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Internal Security Department (Singapore)

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For the Bruneian domestic intelligence agency of the same name, see Internal Security Department (Brunei).
Internal Security Department (ISD)
Agency overview
Formed23 August 1948; 76 years ago (1948-08-23)
(as the Singapore Special Branch)
Preceding agency
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
HeadquartersNew Phoenix Park, 30 Irrawaddy Road, Singapore
EmployeesClassified
Annual budgetClassified
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Classified, Director
Parent agencyMinistry of Home Affairs
Websitemha.gov.sg/isd
Agency IDT08GA0034L

The Internal Security Department (ISD) is the domestic intelligence, counter-espionage, counterterrorism, and primary security agency of Singapore under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It is tasked to confront national security threats ranging from subversion or sedition, foreign influence, spying or espionage, domestic or international terrorism, and political or racial/religious extremism.[1]

Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee stated that 'an efficient secret police' was necessary to counter dangers such as insurgencies and violent rebellions.[2] The ISD is empowered to conduct mass surveillance and covert security operations; it has the utmost right to indefinitely detain without trial individuals suspected to be a threat to national security.[3]

Although the agency falls under MHA, it is autonomous within the ministry. It is led by a director, who holds the rank equivalent to a permanent secretary, and reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The department is highly secretive; most of its personnel are only known to the country's top government officials.[1]

History

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The department was initially established as the Criminal Intelligence Department in 1918 after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1915. In 1933, the CID was renamed as Special Branch.[1]

In 1939, it was restructured into the Malayan Security Service (MSS) which was not yet fully operational by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War. The MSS was disrupted by the Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation of Singapore and Malaya. It was disbanded in 1948 and two secret branches, one in Singapore and the other in Malaysia, were created.[4]

The Singapore Special Branch (SSB) was first established on 23 August 1948 by the British colonial government, after the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) launched an armed uprising to establish a communist state.[5] It was structured under the Singapore Police Force and headed by a Deputy Commissioner.

After Singapore achieved independence, the SSB was renamed as the Internal Security Department and became a separate agency on 17 February 1966, together with its foreign counterpart, the Security and Intelligence Division (SID). Both agencies operated under the former Ministry of Interior and Defence until 11 August 1970, when the ministry was split into the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and MHA with SID and ISD falling under them respectively.[6]

Communist Threat

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During the Malayan Emergency between 1948 and 1960, the CPM attempted to overthrow the government to win independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a socialist economy. During the 12-year conflict, the CPM raided British colonial police and military installations. It also attempted to bankrupt the British occupation by raiding economic targets such as mines, plantations, and trains. The Singapore SB worked in cooperation with its British and Malayan counterparts to stop the Communist threat by destroying armed cells and rooting out CPM agents embedded within various civil organisations such as trade unions.

A covert security operation in 1963, known as Operation Coldstore led to the detention of 113 suspected subversives.[7]

1960 CIA Plot

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From 1960 to 1961, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to recruit Yoong Siew Wah, an inspector in SSB, as a mole to provide them with sensitive security intelligence. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew authorised a double agent operation with Wah playing along with the CIA. While meeting CIA officers in a safe house, SSB agents, which had been earlier deployed around the house, moved in to make arrests.[8]

Two polygraphers managed to escape in a car leading to a car chase which ended in their arrest and the seizure of a polygraph machine. A CIA officer working under the cover of an embassy First Secretary was declared persona-non-grata and expelled from Singapore. Lee was personally offered with US$3.3 million to him and his political party, People's Action Party, to cover up the matter but he rejected it and demanded US$33 million in economic aid instead. Dean Rusk, then U.S. Secretary of State, formally acknowledged the affair and apologised in a letter.[9]

In 1965, during a televised interview with foreign correspondents about the British bases in Singapore,[10] Lee revealed the CIA plot. After the broadcast, James D. Bell, U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, and the State Department denied the incident, leading a furious Lee to display the letter from Rusk to correspondents.[11] Lee also threatened to broadcast tape recordings proving the charge.[11] The denials were withdrawn with a closed congressional record suggesting that the State Department and the ambassador were both unaware of the case as new officials had failed to consult the files.[11]

Jemaah Islamiyah operations in Singapore

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In the late 1980s, Jemaah Islamiyah created a Singapore branch with Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Maidin as the leader of the Singapore branch.[12] Ibrahim recruited members through religious classes which he conducted at private residences.[12] The Singapore branch had an estimated 60 to 80 members in a 2002 estimate by the ISD.[12]

JI aimed to establish a dawlah islāmiyyah (Islamic state) in Southeast Asia and planned a series of attacks to occur in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks against the United States. Close to 80 targets were identified with plans to bomb a shuttle bus ferrying American military personnel and their families from Sembawang to Yishun MRT station. Other targets included key military installations like the MINDEF Headquarters at Bukit Gombak,[13] U.S. and Israeli Embassies, British and Australian High Commissions, the Singapore American School, and commercial buildings housing US firms.[14]

Primarily, JI scheduled major coordinated attacks against the American and Israeli embassies; the Australian and British high commissions, the Singapore American School, Sembawang Wharf and Changi Naval Base, as well as commercial buildings hosting American multinational companies. The plotters had made arrangements to procure 17 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, 6 tonnes of trinitrotoluene (TNT), 300 pieces of detonators, 2.4 km of detonator cord, and six trucks (to be filled with the explosives).[12]

