PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 — Putrajaya is worried about the recent video threats to “blow up” the nation’s police chief and courthouses spread on social media in the style of global terror group Islamic State (IS), Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
While they may turn out to be hoaxes, it could also signal a greater danger towards the country, he added.
“We are not taking this lightly. This is worrying and at the government level, we look at this seriously.
“While for some, this may be a small issue, but for the government, this is possibly just a tip of the iceberg for many other things that might happen in the future,” Muhyiddin told a news conference here.
On Wednesday, a band of masked men threatened to kill Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, mere weeks after several individuals claiming to be IS members said they will set off firecrackers at Malaysian courthouses.
Three masked individuals speaking under the banner of Anak Malaysia Anti Demokrasi claimed in a one-minute and 27 second video clip posted on Facebook yesterday that they intend to assassinate Khalid by blowing up his car.
The spokesman for the group, speaking in a modulated voice, condemned high-ranking officials in Malaysia for “cheating democracy” and claimed that the existing system would not bring better officials to the country.
Khalid however said that he does not fear such threats and warned that the group end their fear mongering ways.
Today, Muhyiddin stressed that the influence of terrorism has reached Malaysian shores as evident through the participation of Malaysians in militant movements abroad.
“We cannot take it easy and dismiss it as purely a game as today, extremism is a global issue and Malaysia is not an exception to this.
“We have already seen those getting involved in this being our own people, and that is evident enough that terror influence is here in Malaysia,” he said, adding that this was why the public need to be educated on terrorism, and security issues cannot be viewed lightly.
However, Muhyiddin said it was “not practical” to teach it as a special subject in schools, given the already limited time for students.
“Because they have limited time and contact hours in school so any proposal to add more is not practical and it’s not easy for the ministry to enable that, but I think through many activities and the introduction of such subjects within the existing co-curriculum on security would be beneficial,” he said.
He was replying to a suggestion from a parent group to the government to introduce new terrorism-related syllabi in schools.
Muhyiddin said that the government would however be looking into spreading awareness in schools on the role of social media and how it impacts lives.
