WATCHING VIDEOS “AGAIN AND AGAIN”
Hamzah said what he was doing felt at odds with his nature, and he repeatedly watched videos of violent killings to numb himself for the acts he believed he had to commit.
“I remember just watching videos again and again, and people burning alive … and in the warzone area, shooting people, I forced myself just to watch it so that I’m mentally prepared.
“I felt a bit disgusted because I’m not used to this kind of thing. But I just force myself.”
For Daniel, an earlier chance to change the path he was on was lost when he continued to support the Islamic State despite being investigated by the Internal Security Department (ISD) and given religious counselling.
In 2017, the then 15-year-old was investigated after defacing a picture of President Halimah Yacob and calling on the Islamic State to behead her. He remained a supporter of the militant group and was eventually detained in 2020.
“Even when I was investigated the first time, I believed it was a test of my faith and loyalty to ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria),” he said.
Ustaz Rijal told CNA that rehabilitation is an art, not a science where you can measure success. Every case is unique, and there is no fixed profile.
“The only common denominator that I can find is that they want to do something for the religion. They believe that this is what the religion asks them to do, and this is what they are obliged to do as a Muslim,” he explained.
His job – and that of the psychologists, mentors and case workers in the rehabilitation journey – is to bring these radicalised individuals back from the brink of violence and guide them away from extremism.
TWO DIFFERENT PATHS
The first time Mr Salim Mohamed Nasir met Hamzah in an ISD detention facility, he was struck by a sense of familiarity.
The 62-year-old educator said: “I felt like I could relate to him, like he could be my son … just that my son (took) this path and then he (took) the other path … So to me, the choosing of pathways is very, very important.”
Mr Salim has volunteered with the RRG since its inception in 2003, in the wake of the discovery and capture of a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist cell in Singapore.
The RRG and Inter-Agency Aftercare Group, both volunteer groups, partner ISD in the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals who have been detained or issued restriction orders.
When Hamzah became radicalised, he did not have someone to guide him in choosing the right path, said Mr Salim. Warm and affable by nature, he started mentoring Hamzah in 2015.
“These are individuals who have gone sideways because of situations where they think they are right, but actually they are not,” he said.
Hamzah described his family as being “quite strict” about religion when he was growing up. Each day after primary school, he attended three hours of religious lessons at a madrasah but these stopped when he started secondary school.
Speaking to CNA, his mother recalled that he was a joyful and caring boy who looked after his three younger siblings and was well liked by his schoolmates.
But once he became exposed to extremist and violent content, his radicalisation took root deeply.
His mother only realised what was happening when he told her about his plans to join the Islamic State in Syria. Shocked and disappointed, she tried to discourage him and told him to focus on studying and getting a job, but this fell on deaf ears.
Having grown up learning that Islam advocates peace and non-violence, Hamzah was initially sceptical of the Islamic State’s justification for violence and killings.
But lectures by radicalised preachers changed his mind, and he felt an emotional pull towards the militants. Hearing about other Muslims being killed or tortured also “played with my emotions”, Hamzah said.
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