The local Muslim community needs to work within itself, and hand-in-hand with the Government, to safeguard Singapore against the growing threat of religious extremism in the region, said religious leaders and academics on Tuesday (Jan 19).

This was in response to a speech by Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam at the SRP Distinguished Lecture and Symposium organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).

“It is an evolving threat, so the response from the Muslim community and the Government will need to be an evolving one as well,” said Dr Mohamed Nawab, coordinator of the Malaysia programme at RSIS. “From the Government’s side, we see that they put a lot of effort into intelligence-gathering and preventive measures; but within the Muslim community, I think we are playing catch-up to newer threats – like how powerful social media has become for groups like ISIS.”

… Dr Nawab’s RSIS colleague, associate research fellow Saleena Begum Saleem, agreed. “There should be intra-religious dialogue within the Muslim community to prevent external influences that can cause the community to isolate themselves,” she said.