Individuals tend to be drawn to fundamentalist ideology out of a desire to escape personal, familial, or social problems, rather than out of religious piousness, said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

This understanding can inform how authorities should counter the influence and spread of religious fundamentalism, noted Mr Zahid, who shared key lessons from Malaysia in a keynote address at the Asia-Europe Counter-Terrorism Dialogue on Tuesday (Nov 1).

… The two-day dialogue, organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Singapore, also saw the launch of a publication titled ‘Countering Daesh Extremism – European and Asian Responses’ by the two organisations.