Wong also said that Singaporeans who join extremist groups abroad will be considered as security threats in Singapore even if they take up arms in a foreign land.

He said extremist teachings that breed militants and terrorists must be stopped and religious groups which operate in a clandestine manner should be investigated.

"What is at stake is too serious for us to be lax about," Wong said in a speech at an exhibition organised by the Internal Security Department.

He said Singaporeans should understand that a successful terrorist attack on the multi-racial nation will go beyond the physical impact to permanently damage social harmony and spark internal strife and inter-ethnic conflict.

"We must never allow this to happen," he said.

Singapore is an ethnically diverse nation with a Chinese majority and large Muslim Malay and Indian communities.

Wong said he had been told some Singaporeans believe that supporting groups like the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao was "all right" as long as they behaved back in Singapore.

"A change of geography does not change the fact that such a person has or is prepared to kill others in pursuit of his religious agenda. We must not accommodate any flirting with terrorism," he said.

Singapore authorities have detained 37 alleged Islamic militants linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia-based extremist group blamed for the October 2002 bombings in the Indonesian island of Bali.

The militants were allegedly involved in plots to bomb various targets in Singapore, including the US and other foreign missions.

                                                      Home