S’porean student self-radicalised online, wanted to attack Malays & Muslims in S’pore
In December last year, an 18-year-old Singaporean student was issued with an Order of Detention (OD) under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
In a press release on Monday (10 Feb), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Nick Lee Xing Qiu had been self-radicalised by far-right extremist material online.
Source: Wes Hicks on Unsplash. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Student self-radicalised by footage of Christchurch terror attacks
Lee came across Islamophobic and far-right extremist content on social media in early 2023 and started developing hostility towards Muslims.
He spent several hours a day searching for extremist online content and consuming such material recommended to him by online algorithms.
In June 2023, he repeatedly viewed livestreamed footage of a terror attack against Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019, becoming desensitised to the violence.
He ended up idolising Brenton Tarrant, the man who killed 51 people at two mosques.
Source: Facebook
He would role-play as Tarrant in a violent online simulation game, pretending to kill Muslims at one of the Christchurch mosques that were attacked.
He identified himself as an ‘East Asian supremacist’
By early 2024, Lee had a strong hatred for Malays and Muslims, believing that killing them was justified.
He also developed enmity for other ethnicities such as Jews, Mexicans, African-Americans and Indians — traditionally targeted by far-right extremists.
As ethno-supremacist ideas online resonated with him, he identified himself as an “East Asian supremacist”, believing that Chinese, Korean and Japanese were superior.
He supported white supremacy
However, Lee also supported white supremacy and felt that Islam was a threat to white culture.
Thus, he got a tattoo of a symbol like the one used in Tarrant’s manifesto and rucksack during the Christchurch attacks.
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs
He also bought T-shirts online that he custom-printed with various logos used by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other far-right groups.
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs
He wanted to carry out attacks in S’pore
Worse still, Lee aspired to carry out attacks in Singapore, believing that violent action had to be taken to prevent the Chinese from being displaced by the Malay population.
To that end, he created online propaganda to create animosity between the races and instigate attacks against Malays and Muslims.
For example, in late 2024 he started a social media account to repost far-right extremist videos, uploading about 20 self-created videos with anti-Malay/Muslim rhetoric and glorifying far-right terrorists.
While he said he didn’t dare to conduct an attack alone, he added that he would participate in attacks with like-minded far-right individuals he met online.
This would take the form of an attack on Muslims at a Singapore mosque with homemade guns, knives and Molotov cocktails that would be livestreamed and dedicated to Tarrant.
He also contemplated throwing Molotov cocktails at his Malay-Muslim neighbours during a religious holiday, going so far as to research how to make a Molotov cocktail online.
Family of student unaware he was self-radicalised
Lee’s family, teachers and schoolmates were unaware that was self-radicalised, MHA said, adding:
There is no indication that he tried to influence them with his violent extremist views.
When he was arrested, he had no timeline to carry out any attacks.
His online contacts were investigated, and no imminent threat to Singapore surfaced, MHA added.
Third far-right extremist Singaporean dealt with under the ISA
Nevertheless, Singapore has not been immune to far-right extremism, which is a growing security concern globally.
Lee is the third Singaporean radicalised by far-right extremist ideologies to be dealt with under the ISA.
All three cases were youths. The first was a 16-year-old detained in December 2020, while the second was a 16-year-old issued with a Restriction Order (RO) in November 2023.
Sec 4 Student Who Identified As White Supremacist Issued Restriction Order Under ISA
“Youths may be more susceptible to such ideologies and may gravitate toward the sense of belonging and identity that far-right movements appear to provide,” MHA said, adding that its broader messages promoting ethno-religious chauvinism, racism and xenophobia can still appeal to non-whites.
The Government takes a “serious view” of support for terrorism or extremist ideologies in Singapore, it noted, adding:
ISD (Internal Security Department) will take firm action against any individual in Singapore 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.
ISD also reminded the public to remain vigilant to signs of radicalisation in those around them, so that the authorities can intervene early.
Other radicalised individuals flagged
Lee was not the only individual flagged by the authorities.
A 56-year-old Singaporean housewife, Hamizah binte Hamzah, was issued an RO in January after she was found to have been self-radicalised online.
Meanwhile, 34-year-old Malaysian cleaner Saharuddin bin Saari was arrested and repatriated after expressing support for ISIS and attempting to join conflicts overseas.
Also read: I Counsel Radicalised Individuals In S’pore, Here’s What They Don’t Tell You About Rehab
I Counsel Radicalised Individuals In S’pore, Here’s What They Don’t Tell You About Rehab
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Featured image adapted from Ministry of Home Affairs.
