16-year-old boy detained for terrorist-related activities
- sn pubs
- Mar 31, 2021
- 2 min read
March 15. The date of the Christchurch terror attacks, one of New Zealand’s darkest days.
A 16-year-old Singaporean boy had planned to attack two mosques and kill worshippers this year, on that very date. It is fortunate that the authorities stepped in in time. The boy has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related activities and is the youngest detainee to date.
The Secondary 4 Normal (Academic) student had made detailed plans and preparations to conduct terrorist attacks using a machete against Muslims. Influenced by the Christchurch attacker Brenton Tyrant, the boy planned to drive between his attack sites and live-stream the attack, among other things.
“He was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence,” said an Internal Security Department (ISD) spokesman. The main reason for this was that he spent a substantial amount of time online, increasing his exposure to extremist materials.
It is shocking that this boy, who is only two years older than me, had come up with such outrageous plans and intended to follow through with them. I feel that it is unjustified for him to develop such a deep hatred towards Islam. Even so, violence should never be the answer. In a multi-racial society like Singapore, it is important for us to embrace others regardless of race or religion.
What makes this case alarming is that misuse of technology had led the boy to generate his plans. In this day and age, many of us use online platforms to search for information. Suppose we click on a wrong link and it leads us down the dark rabbit hole… thinking about it terrifies me. This is proof that technology is a double-edged sword and we must be vigilant when spending time online.
Sources:
Tan Ting Xuan
2 Unity
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