Quora Answer: Why Has Singapore Not Repealed the ISA?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Why has Singapore not repealed the ISA, which was once adopted out of necessity to combat the communist insurgency in the Federation of Malaya, a state defunct since 1963?”

The Internal Security Act (Cap. 143) is a statute, first enacted in 1960, which grants the government the executive power to enforce preventive detention, as well as prevent acts of subversion and organised violence, which are deemed detrimental to the internal security of Singapore.

Whilst it was first used to suppress the Communist insurgency, the Emergency, its use has widened over the years.  It is a necessary act of legislation to address the challenges we face in the region.  Where once it was employed against Communists, and leftists, we use it against Wahhabi jihadism.  A large proportion of the people currently detained under the act are there because of Wahhabi extremism, supporting groups such as ISIS, and plotting to replace the secular state with an “Islamic” one.

Some would argue that if these people are guilty of these offences, they should be tried in a public trial.  I disagree.  These people do not understand how these extremists work.  A public trial would compromise our intelligence services since we would have to reveal some of our sources, and resources, to the public.  A public trial would also give undue publicity to these terrorist supporters, and that does not benefit us.  We must also note that preventive detention is detention without a trial because that detention is made on the basis of privileged information that does not necessarily fulfill the conditions of the Evidence Act (Cap. 97.).  We do not want to reveal our network of informants, and the means of surveillance.

Some argue that this is contrary to human rights.  Again, this is a facetious argument.  These people are not being tortured, or coerced into confessions.  They are detained, “at the President’s pleasure”, for a period of two years, after the President’s advisory board has been satisfied with the argument, in consultation with the Chief Justice, with this period being reviewed every two years, and may be renewed as many times as necessary.  The safety and stability of Singapore is our human right.