When he first settled in Australia in 2002, Zulfikar bin Mohamad Shariff was known as a social activist fighting for the right of Singapore schoolgirls to wear the Muslim headscarf. 
In an interview with The Age, the newly arrived Shariff was enthusiastic about his new home. "In Australia you can think independently and speak freely. You don't have that in Singapore," he said.
But when the 44-year-old Australian resident returned to Singapore this month, he was arrested for "terrorism-related activities", which included supporting Islamic State through Facebook posts.
It is now alleged that during more than a decade in suburban Melbourne, the Singapore-Australian dual national became increasingly radicalised.
After holding him this month under the Internal Security Act, the Singapore government ordered Shariff be jailed for two years.
It also accused him of supporting Al-Qaeda and an allied regional group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Shariff studied international relations at La Trobe University, according to multiple reports.
Property records show that during more than a decade in Melbourne he lived in Glenroy, Springvale and Dandenong South.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said he "had embarked on the path of radicalism as early as 2001 after reading jihadi-related material".
In 2002, Shariff made news for defending two six-year-old schoolgirls suspended from Singapore primary schools for wearing the Muslim headscarf.
At the time, he told The Age he had fought the headscarf ban for two years and faced arrest in Singapore for criticising the government.
Singapore authorities have detained or repatriated dozens of people in the past year, most of them migrant Bangladeshi workers, for suspected links to militant fundraising.