A 16-year-old Singaporean student has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after the authorities uncovered his plans to attack two mosques and kill worshippers in Singapore on March 15 - the second anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks.
A Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity, he is the first detainee to be inspired by far-right extremist ideology and the youngest person detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities to date, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) yesterday.
Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam told reporters that if such an attack had succeeded, it was likely to incite fear and conflict between the country's different racial groups and religions.
The secondary school student was found to have made detailed plans and preparations to conduct terrorist attacks using a machete at the two mosques, the ISD said.
He had chosen Assyafaah Mosque in Sembawang and Yusof Ishak Mosque in Woodlands as his targets because they are near his home, it added. He planned to rent a BlueSG car to travel between the two sites and had watched videos on operating an automatic transmission vehicle.
Influenced by the Christchurch attacker Brenton Tarrant, the youth had mapped out his route, bought a flak jacket, intended to buy a machete on online marketplace Carousell and wanted to live-stream his planned massacre.
"He was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence," said ISD, adding that he had also watched the live-streamed video of the terrorist attack on the two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and had read the attacker's manifesto. Tarrant, a white supremacist, gunned down 51 people in the attacks on March 15, 2019.
The Singaporean youth also watched Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda videos, and came to the erroneous conclusion that ISIS represented Islam, and that Islam called on its followers to kill non-believers, said ISD.
ISD said it was clear from his plans and preparations that he was influenced by Tarrant's actions and manifesto, such as how he planned to carry out the attacks on the anniversary of the Christchurch attacks, and had intended to modify a tactical vest he bought online such that the attack could be live-streamed from a mobile device.
Mr Shanmugam told reporters: "How do we weed out or find out every single person who wants to do something like this? I have asked ISD and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to engage the religious organisations to be more vigilant across the different religions, and advisories have been issued to religious organisations to strengthen their crisis preparedness to be more alert."
The minister added that the youth will be rehabilitated, instead of treating him as a criminal, charging him and putting him in jail. "So here, with rehabilitation, my hope is that after a number of years, he can be released and carry on with his life."
ISD said its investigation so far indicates that the youth had acted alone. There was also no indication that he had tried to influence anyone with his extreme outlook or involve others in his attack plans.
Religious leaders issued calls for solidarity yesterday.
The National Council of Churches of Singapore said it wanted to assure the Muslim community that it remained committed to defeating hatred and violence. "We will not be deterred from our common goal to build harmony and cohesion in multi-religious Singapore society," it added.
