Youths as Catalysts in Securing the Nation
Chairman of AMP Singapore, Ustaz Fathurrahman,
Leaders of the ACG as well as friends from the RRG
Staff and volunteers
Students, Youth leaders
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to each and every one of you.
Introduction
1. I am very delighted to join this year’s ACG Youth Forum, organised by AMP Singapore in collaboration with SMU Muslim Society. I would like to thank Azhar and his team for working together with the ACG and our community partners, as well as all of you for spending some time on a Saturday morning.
2. This forum is an important platform to continue our conversation in safeguarding Singapore’s security and to protect our loved ones. Youths are the future of this country, like many other countries, and all of you in this auditorium bring great energy, passion and enthusiasm to such conversations and initiatives for the benefit of Singapore. I visited a few of the breakout sessions and I am very impressed and touched by the way you shared your views and some even volunteered to help to spread the messages to your fellow students because you feel that what we are doing will bring goodness to Singapore. You don’t see this in many parts of the world, and this is where our youths stand out, where others can learn from. Later, we will have a discussion and I look forward to a fruitful dialogue with all of you.
Continued Threat of Youth Radicalisation
3. The trend of youth radicalisation is a growing concern in Singapore. Several weeks ago, ISD announced the detention of a 17-year-old youth, who was on the verge of conducting an attack on non-Muslims in Tampines. Prior to his attack plan, the youth had harboured an intention to travel to Syria to join ISIS and engage in armed violence. He had also actively shared radical materials promoting armed jihad with the followers of his social media accounts.
4. The youth’s radicalisation started in August 2023 after he was exposed to the teachings of radical foreign preachers online. Following HAMAS’ attacks on 7 October 2023, there was a surge in online extremist materials by ISIS and other terror groups taking advantage of the conflict, and the youth’s exposure to these materials eventually led him to become a staunch ISIS supporter. Inspired by ISIS propaganda which glorified suicide knife attacks, he plotted to conduct a terrorist attack in Singapore during the recent September school holidays and planned to use either a kitchen knife or a pair of scissors in his house as his attack weapon. He was arrested less than a month before his intended attack date. We were that close to an imminent terrorist attack in one of our HDB heartlands. Just imagine, if we were not able to apprehend him, there would have been a significant impact, not only in Tampines but the whole of Singapore and the region. In fact, during my visits to my counterparts, they asked me about the incident.
5. Since 2015, including this case, ISD has dealt with 14 self-radicalised Singaporean youths aged 20 or below under the Internal Security Act. Five of those detained since 2020, including this latest case, wanted to carry out attacks in Singapore using simple weapons like knives. These youths have been radicalised by a range of violent ideologies – including those of militant jihadists and far-right extremists.
6. There are several important lessons to learn from the trend of youth radicalisation in Singapore. First, events happening faraway, like the Israel-HAMAS conflict, can have both direct and indirect impact on our psyche and national security. Second, the online space continues to be the key medium where youths become vulnerable to negative influences, including radical ideas. And lastly, there is a need for us to continue nurturing social cohesion to prevent an “us-versus-them” mentality from setting in and threatening our harmony.
Youths As Catalysts in Securing the Nation
Catalysts in Shaping Discourse to Current Affairs
7. We must be mindful in our responses to current affairs, both local and overseas, especially those that are complex and emotionally charged like the current Israel-HAMAS conflict, which has expanded into a much wider conflict involving both Israel and Iran. Now, there is a real danger of it evolving into a full-scale war, which may drag the global powers into the conflict. Singapore’s position is clear – we empathise with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, condemn the disproportionate military responses from Israel, and urge all parties to work towards a two-state solution for a long-term peace. Our principled approach has allowed Singapore to work closely with regional countries to quickly deliver humanitarian aid to the victims in Gaza. Over the past year, Singapore has contributed more than $17 million worth of donations for Gaza.
8. However, we must be mindful to the dangers of misinformation with regard to the conflict, be more discerning and apply a critical mind in consuming information. We must contextualise issues, understand the geopolitical complexities and balance it with what is good for Singapore and Singaporeans. Remember, we should not import foreign politics into Singapore, that will destabilise our social harmony and undermine our social cohesion. This is why we should always engage in constructive discussions, by finding ways to harmonise the differing views with what matters to Singapore, so that we can continue living harmoniously in a multi-racial and multi-religious secular society.
9. Recently, I met a leader from a regional country. He requested to meet me because of my involvement in Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Home Affairs. He shared with me he had problems integrating his people, the minorities and the large majority. So, I shared with him what we have been doing in Singapore, and during the discussion, I could see his reactions – he was wondering, “How could you do this? How are you able to achieve this?” Then I said, we also have discussions like this, where not only youths, people from different races, different backgrounds, different religions, come together and talk. He said, where he is from, before the discussion starts, there will be chaos, because they are not used to such (things). He said, “What you have achieved is something that we, in my country, (regard as) a very, very great achievement and it's something that we just don't have the ingredients to do it now.” But it is in their aspiration they hope that they can do it.
