SINGAPORE: Inspired by the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019 that saw 51 Muslims murdered, a Singaporean teenager aimed to double the body count here.
In June 2024, the 17-year-old boy identified five mosques in Jurong West, Clementi, Margaret Drive, Admiralty Road and Beach Road as potential targets.
He had planned to kill at least 100 Muslims as they were leaving after Friday prayers, then kill himself.
But his scheme was thwarted by the Internal Security Department (ISD) and an order of detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was issued against him in March.
On April 2, the ISD revealed that he was one of two self-radicalised young people being dealt with by the authorities.
A 15-year-old girl had been issued with a restriction order under the ISA in February as she had wanted to marry an ISIS fighter and start a pro-ISIS family.
She is the first female teen and the second-youngest person to be dealt with under the ISA. She had hoped to fight in Syria and die a martyr.
As for the 17-year-old, he was identified during ISD’s investigations into Nick Lee, 18, another Singaporean detained under the ISA in December 2024.
The 17-year-old and Nick Lee had exchanged Islamophobic and far-right extremist materials with each other on social media. They were self-radicalised separately, had not met, and were unaware of each other’s plans to conduct attacks in Singapore.
ISD said those radicalised are getting younger, with the 15-year-old girl being the first female teen and the second-youngest person to be issued with an ISA order.
It said far-right extremism is also getting popular among young Singaporeans.
The 17-year-old is the fourth young Singaporean to be dealt with under the ISA since December 2020 for subscribing to far-right extremist ideologies.
ISD said Tarrant, and his online manifesto, had influenced all four young people.
On April 2, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam spoke to the media at Masjid Maarof, one of the youth’s targets, in Jurong West.
When asked if the Malay/Muslim community should be worried, Shanmugam said: “I think we all need to be worried because... if Muslims get attacked, it’s bad for the Muslim community, but it’s bad for Singapore – because we are one community.”
He said the trend of self-radicalised young people dealt with under the ISA was concerning.
Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, said: “In all likelihood, there probably are others, even as we speak.
“They may be consuming online materials, they might be planning, they might be doing things. ISD tries its best to keep track of people with these sorts of thoughts.”
Calling for the public to be alert, he added: “We have to get it right every time. Those who are either on the far right or with tendencies towards extremism have to only get it right once, and they will kill some people.”
Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, who attended the media briefing with Shanmugam, said it is important for family and friends to report any signs of radicalisation early, to maintain harmony within the community.
Speaking in Malay, Associate Professor Faishal said: “If we look at these cases, the families of the two youths did not make any complaints or reports even when they knew and could see symptoms which point to aspects of radicalisation.”
He added that Singaporeans need to consider themselves lucky that the ISD managed to get in front of both cases in spite of the lack of reporting.
Anyone who knows or suspects a person has been radicalised can call the ISD hotline on 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD). - The Straits Times/ANN
