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  • MUIS: Social Media Not Appropriate Platform To Receive Religious Guidance And Instruction

    MUIS: Social Media Not Appropriate Platform To Receive Religious Guidance And Instruction

    In a media statement, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) stressed that social media is “not the appropriate platform” to receive religious guidance and instruction, “not least in understanding complex political and armed conflicts in the Muslim world”.

    MUIS noted that in Khairul’s case, as well as that of Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari – who was detained last week for radicalism – what is “common and disturbing” is that both were self-radicalised through social media.

    “Exposure to the propaganda of extremist and radical groups online who exploit these conflicts to radicalise Muslims will misguide them to believe that participation in such conflicts is a religious duty,” said MUIS. In both cases, family and friends found out about their views and intentions but did not report them to authorities, it added.

    “The best way to help our loved ones away from this path is to offer help early by referring them to experts in this area, as soon as we detect there may be something wrong,” said MUIS.

    MUIS added that it is also working to develop the capabilities of local asatizah, or Islamic religious teachers, to be able to engage Singaporean Muslims on social media, noting that some younger asatizah have “started to make some good headway” in this area.

    “We hope to populate social media with socio-religious content which is appropriate to Singapore, and negate the dangerous content which had managed to mislead Khairul and Izzah,” it said.

    MUIS also urged the community to play its part, and report family members and friends who exhibit such tendencies as soon as they are detected, so “appropriate help and intervention can be given”.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Another AETOS Officer Placed On Restriction Order, He Supported And Abetted Colleague’s Intent To Take Up Armed Violence In Syria

    Another AETOS Officer Placed On Restriction Order, He Supported And Abetted Colleague’s Intent To Take Up Armed Violence In Syria

    Muhammad Khairul Mohamed’s colleague, Mohamad Rizal Wahid, was put under a restriction order last month for supporting Khairul’s intentions to fight in Syria.

    A person issued with a restriction order is not allowed to move, change jobs, or travel out of Singapore without the authorities’ approval.

    Rizal, 36, was also an AETOS auxiliary police officer at the Woodlands Checkpoint, and was deployed as an armed officer conducting security duties.

    He had been aware since 2015 that Khairul wanted to take part in armed violence in Syria after the latter repeatedly confided in him about his intentions, MHA said.

    However, he not only failed to notify the authorities or AETOS management, and even suggested to Khairul various ways to get to Syria, it said.

    Although Rizal did not share Khairul’s desire to participate in armed violence, as an auxiliary police officer, he should have been aware of the prevailing terrorism threat, the ministry said. His failure to dissuade Khairul and report him to his superior officer was a “serious lapse of judgement”, it added.

    “The Government takes a serious view of anyone who supports, promotes, undertakes or makes preparations to undertake armed violence, regardless of how they rationalise such violence ideologically, or where the violence takes place.

    “This is particularly so if the person involved is a public servant, and especially if he or she is a uniformed officer.”

    Anyone who supports or abets another person’s radicalisation or intention to undertake violence also poses a security threat to Singapore and Singaporeans, MHA said.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

     

  • Another ISA Detention: 24 Year Old AETOS Officer Planned To Undertake Armed Violence In Syria

    Another ISA Detention: 24 Year Old AETOS Officer Planned To Undertake Armed Violence In Syria

    An auxiliary police officer who was deployed to Woodlands Checkpoint has been detained for planning to travel to Syria to take part in armed violence, while his colleague has been put under a restriction order for supporting him.

    Muhammad Khairul Mohamed, 24, an auxiliary police officer at the traffic enforcement division at Woodlands Checkpoint, was arrested in May and detained under the Internal Security Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday (Jun 20).

    He was deployed by AETOS, the second-largest of three licensed auxiliary police organisations in Singapore, to the checkpoint as an outrider. His duties did not require him to be armed, MHA said.

    Khairul became radicalised as early as 2012 – prior to joining AETOS in May 2015 – when he went online to gather more information about the conflict in Syria after reading about it on mainstream media.

    “He developed the view that the conflict in Syria was a sectarian struggle between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, and being a Sunni Muslim, he wanted to fight against the Shi’ites in Syria by joining the Free Syrian Army,” the ministry said.

    The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a group founded by defectors of the Syrian Armed Forces, whose aim is to use armed violence to overthrow the Syrian government led by President Bashar Al-Assad, who is backed by the minority Shia Alawite sect.

    Khairul perceived the Syrian conflict to be a holy war in which he was prepared to die in battle as a martyr and receive “divine rewards”, MHA said.

    In 2014, he tried to reach out to a foreign militant on Facebook, as well as two other individuals whom he believed to be FSA supporters, to find out how he could make his way to Syria.

    At the time of his arrest, Khairul was still interested in joining FSA or any other militant groups operating in Syria and engage in armed violence there, the ministry said.

    “His readiness and proclivity to resort to violence in pursuit of a religious cause makes him a security threat to Singapore,” it said.

    The ministry also reiterated that friends or relatives of a person who may be radicalised or intends to undertake acts of violence should report him to the authorities.

    In the case of Khairul, several relatives and friends knew of his intentions but none of them came forward, MHA said.

     

    Source: www.channenewsasia.com

  • London Islamophobe Terrorist Was Born In Singapore

    London Islamophobe Terrorist Was Born In Singapore

    A 47-year-old man arrested for allegedly ploughing a van into a group of Muslims in London on Monday (June 19) was born in Singapore, according to British media reports.

    Citing public records, the Guardian and Daily Mirror reported that Darren Osborne was born in Singapore in 1969. They gave no further details on his Singapore connection, or when he moved back to Britain.

    Osborne is believed to have grown up in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he attended Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College.

    At the time of the attack, he was living in the Welsh city of Cardiff with his partner and four children aged between five and 16.

    Nine people were hospitalised after Monday’s attack. Witnesses said they saw Osborne shouting, “I want to kill all Muslims”, before slamming his van into a crowd near a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of London.

    One elderly man, who had collapsed moments before the van appeared, was pronounced dead at the scene, although police have not yet confirmed whether he died as a result of the attack.

    Locals held onto Osborne until he was detained by police and later arrested on charges of “the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder”.

    His neighbours in Cardiff described him as “aggressive” and “strange”, The Guardian reported. They said it was unclear if he had a job, with some saying that he was unemployed while others said he bought and sold cars.

    Neighbour Pauline Tibbs, 48, told the Mail Online that the incident had been a “terrible shock”.

    “The police have been back and forth here all day. It’s a terrible shock,” she said. “I’ve seen him walking in the street but never spoken to him. He seemed normal enough. He has lived here a couple of years and kept himself to himself.”

    Osborne’s next-door neighbor, Mr Khadijeh Sherizi, told The Telegraph: “I saw him on the news and I thought ‘Oh my God that is my neighbour.”

    “He has been so normal. He was in his kitchen yesterday afternoon singing with his kids.

    “He was the dad of the family. He has kids. He lives next door. He seemed polite and pleasant to me. I just can’t believDe it.”

    Osborne’s family members revealed a different side of him.

    Mrs Osborne, 72, told ITV News that her son was a “complex” person.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Parliament Is Not The Right Place Platform Lee Family Issue

    Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Parliament Is Not The Right Place Platform Lee Family Issue

    Parliament is not the right place to settle family disputes.

    It is an institution to make laws and debate national issues.

    Family disputes should be settled in courts.In parliament MPs have no details of the case and only hear PM telling his side of the case.

    Wrong platform.

     

    Source: Dr Tan Cheng Bock