In recent years, the threat of militancy has loomed large over our nation, with tragedies such as the Holey Artisan Bakery siege from last year being a grim reminder that extremism, if left unchecked, can have devastating repercussions over time.
While we should take solace in the fact that the sitting government has reiterated its commitment to keep militants at bay ever since, militancy always finds a way to take root in even the most vigilant of societies.
It is highly concerning to know that a militant named Samad, affiliated with the infamous JMB -- the outlawed group that was behind the Holey incident from last year -- managed to recruit at least 50 youths, from both home and abroad, into the terror organisation before his incarceration earlier this week.
When it comes to battling militancy, the government needs to be multiple steps ahead of the terrorists -- it is alarming when things are the other way around.
Too often, we hear excuses of our intelligence agencies being overwhelmed by all the work, or organisations passing the buck to one another when something goes awry -- such as when Golam Rabbani, a Bangladeshi militant deported from Malaysia -- mysteriously went missing mid-transfer from the airport.
Battling militancy does not just mean guns and sandbags -- it requires our intelligence services to be more adept, it requires careful planning.
Given how the Rohingya crisis has exacerbated fears of further militancy taking root in our soil, we need to be even stronger in our anti-terror fronts.
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