SINGAPORE - Singaporeans cannot let their guard down in the fight against terrorism and self-radicalisation because these remain a threat to the peace and prosperity of the country, said Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam on Tuesday.

Citing a survey by the Ministry of Communications and Information in 2021, which found a seven-point drop in the percentage of respondents who believed Singapore is a target for terrorists, compared with 2019, Mr Shanmugam said: “Our people’s sense of threat is reducing when, in actuality, the risk is increasing.”

Speaking at the Minister’s Awards Presentation Ceremony held at the Home Team Academy on Tuesday, he mentioned the example of the Ministry of Education teacher who was detained in October 2022 after he became self-radicalised from watching videos online, and planned to travel to Gaza to engage in armed jihad.

“(This) is not the first case. We had another case in 2021, where another Singaporean also wanted to fight in Gaza and attack Jews in Singapore,” he said.

In his speech at the event, where he was guest of honour, Mr Shanmugam also spoke about the challenges that Singapore continues to face as a result of technological advancements, such as scams and hostile information campaigns.

“Smartphones and new chat applications have made it easier for scams to spread at a very fast speed. In the first half of 2022 alone, there were 14,000 scam cases,” he said.

Social media platforms have also made it easier, faster and cheaper to carry out hostile information campaigns, Mr Shanmugam noted.

He cited a report that came out in August 2022, which found that a series of targeted campaigns had been run over five years, involving multiple accounts across many social media platforms, that were designed to put out pro-Western messages in the Middle East and Central Asia.

In September 2022, social media company Meta also reported it had taken down a network of accounts that targeted the United States, the Czech Republic, as well as Chinese-speaking and French-speaking groups globally, he added.

“One group of accounts posted in Mandarin specifically targeted the US and its foreign policy,” said Mr Shanmugam. “Another group of accounts was positioned as conservative or liberal American, and stoked the flames on the debate on gun rights and abortion, encouraging inflammatory rhetoric.”

He added that Singapore could be an easy target for such operations, considering the small, multiracial and multi-religious nature of our country.

Mr Shanmugam also spoke about the need to maintain civility, as people defining their identities increasingly along narrow lines have led to more divisive and violence-prone discourse.

“In Singapore, we had a major debate on Section 377A last year. We amended the Constitution to protect the definition of marriage from court challenges,” he said.

“While repealing Section 377A, in the lead-up, there were strong views expressed all around.”

But aside from some strong reactions from both sides on the repeal, the debate surrounding the “very sensitive, very difficult topic” was conducted “with a large degree of civility”, noted Mr Shanmugam.

“Our challenge is to ensure that the debates and dialogues that will continue to happen, continue to remain civil. Then the law enforcement agencies can go about dealing with a relatively small number of people who don’t obey the law,” he added.

Touching on the important work carried out in the fight against scams, he noted that the Anti-Scam Command has investigated more than 5,300 scammers and money mules involved in more than 15,000 cases amounting to $140 million in losses, just within the first seven months of the team being formed.

The Anti-Scam Command has a network of more than 80 stakeholders, including financial institutions and online marketplaces, and is able to move quickly to freeze and recover funds, reducing the losses suffered by victims.

Over 200 awards were given out to outstanding Home Team officers, teams and agencies at Tuesday’s ceremony, for demonstrating efficiency and competency in major operations and projects, and displaying high standards of innovation and service excellence.

“Our Home Team has been able to fulfil its mission year after year to keep Singapore and Singaporeans safe, in large part because of the high standards that our officers uphold,” said Mr Shanmugam.

“As we start a new year, I am confident we will maintain our operational excellence and work together.”