Transcript of Doorstop Interview by Coordinating Minister for National Security & Minister for Home Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam, on Incident at Al-Istiqamah Mosque

Question: Minister, do you have any comments on the incident that took place at the Al-Istiqamah mosque yesterday?

Minister: Yesterday, Police and SCDF were alerted to a suspicious parcel that was delivered to this mosque – Al-Istiqamah.

The parcel contained a piece of meat. We are checking what meat it is, it is still being checked. But at first sight it appears to be pork.

You know, whatever meat – this is obviously inflammatory, to send it to a mosque, or to other places of worship, in this way.

But if it is pork, and it is sent to a mosque – you can see the implications – it’s much worse.

Investigations are going on.

I would say this though - whatever the motive, this is playing with fire. We are treating this matter very seriously. We will deal firmly with anyone found responsible.

This is not the first incident. There have been other similar cases recently, at other mosques. Police were already investigating these cases. And in that context, this has happened again.

This time, one person, a lady, who came in contact with the parcel in this mosque became unwell. She was taken to the hospital. The mosque was evacuated as a public safety precaution.

We mobilised SCDF’s hazmat specialists. They checked. They did not find any hazardous substances. Thankfully, the lady has been discharged from hospital.

Question: What are your views on such an incident happening at a place of worship?

Minister: Targeting a place of worship is completely unacceptable.

We have zero tolerance for these sorts of actions.

People really should be able to practise their religion in an atmosphere of trust and faith, and with mutual respect.

In some countries, these sorts of incidents are very common. They are deliberate. They create distrust within communities. They deepen divides.

The same can happen here, if we are not careful.

So how we react to these incidents is very important.

Question: What reactions to this incident have you seen?

Minister: We are very encouraged to see, first of all, the mosque leadership has called for calm. Prayers continued as usual for congregants this morning.

The atmosphere was peaceful. I understand leaders and members of other faiths have also spoken out to express their concerns over the incident, that shows the solidarity and that is the Singapore way.

Question: Will security measures be stepped up because of this incident?

Minister: Police are closely monitoring the situation. They have stepped up visits to the mosque, and they will continue to do so.

We will do whatever we can to ensure that our places of worship remain safe.

Let me remind you as well: I was asked a similar question in November last year. Some of you may recall. A Catholic priest was stabbed in St. Joseph’s Church. I said it is not possible for us to turn all places of worship into cantonments. They are open places – open for the public.

Police will act based on intelligence, and those places of worship also have their own security arrangements. Police have advised them on what kind of arrangements they ought to make.

I said a few years ago, in 2021 - the context was the detention of a 16-year-old under the ISA. He was planning to conduct attacks at two mosques. I said then, again, that our places of worship cannot be turned into fortresses. That and other such cases – ISD had good intelligence and dealt with the situation effectively.

We will do what is sensible to protect public safety.

Question: You mentioned that there were a couple of similar cases that Police are currently investigating. Would you be able to tell us more details on these?

Minister: I don’t think I can go into details. I can tell you that there have been some similar incidents. Different mosques were involved. Police are investigating. For operational reasons, that is all I can say.

Question: Minister, do you think this incident is isolated to mosques, or do you think it will be extended to other places of worship?

Minister: Look, I want to be careful about speculating, we don’t know who did it, We don’t know what the motives are, but so far, this series of incidents seem to be targeted only at mosques, pieces of meat being sent.

I am not able to say beyond that, so I would say, broader conclusions, we have to wait for the investigations to be done. Then, we might be in a better position to get a sense of what is happening and whether it is restricted to a particular religion or whether it is a broader issue. But whatever it is, it is not acceptable.

Question: Do you think this string of incidents is linked to the St Joseph’s Church attack that happened in November last year?

Minister: I don’t believe so, but you know, as I said, the incident happened yesterday, the other incidents happened very recently. I think we really ought not to speculate, I think we let the investigations carry on. Thank you.