SINGAPORE CITY, Singapore
A Singaporean woman claimed that Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) Holdings had pretty much dictated her life from childhood.
CNA spoke to Zoey (not her
real name) whose parents were both in GISB and how her entire life had revolved
around the group.
She moved to Indonesia to a
GISB-run hostel before moving to another one in Malaysia in 2003.
Zoey said that GISB leaders
would indoctrinate children like her with stories of how Al-Arqam founder
Ashaari Muhammad had “caused” the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami to
cleanse the area of “sins”.
Of the experience, she said
that she and the others were “brainwashed.”
While she was at the GISB-run
hostels, she and the other children did not attend school and received no
formal education.
Instead their days were filled
with reading about Abuya and working without pay for GISB-linked shops.
“We were only allowed to read
reading materials (about Abuya) that (GISB) issued us, and nothing else. Not
even newspapers,” she told CNA.
Zoey’s parents later decided
to send her to a Singapore private school and she was ostracised for it,
leading to her disillusionment with GISB and saying she “wanted out.”
Instead, she was forced into a
marriage to a man 10 years older than her, the son of a influential GISB
member, without the presence or permission of her parents.
GISB said they would kick her
mother out of the community if she did not agree.
Her husband proved abusive,
hitting her even when she was pregnant and demanding sex.
Zoey said, “While I was
pregnant all the way until I gave birth, whenever he wants to have sex, at any
time, I have to say yes.”
She had tried more than once
to leave him but was dissuaded by the cult, including her own mother and
eventually she ended up having nine children.
Her husband then begun to be
abusive to his children and threatened to kill them and her, but all GISB did
was tell her to be patient.
It was only after her four
elder daughters told her they had enough, did she find the resolve to make a
police report.
Her mother also reached out to
retired businesswoman Mona Din for assistance leading to Zoey and her children
finding safety in a safe house for abused women and children.
Zoey filed for divorce in 2021
and returned to Singapore with her nine children, with assistance from her home
country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She and her children now live
in Singapore, where she operates a home-based business.
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