Singapore increases security posture in wake of Israel-Iran conflict

Singapore, Jun 29 (PTI) Multinational Singapore, which maintains a strict check on extremist activities among its six million people, has increased its security posture in the wake of the Israel-Iran conflict, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Saturday.

“Arising from (the situation) there, you can expect that people in this region, or even others, from extremist organisations, might want to make a point against Israeli, American, or other Western assets, and there could also be attacks from the far right on Muslim assets," a Chinese-language daily, Lianhe Zaobao, quoted the minister as saying.

Singapore increased its security levels after the recent Israeli attacks on Iran and the counterattacks, with police and other agencies stepping up patrols and checks, Shanmugam said at a community function, adding that while there is a ceasefire between the two countries, "we don't know exactly what will happen after this".

"Singapore, as I have said many times, if we get attacked, you will get international headlines. So, on both sides -- the far right, attacking Muslims, or representatives of Muslim countries including Iran, is a possibility; and likewise, you could get attacks on Western assets -- American, European, Israeli," he said.

He added that Singapore is working off different scenarios because you can "never be absolutely sure".

Security is a joint responsibility, and the government has been trying to increase awareness through the SGSecure (Singapore security) programme, the minister added.

"We have been trying for years, it goes up and it comes down -- because it's safe, people leave their items around," Shanmugam said.

"I have asked the security agencies to try with what I call a 'cold start' and leave things in places, see how many people actually pick them up; pick them up meaning they notice them and notify the agencies. I think the results tell us that the awareness is not very high," he added.

Asked if "more suspicious activities or extreme activities" are being detected, Shanmugam said, "Not that we have picked up here yet. But they need to succeed only once." Since 2015, the Internal Security Department of the police has dealt with 17 youths aged 20 and below under the stringent Internal Security Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on April 2.

At least one case has been identified as an “East Asian Supremacist”, believing that Han Chinese, Korean and Japanese ethnicities were superior to Malays and Indians, according to the MHA statement.

The home affairs minister also spoke about Thailand's move to recriminalise cannabis.

On Tuesday, Thailand's health ministry issued an order prohibiting the sale of cannabis for recreational use, making it mandatory for any retail purchase to require a doctor's prescription.

Singapore is looking out for possible outflows (of drugs) to the country, Shanmugam said.

"The nexus between drugs and crime, and terrorism, also needs to be looked at. Many different issues. We try to maintain our openness and our connectivity, and our business-friendly environment.

"Our security agencies have looked at it and upped the posture. It is a bit early to say what is going to happen, but we have to be more careful," he added.

When Thailand decriminalised cannabis a few years ago, he said some people on "the more liberal side" asked when Singapore was going to change.

The Singapore government does not decide on such matters based on what other countries do, he added.

"We take a hard look, we look at the science, we look at the social impact, and the actual impact and we run the government of Singapore and the policies in the best interests of Singaporeans,” he stressed.

"I am absolutely convinced, the Cabinet is absolutely convinced that the right policy is to be strict on drugs, and you can see, the people who asked for liberalisation, are shutting their eyes deliberately to what is happening around the world and the immense harm," the minister said.

He noted an incident at a Moscow airport where a man, who was reportedly drug-traced, picked up an 18-month-old child and flung the child onto the ground. The child is in a critical condition.

For countries that have decriminalised cannabis, including Thailand previously, there are "young children who are high (on drugs)", he said.

"Why would we want it? And 85 per cent of our population supports the tough stand that we take -- keep it criminal, no decriminalisation, in fact they support the penalties too," he added.

The Singapore government cannot be "zig-zagging" on its laws, he added.

"Different countries have their own policies. We work in the best interests of Singaporeans, and it was the right policy to keep it criminalised, not soften our stance, and that remains the right policy," the Channel News Asia quoted Shanmugam as saying.

A 46-year-old Malaysian woman was arrested on the morning of June 23 for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs worth more than SGD 142,000 into Singapore.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a joint statement on June 25 that about 1,057g of cannabis and 973g of methamphetamine, more commonly known as Ice, were found in a Malaysian-registered motorcycle arriving at Woodlands Checkpoint, which is a causeway link with Peninsular Malaysia and the city state.

Singapore has a tough law on drug trafficking and a maximum penalty of mandatory death sentence. PTI GS ARI