Recent arrests in Singapore of young people who succumbed to extremist ideologies and planned attacks, including school stabbings, have sent a chill across the city state, with authorities noting that the speed of radicalisation has doubled.
Over three months this year, three teenagers have been detained, sparking public discussion on school security and whether more can be done to protect students or encourage critical thinking.
Last Monday, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said three youths, aged 14, 15 and 19, who were each detained between April and June, were radicalised by groups including Islamic State (Isis), Hamas and far-right extremist ideologies.
The 19-year-old, Tan Jun Jie, planned knife attacks against Singapore Armed Forces personnel at Sembawang Air Base and LGBTQ students at his school. The 14-year-old was arrested a month before his planned stabbing attack at his secondary school during the June school holidays.
On whether security measures at schools would be stepped up, Senior Minister K Shanmugam, who is also coordinating minister for national security, said last Monday: “You can’t turn every school into a garrison or a cantonment, then it won’t feel like a school.”
Education Minister Desmond Lee said on the same day that schools had multiple layers of vigilance, training and contingency planning in place, along with measures such as security staff, closed-circuit cameras, and selective bag checks when necessary.