In 2001, Ibrahim was arrested by ISD.[12] ISD was then informed that another Singaporean, Mohammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan, had links to Al-Qaeda. In December, the ISD arrested 15 people under the Internal Security Act for terrorism-related activities.[12] 13 of the arrested people were determined to be JI members and were served with Orders of Detention. The other two non-JI members were released on Restriction Orders.[12] Aslam would later be arrested by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.[12]

In 2002, a review of the cases 13 detainees was done by an independent advisory board.[12] The subsequent report by the board supported the ISD's detention of the JI members. In august, ISD arrested 21 Singaporeans which consisted of 19 JI members and 2 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members.[12] Out of the 21, 18 were detained while the remaining three were released on Restriction Orders.[12]

In 2023, during the ISD's 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his speech, pointed out one of ISD's first female Operations officers, "Tiger Lily", who was instrumental in breaking into the Singapore JI network.[15] She had managed to get close to the JI Muslimah, wives of JI members, and subsequently through them to persuade their husbands to reveal their JI involvement and cooperate with ISD investigations.[5]

Joint Counter Terrorism Centre

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In 2004, the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre (JCTC) was setup under the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to deal with security threats and terrorism. This meant that the SID and the ISD, which previously worked independent of each other, had to share information for the first time.

Legislation

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The powers of investigation and arrest of the ISD are regulated by several laws, including:[16]

Directors

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The following is a list of former directors of the Internal Security Department. The identity of the director is not conspicuously made known to the public, until they relinquish the post.

Name In office Notes References
George Bogaars 1961–1966 [17][18]
Tay Seow Huah 1966–? [19]
Yoong Siew Wah ?–1974 [20][21]
Wang Hsu Chih 1974–? (acting) [21]
Lim Chye Heng 1975–1982 [22][23]
Eddie Teo 1982–1986 [24]
Tjong Yik Min 1986–1993 [25][26]
Chiang Chie Foo 1993–1997 [27][28]
Benny Lim Siang Hoe 1997–2004 [28][29]
Pang Kin Keong 2004–2010 [30][31][32]
Loh Ngai Seng 2010–2016 [30][33]
Tai Wei Shyong 2016–2020 [34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "A Cause Greater Than Our Self". Ministry of Home Affairs.
  2. ^ Loong, Lee Hsien (27 October 2023). "ISD's vital role in keeping Singapore safe". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  3. ^ Singapore, National Library Board. "Internal Security Act". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Keeping Singapore Safe: The Story of the Internal Security Department - RSIS". www.rsis.edu.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b katherine_chen (27 October 2023). "PMO | PM Lee Hsien Loong at the ISD 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  6. ^ "SPEECH BY MR LEE HSIEN LOONG,PRIME MINISTER, AT THE INTERNAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT 60TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER, 30 AUGUST 2008, 8.15 PM AT THE ISTANA". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Church publication condemns 1963 security swoop". The Straits Times. 29 May 1987. p. 17. Retrieved 16 November 2018 – via NewspaperSG.
  8. ^ Citizen, The Online (22 March 2020). ""Do you believe in God?", asks former ISD director". The Online Citizen. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  9. ^ "CIA's failed attempt to bribe Lee Kuan Yew among newly released documents". mothership.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Singapore: Blasting Off". Time. 10 September 1965. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Central Intelligence Agency (2 September 1965). "'Approved For Release 2005/01/05 : CIA-RDP75-00149R0007001000029-6 Congressional Record'" (PDF).
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Jemaah Islamiyah's bomb plot (2001/2002)". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Six Things You Should Know About ISD's Operation Against JI in Singapore". Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  14. ^ "IN FOCUS: The inside story of how ISD crippled a terrorist network targeting Singapore after 9/11". CNA. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  15. ^ "ISD celebrates 75th anniversary by honouring officers who risked life and limb for Singapore". The Straits Times. 25 October 2023.
  16. ^ "About ISD". Internal Security Department. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  17. ^ Lim, Sean (5 November 2021). "George Bogaars: The Forgotten But Formidable Civil Servant". RICE. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  18. ^ Ho, Grace (6 November 2021). "The spymaster of Singapore: New book tells George E. Bogaars' story". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Best Thesis Award - RSIS". www.rsis.edu.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Security chief upgraded to Director". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  21. ^ a b "Transfer for ISD chief Yoong". New Nation. 14 June 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  22. ^ "Head of ISDto give up job in October". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  23. ^ "Chye Heng named ISD acting director". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  24. ^ "Eddie Teo".
  25. ^ "SPH appoints new director". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  26. ^ "Former scholar is ISD head". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  27. ^ "ISD chief's new post". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  28. ^ a b "New director for Internal Security Dept". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  29. ^ "Top civil servants move". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
  30. ^ a b "Head of Civil Service and Permanent Secretary Appointments". www.psd.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  31. ^ "APPOINTMENT OF HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE AND PERMANENT SECRETARIES" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  32. ^ New appointments for other permanent secretaries, The Straits Times, 13 August 2010
  33. ^ hermesauto (8 December 2015). "Internal Security chief takes on second role". The Straits Times.
  34. ^ "New High Court judge, Supreme Court judicial commissioner and deputy Attorney-General appointed". CNA. 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.

Further reading

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  • Lee Kuan Yew. (1998). The Singapore Story. Federal Publications. ISBN 0-13-020803-5
  • Mathew Jones, "Creating Malaysia: Singapore Security, the Borneo Territories and the Contours of British Policy, 1961–1963" in Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 28, No. 2, May 2000. pp. 85–109
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