The arrest of a 17-year-old self-radicalised male in Singapore has averted a possible “rampage” of killing in the Tampines neighbourbood, and those targeted “could be your daughter, your son, your child, your parents”, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam has said.
Referring to the mass murder of non-Muslims planned by the youth, who was self-radicalised after watching material published by the terrorist group Islamic State, the minister said that this planned attack, and its prevention, was a very “close shave” for Singapore — the youth was caught barely a month before he could kill people.
“I would say this is one of the ones where it was quite close, fairly close,” said Shanmugam, as quoted by CNA, addressing the media yesterday. He spoke to reporters “at an open area between Housing Board flats at Tampines Street 81, which the student had chosen as the location for his attack”, added CNA.
Shanmugam addressed the media after the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore gave details of the teenager’s arrest in a press release dated October 18, though the arrest was made a couple of months ago. The youth had planned his attack during the Singapore school holidays in September.
The press release said: “A 17-year-old male Singaporean was arrested in August 2024 under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for investigation, and subsequently issued with a two-year Order of Detention in September 2024. The Internal Security Department’s (ISD’s) investigation found that the student was a staunch supporter of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and had planned to conduct a terrorist attack in Singapore. He had also planned to travel to Syria to engage in armed violence.”
As to why he had chosen the Tampines West Community Centre area specifically, the ISD said that the youth, who was going to use either a kitchen knife or a pair of scissors to stab people, had picked that location as it was densely populated — giving him more targets — and it was close to where the youth lived.
Shanmugam said that the Tampines area eyed by the youth had “thousands of people”, including senior citizens and children, coming there every day. During the school holidays, the time when the youth had planned his attack, that area would be still more crowded.
The generally high level of safety across Singapore would mean that the Islamic terrorism-inspired attack would be completely unexpected at the Tampines location and the victims would be caught unawares — if the self-radicalised youth could carry out his vicious plans.
“They are not coming here expecting to be attacked. People go around in Singapore feeling safe. So, he could easily have gone on a rampage and killed a lot of people around here,” said Shanmugam.
The home minister added that since seniors and children were easy targets, the ISD decided to detain the teenager as a preventive action. The agency also released images of two seized items — a kitchen knife and a pair of scissors — that the teenager had planned to use as murder weapons.
“Anyone who knows or suspects that a person has been radicalised should promptly contact the ISD hotline 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD),” urged the agency in its press release.
Just imagine if [the self-radicalised youth] had gone on a rampage here [at the Tampines location]. It’s a normal, typical heartlands neighbourhood. What could have been the consequences? It could have been any of you. It could have been any of them. It could be your daughter, your son, your child, your parents.
Singapore Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam
A related CNA report said that since 2020, the ISD “has detained five self-radicalised youths who wanted to carry out attacks in Singapore using such easily accessible weapons”. The agency said such attacks could be planned and carried out quickly.
The ISD press release said that the youth, who first began reading and watching Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) material in August 2023, a year before his arrest, “took concrete steps to prepare himself for the attack” in the Tampines area of Singapore.
To ensure that he could kill or grievously wound his targets, he planned to stab them in the neck, and practised stabbing motions using different grips with the scissors. In June 2024, he conducted a walkthrough of the route he would take from his house for his attack. The youth was determined to be killed by the police or passers-by during his attack, as it would fulfil his aspiration to become a martyr.
Internal Security Department, Singapore Government
The ISD press release said that the youth took pride in being the person who would successfully carry out “the first terrorist attack in Singapore in recent decades”.
The young man also “crafted a declaration of armed jihad against non-Muslims, which he planned to release before his attack, in the hope of inspiring other Muslims to engage in armed violence”, said the ISD.
