When we mention the word “maid”, you might be thinking of stuff like how S’poreans have treated them like garbage, or you might be thinking of maids as merely a worker helping with housework.
Or it could also be something else if you’re a cultured individual.
Anyway, my point is that “maid” is really just a job title. For instance, my self given job title at Goody Feed is “Executive Creative Content Development Specialist”, but underneath that, I’m just a fat boy writing nonsense on the web.
Maids are also humans.
And sometimes humans just go onto the wrong paths for various different reasons.
Sep 2019: Three Indonesian Maids Detained
Just last month, Anindia Afiyantari, 33, Retno Hernayani, 36, and Turmini, 31 detained under the Internal Security Act and were investigated for financing terrorism.
At the point of arrest, all three had been working in S’pore for between 6 and 13 years.
For another record being broken for S’pore, they are the first foreign domestic workers to be issued this kind of detention orders.
Not exactly the kind of “firsts” we want to have.
Attracted To Pro-ISIS Content And Propaganda
According to The Straits Times, they became radicalised last year after watching online materials on terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
And it’s really scary stuff, cause these included bomb attacks, beheading videos, recycled propaganda on past battlefield victories and online sermons from radical Indonesian preachers such as Aman Abdurrahman and Usman Haidar bin Seff.
Aman is the de facto leader of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is affiliated with ISIS and Usman was a member of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), another terrorist group.
The three maids also joined some pro-ISIS chat groups on social media and made social media accounts to post pro-ISIS materials.
So yeah, “charged with financing” seemed like a small thing, but it’s actually pretty scary.
Separately, a fourth maid who knew the three maids were radicalised and did not report them was arrested, but unlike the three, she did not have radical beliefs and was repatriated to Indonesia.
Three Of Them Gathered Online Support
The three maids actually knew each other from social gatherings and social media.
Using social media, they developed a network of foreign online contacts who shared their ideology, which included online “boyfriends”.
It got to the point where Anindia and Retno had intentions to travel to Syria to join ISIS, and Anindia was even prepared to become a suicide bomber.
Online contacts also encouraged them to join pro-ISIS groups in southern Philippines, Afghanistan or Africa.
Donated Funds To Facilitate Terrorist Acts
Just exactly how much did they donate? Millions…
…of Indonesian rupiah I mean.
Anindia donated a total of $130 on five separate times between Feb and July 2019, Turmini provided 13 million Indonesian rupiah (S$1,260) on five occasions between Sep 2018 year and May 2019, and Retno a total of S$240 on four occasions between March and April 2019.
Under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, they could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both if convicted.
Do watch out for signs of radicalisation in anyone you know.
