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SINGAPORE \u2013 One was a school prefect, often praised by teachers for being hard-working. The other, a sociable church-going boy, had friends of various races and religions growing up. <\/p>\n
The families of both Farhan and Dylan (not their real names) had their worlds shattered when Internal Security Department (ISD) officers turned up at their doorsteps after the two young men made plans to carry out killings at places of worship here. <\/p>\n
With youth radicalisation in the city-state still a pressing concern, The Straits Times interviewed four formerly radicalised Singaporeans on how they fell into a spiral of online extremism that brought them to the brink of violence.<\/p>\n
Farhan was detained in March 2021, when he was 20 years old. Dylan was detained in December 2020 when he was 16, at the time the youngest individual to be dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related activities.<\/p>\n
There have since been three 14-year-old boys who were issued ISA orders for becoming radicalised online. The latest case, which ISD announced in January, was that of a Secondary 3 student who recreated ISIS executions on video games like Roblox, and aspired to travel overseas to fight for the terrorist group.<\/p>\n
ISD said youth are getting radicalised faster \u2013 for cases between 2020 and 2025, the average time for self-radicalisation was eight months, compared with 14 months for cases in the prior five years.<\/p>\n
Across written and face-to-face interviews, the former detainees described the almost innocuous process by which their world views hardened.<\/p>\n
Following the 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed by Islamist militants, Dylan said he developed a \u201cslightly negative view of Islam\u201d, which he kept to himself.<\/p>\n
In secondary school, he became more withdrawn and developed a fascination for gore and violence. The 2020 circuit breaker period of pandemic restrictions took away his coping mechanism of playing basketball with friends, and he became \u201cchronically online\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent most of my days online, using my phone and browsing the internet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Searching for violent videos online, he came across the live stream of the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that led to 51 deaths. He then found the attacker Brenton Tarrant\u2019s manifesto, and became inspired by the conspiracy theory of the \u201cGreat Replacement\u201d.<\/p>\n
Commonly referenced by far-right terrorists, the theory propagates the false narrative that foreigners, especially Muslims, were being brought into communities around the world to take over local populations.<\/p>\n
Dylan said consuming the extremist material became a daily routine, as it gave him \u201ca sense of self-actualisation, a sense of a purpose that you are more than yourself\u201d at the time, even if it eventually proved a false dawn.<\/p>\n
For Farhan, it was a 2014 video of Palestinian civilians being bombed by Israeli fighter jets that sparked his interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. <\/p>\n
He became convinced that Israel was oppressing Palestinians, and began supporting Hamas\u2019 military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB).<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt, at that time, they were the ones that were doing something about the occupation… it was a worthy cause to die for, and I had researched how to travel to Gaza,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In 2018, he discussed with a foreign contact his intention to join the AQB. He also fashioned a replica of an AK-47 assault rifle and practised weapon handling, and made plans to travel to Gaza to take up arms after completing his full-time national service.<\/p>\n
In July 2019, a CNA documentary on the Jewish community in Singapore enraged him, as he felt Jews were enjoying their lives in Singapore while Palestinians were \u201csuffering under Zionist occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt this was unjust and I needed to do something to help the Palestinians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fuelled by anger and a sense of existential threat, the two youth crossed the threshold from holding toxic thoughts to preparing to carry out attacks.<\/p>\n
Indoctrinated in the belief that Muslims would one day become the majority in Singapore and impose syariah law on the city-state, Dylan decided to plan an attack on worshippers at\u00a0Assyafaah Mosque in Sembawang and Yusof Ishak Mosque in Woodlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very certain that I would do it, and there would only be two outcomes: I would do the attack and end up getting killed by the police, or I would be caught by the police (before that). <\/p>\n
\u201cI was very determined, and I planned to commit (the attack) on the anniversary of the Christchurch attacks, in March 2021,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He bought a tactical vest online, which he intended to adorn with right-wing extremist symbols and attach his phone to in order to live stream the attack, as Tarrant had done. He also planned to buy a machete on online marketplace Carousell. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Farhan had decided he would carry out a knife attack at Maghain Aboth Synagogue in Waterloo Street, on a Saturday after Jewish congregational prayers.<\/p>\n
He made at least two reconnaissance trips to the synagogue in 2019, and found a spot along the exterior wall of the compound from which to ambush victims when they exited.<\/p>\n
His plan was to kill three Jewish males, under the assumption that they would have served NS in Israel and thereby carried out atrocities against Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI based this on videos I had watched online, that depicted male Israeli soldiers in their 20s and 30s attacking Palestinians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Both youngsters\u2019 activities, including their preparations at home, escaped their parents\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n
