INTRODUCTION

Existing research on Batam-Singapore relations has focused more on economic and trade ties as opposed to social issues. The ties between the two cities, which are 20 kilometres apart, are always discussed within the framework of SIJORI, a joint development and business venture between Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. To be sure, links between the three states transcend economic, trade and security matters to also include religion and cultural exchanges. It only takes a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore to Batam and the number of Singaporeans crossing over to Indonesia via Batam is high—comparable to the number that travels to Jakarta.

Batam is a highly industrialized city, attracting immigration from other parts of Indonesia, especially Java. According to the 2010 census, Batam has a population of 1.2 million people. 77 per cent of them are Muslims, 17 per cent Christians, and 6 per cent Buddhists (Effendy 2014, p. 149). In terms of ethnicity, 27 per cent are Javanese, and the other major ethnic communities include: Malays (17.6 per cent); Bataks (15.0 per cent); Minangkabau (14.9 per cent); and Chinese (6.3 per cent) (Effendy 2014, p. 150). Even though the proportion of Malays is smaller than the Javanese, yet as part of the Riau Islands, Batam strongly upholds its Malay character. It also has a sizeable minority Bugis community, which has strong trade networks (Firdaus 2016). Historically, Riau was part of the Johor-Riau Kingdom, and the name Riau appeared at least three times in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sources (Wee 2016, p. 243).

Lately, there have been security concerns between the two cities. In August 2016, Batam authorities foiled a plot by a terrorist group called Cell Gonggong Rebus (GR) which planned to launch a rocket from the island towards Marina Bay in Singapore. The police arrested five Indonesians for the failed attempt. The militants were believed to have links with ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), and separatist groups in Xinjiang, China (Wahyudi 2017). The leader of GR, Gigih Rahmat Dewa, travelled to Singapore several times before he was detained. He was married to a Batam resident and has a house in the city.