10. The social cohesion, the multi-racial living, the peace and harmony that we have, is something that many countries, many leaders in the world, would like to aspire to have. And what was key in the discussion was that it is something that we should cherish, we should continue to develop. The next thing that I found, or rather during our discussion, he shared that he realised that these are things that will be hard to come by as we move along in the next few decades. Because today, as you see, the global society is more vulnerable in terms of peace and harmony, and as such, they find that it is a miracle for Singapore to achieve it. On the other hand, I shared with him, we didn't start yesterday, we started many decades ago. So, it's always a work in progress. And I told him, we will continue to work hard so that we can continue to develop peace and our future generations, like yourselves, as well as our children and grandchildren, will be able to enjoy this multi-racial, peaceful and harmonious living together.
Catalysts in the Online Space
11. I shared about the setting of what's happening and how youth should be discerning and remember that we should not import foreign politics into Singapore without understanding context. However, if you look at the online, social media space, it has its own trajectory of development. In contrast, the online space and social media have become the proverbial playground of youths today. But have you once considered how your activities in these online platforms can affect our country’s security and harmony? The content you consume and share, will subconsciously influence your real-world attitudes and behaviours, as it did for the 17-year-old radicalised youth I mentioned earlier. On this note, I would like to encourage all youths to be reflective and self-aware when you are online. Adopt a critical mindset, and (ask) questions such as, ‘how is the content making me feel’ and ‘what effects do the content have on how I think’ -these are very important questions that you may want to ask and it may help you to guard yourself against negative influences online.
12. Other than being mindful of what you consume online, what else can you do? Beyond being a content consumer, better yet, create content which seek to promote social cohesion and raise awareness on the dangers of misinformation and radical materials. And if you come across friends who are showing signs of radicalisation, do alert the authorities so that we can step in before they hurt themselves or others. Early reporting and early intervention will prevent our loved ones from sliding further down the radical pathway. Do not be a by-stander, take action to assist someone who needs help or advice – you can minimally refer them to or consult the RRG counsellors. During the discussion earlier in the breakout sessions and what was shared by Azhar, you have also given very good recommendations, suggestions on what more you can do with regards to your peers, and how you can help to navigate our journey towards the peaceful and harmonious living together.
Catalysts To Promote Social Cohesion
13. Beyond the online world, you can also do more within your immediate social environment to promote a culture of acceptance, one where we seek out commonalities while embracing our differences. Our acceptance of each other, despite our differences, has allowed us to respect our common spaces and to share a common identity as Singaporeans, which serves as the bedrock of the harmony and security we have come to enjoy.
14. There are many challenges ahead, given today’s world where societies are becoming increasingly partisan and divisive views are easily amplified by social media. But youths can be the gamechanger. So, we cannot just say that things are happening this way. It doesn't mean you cannot do anything. In fact, we must do things, carry out activities, carry out actions together, so that we continue to make the world a better place, a place where we can live peacefully, a place where you can seek pro-social elements that will bring people together so you can be the game changer. You can start by respectfully listening to contrarian views and responding to them in a measured and constructive manner. You can also identify common pro-social causes and projects, and work with other youths to pursue them. The government is committed to supporting your initiatives, especially if it contributes to our security and harmony.
15. Social cohesion will also ensure that extremist elements will not be able to break us down in the event a terrorist attack does occur. At the national level, initiatives such as the SGSecure movement have been key in raising public awareness about the dangers of the terrorism threat, while equipping the public with basic information and skills about responding to such an attack. While we continue to work to avoid any terrorist attacks from happening with early interventions, how we respond as a community in “the day after” a possible incident, is equally or even more important. For that, all of us must collectively work to build better understanding and mutual respect for one another and promote social cohesion now.
Conclusion
16. To conclude, I trust that the guest speakers this morning have given you useful knowledge and perspectives on the security threat and issues we are facing, and how we can all work together to address them.
17. Singapore is our country. We want to build this together. We want you to have a stake in developing this. But our context is unique. We are extraordinary because of what our predecessors have done but it doesn't mean we cannot continue this. We must continue to make this country extraordinary, different. So, this is something very special to Singapore, the way we live together, the way we develop and continue to navigate together. Regardless of what happened elsewhere, we understand the context in Singapore, and we want you, our young people, to continue this journey. I want to urge you to get your friends, your peers and the people you know to embark on this journey together. First, for them to have an understanding about the context, about how they should respond as youths in the Singapore setting, and how they can play a part in moving towards a better, much better Singapore, year after year, decades after decades, and many, many more generations to come.
18. I look forward to continuing our discussions on issues related to Singapore’s security and harmony and explore how we can translate our conversations today into practical actions that will benefit our society as a whole.
19. Thank you for being here. I look forward to the discussions later.