While Farhan intended to carry out his synagogue attack with a Smith and Wesson blade he bought in 2016 for scouting activities, he practised his techniques at home with a replica to avoid damaging the knife or hurting himself.<\/p>\n
With guidance from an online video, he made a replica knife from a PVC pipe and used it to practise stabbing motions, usually when he was alone in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Dylan\u2019s parents came across his tactical vest at home, but he convinced them that he had bought it for his photography activities.<\/p>\n
ISD officials got wind of both teens\u2019 activities and intervened before either could execute their plans. But the detentions left their families reeling at how they had missed the signs.<\/p>\n
Farhan\u2019s mother Latifa remembered that evening clearly. Her son had not returned home and was not answering her calls. The officers\u2019 arrival at her door simply confirmed that something had gone very wrong.<\/p>\n
His sister Sophia said her first reaction was anger and disbelief. \u201cI initially thought that he might have been framed,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was very difficult to accept that (his radicalisation) could be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both of them recalled Farhan raising the topic of Palestine on occasion, which they understood as sympathy for injustice and suffering and which they viewed as a natural reaction.<\/p>\n
Dylan\u2019s parents said their son\u2019s arrest triggered many questions in their minds about what could have led to his radicalisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were deeply shocked and in disbelief when we learnt about (his) plans, and it was very difficult to understand how this could have happened with our son,\u201d said his mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI struggled to reconcile this information with the son I knew… I cried a lot, trying to make sense of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faced with evidence from ISD, denial slowly turned into acceptance for both families. For the youth, rehabilitation was a long journey that took years.<\/p>\n
Dylan said the initial months in detention were difficult, and he struggled with loneliness, though he met frequently with his case officers, psychologists, religious counsellors, tutors and mentors.<\/p>\n
The turning point was a counselling session with Ustaz Ahmad Saiful Rijal Hassan and Reverend Joachim Lee Tai Loong, both religious experts and ISD\u2019s rehabilitation partners.<\/p>\n
At that meeting, Ustaz Rijal clarified the role of syariah law in Singapore \u2013 that it primarily governs Muslims\u2019 marriages, divorces and inheritance, and operates alongside the secular legal system. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt made me better understand that the threat of Muslims one day imposing syariah law on every Singaporean was erroneous,\u201d Dylan said, calling his previous view of syariah law \u201cfalse and extreme\u201d. <\/p>\n
Dylan sat his N- and O-level exams during his detention, and did well. He was released from detention in January 2024 and subsequently given a restriction order. He is now pursuing his studies in a tertiary institution.<\/p>\n
Former detainees whom ST spoke to said they also had access to authoritative books such as Refuting ISIS by influential Syrian Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Yaqoubi.<\/p>\n
The book meticulously details how ISIS\u2019 words and theological justifications \u2013 such as for bombing mosques of other sects of Muslims \u2013 showed the terrorist organisation to be similar to the Khawarij. This is an extremist, early Islamic sect known for its superficial religiosity, without having a deep understanding of Islam.<\/p>\n
Books also occupied Farhan, alongside his new routine of yard exercises, religious counselling and psychological therapies.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowly, I understood the reason for my detention and decided to fully cooperate with the officers in order to correct my thinking,\u201d he said. \u201cI also had time to reflect on my thoughts and actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be two years of detention before he was assessed to have made good progress on his rehabilitation. He was released on a restriction order in March 2023. <\/p>\n
ISD said that of the 19 radicalised youth dealt with under the ISA since 2015, five have had their restriction orders lapse. Apart from five who remain in detention, the rest are either gainfully employed or pursuing further studies, it added. <\/p>\n
Both Dylan and Farhan said the weekly family visits were what helped them emerge from the darkness. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were my anchor and spurred me to keep trying in my rehabilitation, even as things were hard,\u201d said Dylan.<\/p>\n
Even as the rehabilitation process had deepened the relationship with their sons, the former detainees\u2019 parents urged others to be more vigilant about their children\u2019s online activities, and to pay attention even when no help is asked for. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor parents who feel this could never happen in their own family, we would say that even having a strong family foundation does not mean it cannot happen,\u201d said Dylan\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe internet can be a double-edged sword, and can influence young people in ways families may not realise. It could happen to anyone, especially as many youths today spend a lot of time online.\u201d <\/p>\n
Latifa said: \u201cOur advice to other family members is to stay observant and involved, so that early intervention can happen if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n