SINGAPORE — It is not enough to routinely condemn terror acts — people have a duty to go beyond that and report family members or friends who are radicalised to the authorities, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said on Sunday (June 4). 

“We need to put responsibility on the families, friends, when they know a person is going astray, to come forward and tell the agencies,” he said following the London attacks at London Bridge and Borough Market.

“If you keep quiet, and an attack like this happens, and you know security forces cannot be everywhere, then you’re doing a serious injustice to the system ... It’s no longer business as usual.”

The incident in London came on the heels of recent attacks in England and the Philippines by Islamic State-linked groups.

In stressing the role families have, Mr Shanmugam said that in Singapore, relatives and friends often alert the authorities, leading to arrests, but there have been occasions when they did not.

Examples of these involving terror-related arrests will be shared in the coming weeks, he disclosed.

The minister said everyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, should condemn such violence and added that religious leaders are duty-bound to encourage their congregation to do so.

Religious extremism arises from an insidious “us versus them” mentality of some preachers, and besides dividing society, preaching in this vein promotes violence, he noted.

While Singapore has stopped this, further steps will have to be taken “along these lines”, he added.

“Community leaders, religious leaders have a particular duty to make sure that our people are tolerant ... and that we understand that we live in a multracial, multi-religious society. Anything else leads to society riven apart with deep rifts,” he warned.

While Singaporeans remain politically correct, anti-Muslim sentiments are growing, according to the authorities’ internal surveys.

A recent graffiti incident at the upcoming Marine Parade MRT Station, where the word “terrorist” was scrawled on the image of a hijab-clad woman on the hoarding, also pointed towards that, said Mr Shanmugam.

“We really need to guard against anti-Muslim sentiments gaining ground,” he said, adding that the Government will act “strongly and without any equivocation” on this.

He also reiterated the need for Singaporeans to commit to the SGSecure movement by, for example, volunteering to receive training. “Everyone out there, don’t leave it to someone else, don’t leave it to the Government.” 

In the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA’s) first national terrorism threat assessment report, released last week, the ministry said the threat to the Republic remains at its highest in recent years. While there is no “credible intelligence” of an imminent attack, the MHA encouraged Singaporeans to be vigilant and prepared, and stressed that local security agencies are on high alert.

Nothing has changed that assessment so far, although Mr Shanmugam reiterated on Sunday that Singaporeans must not be complacent.

Separately, Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng highlighted the importance of building social cohesion in the face of the terror threat.

Social cohesion must be built in times of relative peace to overcome tensions in the aftermath of a terror attack, he told TODAY on the sidelines of a community event.

“We learn security lessons, and we also must learn social cohesion lessons from events happening around the world,” he said.

At an event on Sunday night for Marsiling residents to break fast during Ramadan, Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament (Marsiling-Yew Tee) Halimah Yacob said Muslims must reach out to non-Muslims to help them understand Islam better.

“We need to continuously do this, not because we’re defensive or that we feel the need to apologise for the sick acts of those who commit carnage in the name of Islam, but because we want to present the true teachings of Islam and the perspectives of its peace-loving adherents,” she said.

“If we fail to do this, the space will be filled up by or dominated by the hate and anger of those who propagate wrong teachings and make false proclamations to hijack our religion. And the outcome of this will be to feed the rising Islamophobia all over the world.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NEO CHAI CHIN