Current Affairs
A preacher’s passage: A question of security lapses and oversights
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The recent entry of Bangladeshi preacher Amir Hamza, who managed to deliver a sermon in Singapore before slipping out unnoticed, raises critical questions about the robustness of Singapore’s security protocols.
How did a man with a known history of extremist ties and inflammatory rhetoric manage to enter and exit the country undetected?
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has indicated that Amir Hamza used a passport with a different name, which appears to have been validly issued. This alone, however, should prompt a deeper examination of the security mechanisms at our borders.
Timeline of Events
9 August 2024
Amir Hamza enters Singapore using a passport bearing a different name.
On the same day, he delivers a sermon at the Lantana Lodge dormitory in Tuas. The sermon reportedly propagates extremist and segregationist teachings, which are harmful to Singapore’s communal harmony.
10 August 2024
Amir Hamza leaves Singapore without raising any alarms or being detected by the authorities.
12 August 2024
A police report is filed — likely due to a Reddit post on the same day, bringing attention to Amir Hamza’s sermon.
Videos of the sermon surface on the Reddit post, highlighting concerns over how a radical preacher was able to enter Singapore and preach to a large group of migrant workers undetected.
21 August 2024
MHA issues a statement acknowledging the incident. It confirms that the Internal Security Department (ISD) was aware of Amir Hamza and his extremist background but that he had entered Singapore using a different name.
Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam addresses the issue, noting that the passport used by Amir Hamza was validly issued but with a different name, which allowed him to slip through immigration undetected.
The MHA indicates that investigations are ongoing and that strong action will be taken against Amir Hamza and others involved if they are found to have breached Singapore’s laws or posed a security threat.
Analysis and Concerns
The timing of these events raises several critical issues. The fact that Amir Hamza delivered his sermon on 9 August, yet the MHA was only alerted three days later after a police report was filed, is concerning. It suggests that without the police report, his presence and the dangerous content of his sermon might have gone unnoticed entirely.
This incident also brings to light potential vulnerabilities in Singapore’s immigration system.
The MHA somehow did not deny that Amir Hamza’s passport was legitimate, albeit with a different name, which raises a critical point: could our immigration system be compromised by something as simple as a legal name change in another country?
Singapore’s watchlist is only as effective as the data it contains. If a person can evade detection by altering their name, how reliable is our system in keeping potential threats at bay? Given that Singapore would not necessarily be informed of every deed poll executed abroad, this could be a significant loophole.
Furthermore, the Multi-Modal Biometrics System (MMBS), which has been implemented at ICA checkpoints since 2020, is supposed to enhance security by capturing travelers’ iris, facial, and fingerprint data. Yet, Amir Hamza managed to evade detection. Was there a failure to cross-reference his details with existing watchlists? The MMBS was designed as a critical line of defence, but in this instance, it appears to have been ineffective.
Another issue arises if Amir Hamza entered Singapore using a Bangladeshi passport. As per standard procedure, Bangladeshi nationals are required to apply for a visa unless they hold diplomatic, official, or service passports. Was a visa application processed in his case, and if so, how was it approved without raising any red flags, given his background? This potential oversight in the visa application process needs urgent addressing.
Finally, ISD’s apparent lack of awareness until after the sermon was delivered suggests either incomplete watchlist data or a failure in inter-agency communication. If Amir Hamza’s entry went unnoticed, it raises the question of how many others might have done the same.
As we await further details in the upcoming parliamentary session, where Members of Parliament are expected to pose tough questions about this incident, it is clear that this case highlights several significant gaps in Singapore’s security infrastructure. The authorities must provide comprehensive answers about how a known extremist was able to slip through the cracks so easily and what measures will be implemented to prevent such oversights from recurring.
The post A preacher’s passage: A question of security lapses and oversights appeared first on Gutzy Asia.
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Current Affairs
Reforming Singapore’s defamation laws: Preventing legal weapons against free speech
Opinion: The tragic suicide of Geno Ong, linked to the financial stress from a defamation lawsuit, raises a critical issue: Singapore’s defamation laws need reform. These laws must not be weaponized to silence individuals.
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by Alexandar Chia
This week, we hear the tragic story of the suicide of Geno Ong, with Ong citing the financial stress from the defamation lawsuit against her by Raymond Ng and Iris Koh.
Regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong, this Koh/Ng vs Ong affair raises a wider question at play – the issue of Singapore’s defamation laws and how it needs to be tightened.
Why is this needed? This is because defamation suits cannot be weaponised the way they have been in Singapore law. It cannot be used to threaten people into “shutting up”.
Article 14(2)(a) of the Constitution may permit laws to be passed to restrict free speech in the area of defamation, but it does not remove the fact that Article 14(1)(a) is still law, and it permits freedom of speech.
As such, although Article 14(2)(a) allows restrictions to be placed on freedom of speech with regard to the issue of defamation, it must not be to the extent where Article 14(1)(a)’s rights and liberties are not curtailed completely or heavily infringed on.
Sadly, that is the case with regard to precedence in defamation suits.
