Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the 12th Manama Dialogue 2016 in Bahrain on 10 December 2016

Chairman,
My esteemed friends,
Counterpart Dr von der Leyen,

First let me thank IISS for this honour to speak, the Bahrainis, and the Bahrain Government for the wonderful hospitality. I shall confine my remarks to the threat of extremism in my part of the world, the Southeast Asia region. And let me just start by saying that the threat of terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia is a clear and present danger and therefore a top priority that occupies the efforts of our security agencies.

As the countries in my region have learnt through bitter personal encounters, if terrorism is not addressed at its source, no country is safe. We saw this happen with Al-Qaeda-inspired attacks after their 9/11 attack on the twin towers in New York. Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesia-based terror cell linked to Al-Qaeda, bombed Bali if you remember in 2002 and took hundreds of innocent lives. Bombings in Madrid and London followed. Ordinary citizens, including Muslims, died as a result.

Our joint efforts weakened Al-Qaeda and attacks dissipated thereafter. But violent extremism is rearing its venomous head again, and this time spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Attacks linked to and in some cases orchestrated by operatives in Iraq and Syria have occurred in Jakarta; Solo; Puchong, Malaysia; Melbourne; and Sydney. Singapore is also a target. An ISIS-linked terrorist cell based in Batam - Batam is an Indonesian island near Singapore - had planned to fire rockets at an iconic hotel in Singapore. Some of you who have been to Singapore will know the Marina Bay area, there are some iconic structures there, and it was a target for these Indonesian terrorist cells. Fortunately, Indonesian police detained and disrupted that cell. 

To protect ourselves as well as others in the free world, we need to stop extremists from exporting terrorism. That is our present challenge. This is why Singapore has joined the international coalition to counter ISIS in Iraq and Syria, as we did against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. We are contributing intelligence analysts, a KC-135 tanker aircraft that does refueling operations, a medical team in Iraq next year, and stabilisation in constructions. 

The international coalition against ISIS is winning. Since operations began in Aug 2014, ISIS has lost more than half of its territory it once occupied in Iraq, and a quarter in Syria. Very soon, key cities like Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria will be liberated from ISIS control.

But paradoxically, the defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria will likely worsen the threat in Southeast Asia, my region. We expect the returning fighters from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and a few from Singapore, who are now in Iraq and Syria, will likely return to continue their violent plots at home. 

Regional terrorist groups in Southeast Asia, such as Jemaah Islamiyah that I mentioned earlier in Indonesia and Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, have already declared loyalty to ISIS. ISIS produce videos and propaganda, which are now made in Malay - it's a local language in the region - have also spread quickly and widely in Southeast Asia, attracting several sympathisers. Even in Singapore, we have some self-radicalised individuals who were inspired by ISIS. 

Parts of southern Philippines and Indonesia are also safe havens where terrorist groups have now set up camps. If left unchecked, returning fighters will increase the capabilities of those training camps for terrorism. Over a thousand Southeast Asian fighters are currently in Iraq and Syria, many of them from Indonesia and Malaysia who are organised into a dedicated Southeast Asian combat unit called the Katibah Nusantara, with the intent to create an ISIS-like caliphate in Southeast Asia. 

We therefore need to work even closer together, to deal with the globalised threat of terrorism. The Sulu Sea Trilateral Patrols, set up by Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines - the Sulu Seas are in the region which are between these three countries - is one example of regional efforts to help deal with piracy and terrorism in the Sulu Seas, which traditionally have been used by terrorists for illegal movement of weapons and people. Singapore has offered the Singapore Armed Forces' Information Fusion Centre to provide maritime information for these patrols.

But there is more that we can do, within the region and internationally. When we work together, it strengthens capabilities and interoperability and demonstrates our shared commitment to counter terrorism in our region. This is what the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus is doing. In May this year, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand co-organised a Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism Exercise that involved all 18 ADMM-Plus countries. Over 3,500 personnel, 18 naval vessels, 25 aircraft, 40 Special Forces teams worked together to deal with various scenarios.

I have proposed that ASEAN and regional countries intensify efforts to combine resources, share intelligence, and build capacity and trust between our counter-terrorism agencies. This approach is also scalable, and grows more effective as more players contribute. 

We also need to work with counter-terrorism organisations in this part of the world and look forward to working with you.

Finally, I couldn't agree more with what Defence Minister von de Leyan said. The battle against extremist terrorism is, at its heart, an ideological one. We need to counter ISIS' spread of falsehoods and half-truths that have led astray many susceptible victims, many youngsters from around the world. Behind each statistic, are lives blighted and families torn apart. In Singapore, a 17-year-old student in July this year was radicalised by pro-ISIS materials online. Thankfully, his close associates tipped the police off, who detained him before he could do real damage to others and himself. Now, learned ulamahs are counselling him back to the right path of Islam. In Singapore, our de-radicalisation programmes are successful, and we must counteract ISIS' propaganda before more young lives are blighted.

Concluding Remarks

Let me conclude. Together, we can defeat violent extremism and terrorism and the hate it perpetuates. We must be vigilant and persist in our efforts to make our countries and regions a safer place for our people who pursue peace and religious tolerance.