SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Internal Security Department (ISD) has detained three teenagers under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after authorities uncovered separate plans to carry out attacks in the country. According to Channel News Asia (CNA), the cases involved three young people who were radicalised online by violent extremist ideologies and had taken steps toward turning their plans into reality. Two of the teenagers had allegedly targeted schools, while the third had considered attacks against Singapore Armed Forces personnel and LGBTQ students.
The youngest, a 14-year-old Secondary 2 student, was detained in May, about a month before he intended to launch a mass-casualty stabbing attack at his secondary school. The boy had prepared a 21-page manifesto describing his planned attack against schoolmates and teachers. ISD said he later admitted that he would have carried out the stabbings had he not been stopped. His case also marked the first detention under the ISA involving what authorities call Composite Violent Extremism, previously known as “salad bar” extremism, in which individuals adopt ideas from multiple extremist beliefs.
According to CNA, the teenager’s radicalisation began through online first-person shooter games on Roblox that recreated real-world school shootings. The ISD said, “Out of curiosity, the youth searched for more information online, and learnt that several mass shooters had been victims of bullying, and their acts of violence were a form of retaliation against those who had wronged them.” The agency added that “the youth identified with these mass shooters, as he claimed to have also been a victim of bullying.”
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A second teenager, a 15-year-old Secondary 4 student, was influenced by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda and planned an attack in Singapore in support of the group’s objectives. He reportedly sought to promote the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia through violent means.
The third case involved 19-year-old tertiary student Tan Jun Jie, who also supported ISIS. He planned knife attacks against Singapore Armed Forces troops at Sembawang Air Base and LGBTQ students at his school. He additionally attempted to carry out cyberattacks against websites belonging to Muslim organisations he considered religiously deviant.
Although the three cases were unrelated, ISD said they shared a troubling pattern. “Though their cases are not related, all three were self-radicalised online by violent extremist ideologies, and had made preparations to conduct local attacks,” the agency said.
The cases underscore the growing challenge posed by online radicalisation among young people and the speed with which extremist content can influence vulnerable individuals. The interventions also highlight the importance of early detection, community awareness, and rehabilitation in preventing online extremist beliefs from progressing into real-world violence.
