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Rising number of radicals caught in S’pore; country must be prepared for terror incident: Shanmugam
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam says that while the authorities here have been proactive, Singaporeans should be prepared.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
David Sun
UPDATED FEB 11, 2025, 12:48 PM
SINGAPORE – More radicalised people have been caught here, and Singaporeans should be psychologically prepared for an incident, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Feb 11.
He said the recent cases of the teen, housewife and cleaner who were dealt with under the Internal Security Act point to a worrying trend.
Mr Shanmugam was speaking to the media at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, next to Fort Canning, on the sidelines of the Thaipusam 2025 festival.
He said: “This is the third young man that we have now issued orders against on far-right extremist ideology. He has been consuming all the junk on race issues, and has convinced himself on far-right supremacy.”
The 18-year-old role-played as a terrorist in an online game, and wanted to start a race war between the Chinese and the Malays.
He idolised Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019.
The teen wanted to attack Muslims at a mosque in Singapore, and got a tattoo and T-shirts with custom prints of logos associated with neo-Nazi, white supremacist and far-right groups.
The Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Feb 10 that he was issued an order of detention in December 2024.
Mr Shanmugam noted that orders were also issued against a housewife and cleaner who supported Islamist militant and terrorist organisations.
The Singaporean housewife, who managed social media groups supporting Islamist militant and terrorist organisations, was issued a restriction order.
The Malaysian cleaner, who was working in Singapore, was arrested in November 2024 and repatriated to Malaysia that month.
Mr Shanmugam said that while the authorities here have been proactive, Singaporeans should be prepared.
He said: “As I keep saying, it’s not like in other countries. It’s not as bad, and ISD has the power to nip it in the bud, move in much earlier.
“But you can see from the number of cases, we are not immune, and it’s increasing, and I think it’s worrying.
“Remember the SGSecure tag line ‘Not If, But When’. At some point, something will happen. We just have to be psychologically prepared.”
He added that how the community responds when an incident does happen is important, and a lot has been done to make sure that there is strength within the community.
He said: “It’s a world out there which is more fraught, more troubled. You will see more of this outside and that will wash in, in some way, to within Singapore too.”
