The Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Monday that 22-year-old Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari was arrested earlier this month under the country's Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
However, Singapore's closest neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia, are majority Muslim populations and have also seen increasing levels of radicalization amongst their citizens. It "deepened over time" thanks to her contact with Isis supporters and militants online, said MHA. She went on to develop a vast array of contacts in the Middle East, many of whom were ISIS militants.
She had been "actively" posting and sharing pro-IS material online, it said.
She supported the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) use of violence and aspired to live in it.
"To this end, she said that since 2015, she was looking for "a Salafi or an ISIS supporter" to marry and settle down with him and her child in Syria," it said.
The daughter of Quranic teachers, she believed that having a husband who died in battle would give her "elevated status" and she could easily remarry in Syria, the MHA added.
Neighboring Indonesia, home to the world's largest population of Muslims, said they arrested six Indonesians a year ago with suspected links to Islamic State who planned an attack in Singapore.
She was eventually detained in June, although a family member managed to destroy evidence of her plans to join ISIS while she was under investigation.
Three male Singaporeans out of the 14 detained have been detained under the act over the past year.
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MHA said Izzah also admitted that she was prepared to undergo military training and engage in armed combat to defend ISIS if called upon by the terrorist group to do so.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement yesterday that Izzah started becoming radicalised in 2013, at the age of 18.
"The authorities are working hard to keep Singapore safe but they can not do it alone".
It's perhaps odd that Izzah wasn't reported to the authorities earlier during her path towards self-radicalization.
The MHA reiterated that importance of family members and friends to let the authorities know of anyone they suspect is being radicalised or planning terror attacks.
As late as April 2017, she boasted that the Singapore authorities had not detected her.
Writing on a Facebook post, the Minister said, "I strongly condemn the extremists who abuse Islam for their own twisted agenda".
While exhorting people to report about signs of radicalisation among the individuals, MHA said, "The authorities are working hard to keep Singapore safe but they can not do it alone. They could be steered away from the path of radicalisation and may not need to be severely dealt with under the law".
To report concerns about someone who seems to be radicalised, call the Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD).
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