Let’s have a look at the defamation suit then-PM Goh Chok Tong filed against Dr Chee Soon Juan after GE 2001 for questions Dr Chee asked publicly about a $17 billion loan made to Suharto.
If we look at point 12 of the above link, in the “lawyer’s letter” sent to Dr Chee, Goh’s case of himself being defamed centred on lines Dr Chee used in his question, such as “you can run but you can’t hide”, and “did he not tell you about the $17 billion loan”?
In the West, such lines of questioning are easily understood at worse as hyperbolically figurative expressions with the gist of the meaning behind such questioning on why the loan to Suharto was made.
Unfortunately, Singapore’s defamation laws saw Dr Chee’s actions of imputing ill motives on Goh, when in the West, it is expected of incumbents to take the kind of questions Dr Chee asked, and such questions asked of incumbent office holders are not uncommon.
And the law permits pretty flimsy reasons such as “withdrawal of allegations” to be used as a deciding factor if a statement is defamatory or not – this is as per points 66-69 of the judgement.
This is not to imply or impute ill intent on Singapore courts. Rather, it shows how defamation laws in Singapore needs to be tightened, to ensure that a possible future scenario where it is weaponised as a “shut-up tool”, occurs.
These are how I suggest it is to be done –
- The law has to make mandatory, that for a case to go into a full lawsuit, there has to be a 3-round exchange of talking points and two attempts at legal mediation.
- Summary judgment should be banned from defamation suits, unless if one party fails to adduce evidence or a defence.
- A statement is to be proven false, hence, defamatory, if there is strictly material along with circumstantial evidence showing that the statement is false. Apologies and related should not be used as main determinants, given how many of these statements are made in the heat of the moment, from the natural feelings of threat and intimidation from a defamation suit.
- A question should only be considered defamatory if it has been repeated, after material facts of evidence are produced showing, beyond reasonable doubt, that the message behind the question, is “not so”, and if there is a directly mentioned subject in the question. For example, if an Opposition MP, Mr A, was found to be poisoned with a banned substance, and I ask openly on how Mr A got access to that substance, given that its banned, I can’t be found to have “defamed the government” with the question as 1) the government was not mentioned directly and 2) if the government has not produced material evidence that they indeed had no role in the poisoning affair, if they were directly mentioned.
- Damages should be tiered, with these tiers coded into the Defamation Act – the highest quantum of damages (i.e. those of a six-figured nature) is only to be reserved if the subject of defamation lost any form of office, revenue or position, or directly quantifiable public standing, or was subjected to criminal action, because of the act of defamation. If none of such occur, the maximum amount of damages a plaintiff in a defamation can claim is a 4-figure amount capped at $2000. This will prevent rich and powerful figures from using defamation suits and 6-figure damages to intimidate their questioners and detractors.
- All defendants of defamation suit should be allowed full access to legal aid schemes.
Again, this piece does not suggest bad-faith malpractice by the courts in Singapore. Rather, it is to suggest how to tighten up defamation laws to avoid it being used as the silencing hatchet.
Current Affairs
Man arrested for alleged housebreaking and theft of mobile phones in Yishun
A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly breaking into a Yishun Ring Road rental flat and stealing eight mobile phones worth S$3,400 from five tenants. The Singapore Police responded swiftly on 1 September, identifying and apprehending the suspect on the same day. The man has been charged with housebreaking, which carries a potential 10-year jail term.
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SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a rental flat along Yishun Ring Road and stealing eight mobile phones from five tenants.
The incident occurred in the early hours on Sunday (1 September), according to a statement from the Singapore Police Force.
The authorities reported that they received a call for assistance at around 5 a.m. on that day.
Officers from the Woodlands Police Division quickly responded and, through ground enquiries and police camera footage, were able to identify and apprehend the suspect on the same day.
The stolen mobile phones, with an estimated total value of approximately S$3,400, were recovered hidden under a nearby bin.
The suspect was charged in court on Monday with housebreaking with the intent to commit theft.
If convicted, he could face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
In light of this incident, the police have advised property owners to take precautions to prevent similar crimes.
They recommend securing all doors, windows, and other openings with good quality grilles and padlocks when leaving premises unattended, even for short periods.
The installation of burglar alarms, motion sensor lights, and CCTV cameras to cover access points is also advised. Additionally, residents are urged to avoid keeping large sums of cash and valuables in their homes.
The investigation is ongoing.
Last month, police disclosed that a recent uptick in housebreaking incidents in private residential estates across Singapore has been traced to foreign syndicates, primarily involving Chinese nationals.
Preliminary investigations indicate that these syndicates operate in small groups, targeting homes by scaling perimeter walls or fences.
The suspects are believed to be transient travelers who enter Singapore on Social Visit Passes, typically just a day or two before committing the crimes.
Before this recent surge in break-ins, housebreaking cases were on the decline, with 59 reported in the first half of this year compared to 70 during the same period last year.
However, between 1 June and 4 August 2024, there were 10 reported housebreaking incidents, predominantly in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road.
The SPF has intensified efforts to engage residents near high-risk areas by distributing crime prevention advisories, erecting alert signs, and training them to patrol their neighborhoods, leading to an increase in reports of suspicious activity.
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