FORMER deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay has alleged that terrorist recruiters are targeting Malaysian children as young as 12 through online gaming platform Roblox to indoctrinate them and prepare them for attacks.
He said recruitment tactics had shifted from face-to-face meetings to online gaming environments, where children were approached before being drawn into private chat groups for further indoctrination.
“We have detected children aged 12, 14 and 15 being recruited through Roblox. They are indoctrinated and taught there to carry out terrorist attacks,” he said while speaking at the Mawlid Perdana 6.0 Convention at the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) Exhibition and Convention Centre on Sunday.
The convention was organised by a coalition of Indian Muslim organisations, including the Federation of Malaysian Indian Muslim Organisations (PERMIM) and the Malaysian Indian Muslim Association (IMIM).
Ayob Khan also warned against the spread of Salafi Jihadi ideology, saying it could be used to justify violence in the name of religion.
Salafi Jihadi ideology refers to an extremist strand of thought that combines a particular interpretation of Salafism with the belief that armed violence can be justified to achieve political or religious objectives.
Malaysian authorities have been particularly concerned about its association with militant groups such as Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh.
Ayob Khan cited the 2024 attack at the Ulu Tiram police station in Johor, in which police personnel were targeted, as an example of the threat posed by extremist ideology.
He said extreme devotion to such beliefs could lead some followers’ family members to regard their deaths during acts of violence as martyrdom.
“This ideology will continue to exist until the end of time if it is not contained. Although the Daesh terrorist group appears to have weakened, its radical ideology continues to spread in various modern forms,” he said.
Ayob Khan called for effective preventive laws to enable authorities to intervene before extremist threats escalated into acts of violence.
He pointed to the former Internal Security Act (ISA), arguing that it had enabled authorities to act against individuals spreading extremist beliefs without waiting for other processes that could delay intervention.
“If we had the ISA before, we could take action. There was no need to wait for the religious department. We conducted many operations to arrest people spreading deviant ideologies.
“Many political speakers said the ISA was oppressive and so on, but it was the most effective law for addressing militant elements,” he said.
He also urged Muslims in Malaysia to uphold the teachings of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, based on the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of theology and the Shafie school of jurisprudence, saying this was important to preserving national unity and peace against extremist ideologies. - October 18, 2026