SAF-trained FT packed No.4 to Syria to fight against ISIS

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From migrant to new citizen and now ISA detainee: Wang Yuandongyi’s unusual journey


A member of a Kurdish militia group enters a building in the west of the city of Ras al-Ain, after capturing it from Islamist rebels in 2013. Photo: Reuters

PUBLISHED: 11:57 PM, MARCH 16, 2016
UPDATED: 12:13 AM, MARCH 17, 2016

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SINGAPORE — Up until late last year, Wang Yuandongyi’s story was a familiar one. He came to Singapore from China as a child, completed his education as well as National Service here, and even obtained his Singapore citizenship in 2014.

But a string of setbacks led him on the path of extremism as he plotted to travel to Syria to join a Kurdish militia, and fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The 23-year-old was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) last month and placed on a two-year Restriction Order (RO) earlier this month, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Wednesday night (March 16).

“He is the first ethnic Chinese placed under a Restriction Order for intending to undertake violence in overseas armed conflicts,” the MHA added. “As part of the rehabilitation programme, Wang will be given psychological counselling to steer him away from resorting to violence.”

Wang, a non-Muslim, would also be closely monitored by the authorities under the RO regime. In an earlier statement on Wednesday, the MHA said Wang left Singapore for a third country from where planned to travel to Turkey and then Syria. He had planned to join a Kurdish militia group to fight the Islamic State militant group.

The ministry said Wang’s attempt was not “ideologically-driven”. According to investigations, he became sympathetic towards the plight of the Kurds after reading about the attacks on them by IS. Wang was also looking to escape a string of personal setbacks, including financial liabilities arising from a failed business venture.

In December, he made online contact with a Kurdish militia group and several “like-minded” individuals who helped him plot possible travel routes to Syria. When Wang left Singapore for Syria, he even packed some military gear from the Singapore Armed Forces, including his uniform and boots, which he intended to use in the battlefield.

But someone reported him and Wang was located in an unnamed country and turned back to Singapore on the request of authorities here.

“Even though his motivation to join the Kurdish militia group and fight against IS in Syria was not ideologically driven, the fact remains that he intended to engage in an armed conflict overseas,” MHA said.

“Geography does not mask the fact that such individuals would have demonstrated a dangerous tendency to support the use of violence.”

Wang was one of four men revealed on Wednesday as having tried to join or became part of overseas armed conflicts recently.

The other three men — Mohammad Razif Yahya, 27, Amiruddin Sawir, 53, and Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Jais, 25 — studied in the same religious institution in Yemen. Razif had undergone sniper training, which he put to use in fighting the Houthis in Yemen’s sectarian conflict, said MHA.

Amiruddin and Mohideen were taught to use rifles that had been assigned to them, but only the former was involved in a firefight with the Houthis. Razif and Amiruddin returned to Singapore separately between April and June last year. Both men were arrested under the ISA last July and were each issued a two-year RO the following month. Mohideen was placed on a RO this month.

Of the 72 people detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities since 2002, 80 per cent have been released, said the MHA.








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