DPM's interview - ref to CEP - 'Still our No 1 security concern'
10 September 2011
TODAY
'Still our No 1 security concern'
Terrorism, JI and self-radicalised lone wolves are real threat today, says DPM Teo
by Teo Xuanwei
SINGAPORE - Almost 10 years ago, the authorities succeeded in disrupting the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network in Singapore. Yet the terrorism threat, as well as the notorious group and its mutations in Indonesia, remain our "No 1 security concern", said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
There is also the emergence of what is, to him, "the most troubling phenomenon" of self-radicalisation - where terror-inspired individuals and cells launch "lone-wolf" strikes on home soil.
Responding to written and face-to-face interviews with Today about changes to the terrorism landscape in the decade since 9/11, Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Home Affairs Minister, said: "The reality is that the (terrorism) threat will remain with us for so long as extremist and terrorist ideologies are able to find subscribers, whether locals or foreigners, who are willing to resort to violence, and are prepared to die in the pursuit of their extremist agenda."
Soon after the September 2001 attacks on the United States, Singapore made its first arrests of JI members on Dec 9.
The chilling message was that what happened in the US could have happened here - the JI had recruited Singaporeans "willing to die in acts of terrorism to injure or kill fellow Singaporeans in pursuit of their extremist ideology", noted Mr Teo.
Today, despite the clampdown by the authorities, clandestine groups like JI remain a real and resilient threat. "Their modus operandi is constantly changing," he said.
There is evidence of "re-generation", with young elite members - some of them children of core JI leaders - being indoctrinated in Pakistan by the same extremist ideologies subscribed to by their fathers. For instance, Abdul Rohim, son of jailed Indonesian JI spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, is known to have extensive liks with leading terrorist figures.
In addition, regional terrorists are attempting to restore links with disrupted sources of funding, while developing more secret training bases in parts of South-east Asia, Mr Teo added.
Citing the foiled plan to attack Orchard MRT Station last year, and warnings of attempted strikes on the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta in July, Mr Teo said: "Singapore is obviously still a prized target for terrorist groups. Make no mistake - we are very much in the consciousness of various groups."
"Lone wolf" attacks, sanctioned by Al Qaeda, also pose "significant threats". The self-radicalised perpetrators are highly motivated by extremist ideologues and have bomb-making knowledge, including the means to transform widely-available everyday items into bombs, said Mr Teo.
Such knowledge is often gleaned from online sources. Indeed the Internet is "the forefront of the new battlespace", he added, citing the case of self-radicalised 20-year-old Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid, detained last year.
Given the evolving threat scenario, is Singapore's counter-terrorism approach, as spelt out in the 2003 White Paper on the JI arrests, still valid today? Its key ingredients are, said Mr Teo. He said the authorities are "more confident today than 10 years ago" of Singapore's social resilience in the face of a terrorist attack and its ability to recover quickly.
The Community Engagement Programme, for one, is "one of the most important programmes we have built". He said: "Should a terrorist attack actually take place despite our best preventive efforts, whether we can recover quickly depends on how cohesive and united our community is."
Mr Teo also paid tribute to Muslim community leaders for the vital role they played in maintaining vigilance against the spread of extremist ideologies within their community, through the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).
Among other things, the group has helped to rehabilitate JI detainees and their families through religious counselling. While some hardcore detainees like Ibrahim Maidin and Mas Selamat Kastari continue to hold fast to their violent extremist beliefs, so far the RRG's outreach efforts have been effective, said Mr Teo.
The recent attacks in Norway show that extremism is not confined to jihadist ideology. "Extremism and intolerance breeds bigotry which can spawn distorted religious, racial or political ideologies," he warned. "We cannot assume that Singapore and Singaporeans are somehow immune to the threat of extremism by some individuals or groups. It is better to remain alert and vigilant."
Indeed while Singapore has measures in place, no system is fool-proof, he said in acknowledgement to a question about the occasional security lapses that have made the headlines. Which is why working on communal harmony and staying vigilant as a people is important.
"We can thwart the terrorists' plans a hundred times, but we cannot rule out the possibility that a terrorist can slip through and an attack occur," he said. "No matter how many security personnel we have - you can have 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 pairs of eyes, it's still not as good as having four or five million pairs of eyes."
Asked to comment on the public being lulled into complacency by the authorities' strong counter-terrorism action, Mr Teo said: "It is a paradox, because the longer we have been able to remain safe and avoid or prevent an attack, the harder it is to convince people that the threat still exists, and that we may face such an attack."
Efforts are ongoing to drive home the message of constant vigilance. But at the same time, this should not lead to "a total lockdown all the time", because it would mean the terrorist's success in disrupting our daily activities without carrying out an attack.
Mr Teo said: "So even as we tighten our security measures, and try to cover all the spaces and loopholes, we have to balance between that and being able to carry on as normally as possible with daily life. And that's a very difficult judgment call."
Enhancing our security
by Teo Xuanwei
With the manpower-stretched Home Team agencies having to take on a greater scope and more complex duties to tackle a spectrum of terror threats, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean said more resources have been pumped in.
New equipment that completes tasks more swiftly and effectively have been acquired, such as the Regulated Air Cargo Agent Regime and Threat-Oriented Passenger Screening Integrated System Programme used at our borders.
Frontline outfits such as the Public Transport Security Command and the Bomb and Explosive Investigation Division have beefed up planning and operational capabilities.
The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority was formed in 2003 to better integrate border security controls at the air, land, and sea checkpoints. The National Security Coordination Secretariat was set up in 2003 to oversee anti-terrorism strategies.
And exercises testing agencies' operational readiness were conducted during major events such as the F1 Grand Prix and the Youth Olympic Games, to identify gaps and maintain troops' preparedness.
Still, Mr Teo stressed that the fight against terrorism involves all stakeholders. "I would like to ask members of the public to help the security agencies through their own vigilance by reporting things, and at the same time, be mindful not to overload the security agencies." TEO XUANWEI
