S’pore’s Teen ISA Case A Wake-Up Call On ‘Rabbit Hole’ Of Far-Right Ideology, Say Observers

The Straits Times

29 January 2021

On Wednesday, the Internal Security Department (ISD) announced that a local Protestant teenager influenced by such ideology had been detained under the Internal Security Act for planning to murder Muslims at two mosques. Islamophobia, xenophobia, nationalism and white supremacy are some beliefs held by far-right extremists, said RSIS Associate Research Fellow Ms Kyler Ong. The detained student, who is 16, had imbibed ideology that said Christians were being supplanted by Muslims in societies like in Europe, and saw Islam as a threat. RSIS Senior Fellow Raffaello Pantucci said the ideology also taps instincts both grand – a sense of identity – and primal, such as anger and resentment. Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, who heads the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at RSIS, said details of the detained teen’s plan suggested a certain naivete and brand of misguided youthful bravado. Research fellow Mr Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman from the Centre of Excellence for National Security at RSIS suggested stepping up efforts in teaching youth how to process and filter potentially harmful ideas. Senior Analyst Jasminder Singh, also from RSIS, said the different faiths could facilitate more interactions between their youth, to help correct wrong perceptions and improve appreciation of one another – while expanding on common ground such as shared humanity and Singaporean identity.

Categories:

CENS / ICPVTR / Online / Print

Last updated on 04/05/2021