Guat Kwee See '07 Offers Perspective on Christian Extremism in Singapore

Guat Kwee See, who studied Christian-Muslim relations at Hartford Seminary and graduated with an MA in 2007, has been called upon to provide perspective after a Christian teenager was detained for plotting to attack mosques in Singapore.

Guat’s 2019 book, Christian-Muslim Relations in Singapore from Independence to Post 9/11 — was based on her Hartford Seminary thesis. That book brought her to the attention of an editor for The Straits Times, which published a piece about the teenager’s detention.

While some Christian leaders said they were surprised by the boy’s radicalization, Guat had a different response:

“Whether Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, there is a strain of extremism in each religion. Why would we think that Christianity is exempt?” she said. “Churches may think their young are well grounded. But no one drinks from a single well. And the Internet is full of places that push certain ideologies that can sound attractive to young people, advocating very bad ideas.”

The editor writing the piece concluded: “The Muslim community has been on this journey of facing up to its extremist fringe and countering it, for a while. For the Christian community, the journey is just beginning.”

The full article can be viewed here