housewife said: “As a mother, I’m very scared. My children could have been victims.”

She has a daughter who is a Secondary 3 student and a son who is finishing primary school.

Anyone who knows or suspects a person has been radicalised can call the ISD hotline on 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD).