Singapore President Halimah Yacob on Sunday expressed concern over the young people in the affluent city-state taking the path of radicalization and stressed the need to counter false narratives and explain to the public why "ISIS does not represent Islam.” Halimah, a nominated President of Singapore from the Malay Muslim minority community, said that youths are curious and impressionable, and are easily seized by their perceptions of injustices or unfairness in other parts of the world.
Singapore needs continuous efforts to counter false narratives and to “explain why Isis does not represent Islam or Muslims,” she said while addressing a gathering here. Her comments came after Singapore's law enforcement officials announced earlier this month that two teenagers were booked under the Internal Security Act after being inspired by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) online propaganda. The two teenagers included a 15-year-old student, who thought of carrying out knife attacks and beheading non-Muslims, and becoming a suicide bomber, according to The Straits Times newspaper.
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"Youth, who are concerned about critical world events, should be given a safe platform to discuss, ask questions and find out more from experienced and knowledgeable experts in the field," the 68-year-old leader was quoted as saying by TODAY newspaper. That way, they can be provided with accurate facts and information to “counter the false and misleading social media narratives that confuse, obfuscate and mislead them,” she said. The recent cases of radicalization have raised concerns in the Muslim community who fear this would negatively affect their relationship with non-Muslims and their employment prospects, the President said.
“I personally have great confidence that Singaporeans know that Muslims here are thinking, rational, peace-loving people who contribute strongly to our economy and society,” she added. Malay accounts for 15 percent of Singapore’s more than 5 million predominantly Chinese population and the rest being Indians and others including Eurasians.
