Terrorism has reared its ugly head again in Singapore. A 16 year old was arrested in Singapore in Dec 2020 for plotting to attack Muslims at 2 local mosques.
Just when I thought today was going to be another normal day where my card gets rejected once again at the cashier for being broke and not able to afford Godiva chocolates (true story), the news of a local idiot plotting a terrorist attack slaps me in the face.
The teenager was reportedly inspired by far right extremism. He wanted to carry out the attacks on 15 March, on the anniversary of the mosque attacks in New Zealand.
That’s right, this time it’s a reverse plot twist. It’s somebody out to attack us Muslims and not the other way around. It’d be refreshing if terrorism was funny. It’s not, it’s a coward’s way out.
It is quite shocking to see how the younger minds of the newer generations can easily be influenced by propaganda. Thankfully, the worst did not come to pass. The vigilance of the authorities has prevailed.
Netizens are happy to know that Singapore’s security services are working hard to keep everyone safe.
Many others are quite baffled that a 16-year-old kid would have these kinds of radicalized thoughts. It’s seriously puzzling, especially considering that most of us would be brought up in an environment where we regularly interact with people of all races and religions.
Why would you go out of your way to reject reality and instead believe propaganda spread by extremist zealots?
And the rest are just not taking the situation seriously…or worse, trying to pin it all on videogames. Come on people!
Gamers or comic book fans don’t become terrorists or are prone to violence.
We don’t need disinformation spewed by people with agendas. Going by that logic, the fools at ISIS must be some gaming savants and hardcore fans of Marvel and DC!
Fake news proganda aside, it does bring up an intersting question? How does one deal with a botched terror plan? Especially when it concerns a minor.
It has to be said though, despite his age, the clinical approached he took to his planning doesn’t mean he’s foolhardy. If anything, he might actually be more mature than his biological age. Does that mean he deserves to be treated as an adult?
So what exactly is the right approach to deal with such a troubled individual? Should he be counselled and reformed under a proper institution? Or be thrown in a jail with the harshest punishment available?
I honestly, can’t decide what I would do if I had the power to decide.
However, not everyone is as indecisive as I am.
And let’s get one thing straight, this wasn’t an attack on religion, it certainly wasn’t about Islam and Christianity.
No, this act was an attack on Singaporeans, as simple as that.
Terrorism thrives by dividing people apart by using religion and beliefs, but that’s the one thing that doesn’t work us and never will because we use our brains before anything else.
I am honestly glad to see that most others are also feeling the same way.
Most people…but not Internet Tough Guy Danny and his sole supporter, Praveen Pk.
Congratulations guys.
You probably just got put on some watchlist somewhere. Good job!
Still, religious leaders do have to play their part, which Singaporeans also agree on. Moderation and understanding one another is the best way forward.
All in all, it is great that the situation was averted.
Even better, nobody was hurt. I’m also heartened to see that nobody voiced any sort of support at all for the teenager’s actions. It’s one thing to be a keyboard warrior, but nobody should think that terrorism for any reason, by anybody is something positive.
However, it does cause some level of worrying.
How many more young individuals are out there in Singapore on the internet, learning the wrong things while their parents are out in the real world, working hard to provide them?
Hopefully, our boys and gals in the services are able to root them out and set them straight before they do something horrible.
That’s actually something Netizens have been musing on; whether we should allow our privacy concerns to be superseded by the need for national safety.
In the light of the event, most responses are positive.
Netizens don’t mind giving up some degree of privacy for government surveillance on terrorism as long it results in a positive outcome such as increased safety or identifying of dangerous elements like the boy.
Despite the tragedy being averted, it doesn’t mean everything’s fine though.
We should never take for granted the religious harmony and balance we’ve managed to maintain here. It takes hard work and understanding from all of us, but that’s definitely preferable to the alternative.