SG CORE @ The Majulah Assembly 2026 - Closing Remarks by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Chairman, Humanity Matters,

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Permanent Member, Presidential Council for Minority Rights,

Mr Sin Kim Ho, Principal, Tampines Meridian Junior College,

Mr Matthias Chew, Director, SGSecure Office,

School Leaders,

Educators,

Faith and Community Leaders,

Parents and Youth Leaders,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me here.

Introduction

1. This is, I think, my 14th day on the job in Home Affairs, but I've always been working in the security space. My 20 years as a lawyer, I volunteered with SGSecure, YRSG, with the Aftercare Group as well, with AMP. So when the news broke about me taking the Home Affairs Ministry again, I got messages from Commissioners, from friends. They said, "Welcome back home. Welcome home too”. So I said to them, "This is very meaningful. The things that we do, the conversations that we're having, the thoughts that we are perpetuating within us, making sure that we're taking care of each other. That's the Singapore spirit.” So happy National Day, everyone.

2. So, as today's event draws to a close, I would like to thank Humanity Matters for organising this gathering, and commend the SG CORE programme for its continued efforts in promoting social cohesion and resilience. Events like this are a reminder that building a resilient and cohesive Singapore is a shared endeavour — one that takes educators, community and faith leaders, parents and young people pulling in the same direction, in the right direction.

3. As we reflect on National Day we marked just days ago, we are reminded that Singapore's place, peace, stability and social cohesion do not come about by chance. They are the results of deliberate choices, strong institutions, and generations of Singaporeans who have chosen, time and again, to place our common future above our differences. Yet these achievements cannot be inherited indefinitely. Every generation must renew them in the face of new challenges. The environment now is conducive for the divisive.

A Pressing and Evolving Threat

4. Youth radicalisation is one of the most pressing security concerns we face today. The number of youth ISA cases in the past five years has almost quadrupled — 15 cases from 2022 to the present, compared to just four cases between 2017 and 2021. These youths are also getting younger. In the past two years alone, four 14-year-olds have been issued with ISA orders, including one who was detained — the youngest cases we have seen so far. It always breaks my heart when I have to read these before we issue the order.

5. Now, the threat posed by youths is no less severe than that posed by adults. More than half of the 23 youth ISA cases since 2015 had wanted to conduct attacks locally, using simple and easily available weapons. Such attacks can be operationalised with little lead-time and are challenging for the authorities to detect.

The Role of Online Platforms

6.     Online platforms have featured prominently in self-radicalisation cases, facilitating and hastening the radicalisation process. Over the past decade, the average speed of self-radicalisation for ISA cases has halved — from around 24 months before 2015, to around 12 months since 2020. For youths, the speed is even faster, at an average of less than eight months, with several being radicalised within weeks.

7. Online communities and social media algorithms expose individuals to violent extremist content, creating ideological echo chambers. Online gaming platforms in particular have featured in several youth cases, providing virtual environments where youths simulate terrorist attacks or recreate and glorify past atrocities. For instance, a 14-year-old issued with a Restriction Order in November 2025 had recreated ISIS attacks and executions on Roblox and Gorebox, role-playing as an ISIS fighter. Repeated exposure to such content can normalise attitudes towards violence and prime youths for radicalisation.

Composite Violent Extremism

8. We are also seeing more complex forms of extremism. One recent trend among youths is Composite Violent Extremism, or CoVE. CoVE — sometimes referred to as "salad-bar" extremism — refers to the subscription to multiple, sometimes even conflicting, extremist ideologies, rather than adherence to a coherent worldview.

9. There have been three ISA cases involving CoVE thus far, all of them youths. One was a 14-year-old detained under the ISA in June 2026, who had made preparations to conduct a mass-casualty stabbing attack at his own school. He was an ISIS supporter who also subscribed to far-right extremist ideologies and idolised mass shooters.

10. The lack of a clear and coherent ideology does not diminish the severity of the CoVE threat. An individual can move rapidly between different extremist narratives, hold contradictory beliefs simultaneously, and yet still progress towards violence. In fact, subscribing to multiple ideologies may mean more potential triggers for violence. All three local CoVE youths had aspirations to engage in violence — one had even made concrete preparations for a local attack.

11. Being digital natives, youths are particularly susceptible. They spend significant time on online platforms, often unsupervised, and their still-developing cognitive skills may make them more inclined to draw selectively from various extremist ideologies without recognising the contradictions. Singapore is not immune to the CoVE threat which has been observed overseas, and we must take it seriously.

A Whole-of-Society Response

12. Addressing this threat requires a whole-of-society effort. The authorities have blocked access to terrorist websites to minimise exposure to extremist content. But it is impossible to block all harmful material online. Public and parental vigilance are critical.

13. ISD works with government agencies and community partners to expand digital outreach and conduct engagement with various segments of the public — including youths, school leaders, teachers, counsellors and parents. ISD has also refined its rehabilitation approach for youths, providing holistic support that addresses not just religious and ideological needs, but also psychological, social and emotional ones.

14. But government cannot do this alone. This is where each of you plays an irreplaceable role. You are not expected to be security specialists. But you are often the adults who know our young people best. What matters is that you notice, you ask, and you listen — and make sure our young people know who they can turn to when they are uncertain or struggling.

Conclusion

15. As we celebrate Singapore's 61st year, perhaps the question before us is not simply how we can protect our young people from harmful influences. Our objective is not to raise a generation that is sheltered from difficult ideas — that is neither realistic nor desirable. Our objective is to raise a generation that can engage difficult ideas with confidence and respect, without losing sight of the values that bind us together as Singaporeans.

16. What this means is to develop in our youth the ability to navigate complexity, the confidence to question, and the empathy to understand those who may be different from them. It also means creating environments where young people feel that they belong, that they are heard, and that there are trusted adults they can turn to when they are uncertain or when they are struggling. Because belonging matters. Our strongest defence against radicalisation is not fear, but belonging. When our youth know they belong to a community that sees them, hears them, and stand with them, extremist voices have less room to take hold. People who feel connected to their families, their schools, their communities and their country are less easily persuaded by those who seek to divide them. I am reminded by what our first foreign minister, S. Rajaratnam, said during the formation of ASEAN. We hang together, or otherwise we hang separately. We only have to take care of each other. We only have one another, and our youth are great part of that. We need to have them belonging to our country.

17. Every generation, as we reflect on our National Day, every generation inherits a different Singapore. But every generation also inherits the responsibility to keep Singapore worth inheriting. In the end, safeguarding our future is not only about defending against threats. It is about strengthening the trust, cohesion and shared sense of purpose that have always been our greatest sources of resilience.

18. I look forward to seeing the conversations that we have had today go beyond this room — into our schools, into our homes, and in our communities as well. I thank you very much for your presence here, and thank you to all the organisers and the great sharing by our panelists.