RAPID advances in technology may make life easier, but they also enable extremist ideologies to travel quickly.

There is therefore a need to be aware of global developments and adapt solutions to the local context, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said yesterday.

DPM Teo, who is also Home Affairs Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, said: “In regional security, we also need to think global and act local.

“Things can go from small to big, from far to near, or the reverse, in a very short time.”

… Diplomat Ong Keng Yong, executive deputy chairman of RSIS, said: “We cannot always assume that what works in one location will suffice as a solution in a different place.

“But that is why networking, and sharing ideas and experiences, is so necessary.”