PM Lee: Don't let anti-Muslim sentiment take root

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Reporter

Jun 21, 2017 06:00 am

The arrests of an infant care assistant and two auxiliary police officers for terrorism-related offences will cause some anxiety in the community, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

But people should be reassured that we are in this together and are dealing with it, he told reporters at the Tanglin Police Division after breaking fast with 200 officers from the Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Central Narcotics Bureau and auxiliary units.

Stressing that these were isolated incidents, PM Lee said it was vital not to let anti-Muslim sentiment take root here.

Citing the incident at Finsbury Park in London on Monday where a Caucasian man drove a van into a Muslim crowd, he said: "Islamophobia is as bad and as unacceptable as extremist radical terrorism. We have to make sure that none of that happens... because somebody is circulating materials which stoke fear and apprehension.

"I think we work on the basis of when rather than whether (an attack happens), but we make sure that we are as well prepared as we possibly can be for when it happens in Singapore."

PM Lee will meet leaders from the various communities next month to discuss terrorism-related issues. - LINETTE HENG