Self-radicalised S'porean, 17, arrested weeks before planned attack in Tampines

A 17-year-old Singaporean supporter of terror group ISIS was arrested just weeks before he could carry out his plan to kill non-Muslims in Tampines.

- Samuel Devaraj

And this was a very close shave, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Oct 18.

The youth, who was from a mainstream school, had planned to carry out his attack during the September school holidays and practised stabbing motions with a pair of scissors.

He was arrested in August under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

He had traced his steps from his home to an open area in Tampines Street 81, near supermarkets, provision shops and coffee shops, a children's art school and a tuition centre, where he had planned to stab non-Muslim men.

The teenager chose this HDB heartland area near Tampines West Community Club as it was crowded and near his home.

In a press statement on Oct 18, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said he was issued a two-year order of detention in September.

The teen had also planned to travel to Syria to fight, said ISD. He had got in touch with an online foreign contact for travel advice and researched flight routes.

The youth saw his plan to fight in Syria as meaningful, as he would be able to fight and die with fellow ISIS fighters to establish an Islamic state in Syria, ISD added.

He knew it would be difficult to travel to Syria without arousing the suspicions of his family, ISD said.

So, he decided to strike here, a plan that he felt would be easier to carry out and fulfil his aspirations to be a martyr.

Speaking to the media at the site of the planned attack, Mr Shanmugam said thousands of people walk through the area daily, and it would have been more crowded during the school holidays.

The minister said: "He knew that he would be intercepted by the agencies, the police. He had made up his mind to die in the course of the attack. He wanted to become a martyr.